***/**** Image A- Sound A- Extras A-
starring Humphrey Bogart, José Ferrer, Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray
screenplay by Stanley Roberts, based on the novel by Herman Wouk
directed by Edward Dmytryk
by Travis Mackenzie Hoover The Caine Mutiny is appallingly enjoyable. Stuffed full of two-bit psychology and capped by a hilarious pontificating monologue from José Ferrer, it shouldn't really hold you the way it does; the movie is pure bull, yet the more of it you watch, the more you want to see. Herman Wouk's Pulitzer-winning novel serves as the basis for a lovely exercise in self-righteous man-talk, and for those who can sate themselves on such things, it's a guaranteed good time. Although The Caine Mutiny is the Ur-text of the vastly inferior A Few Good Men, it's no contest: where that more recent film comes off as smug and conceited in its slam-dunk moralizing and courtroom grandstanding, this one seems rather humbly concerned with the fate of the crew of the Caine, doggedly buying into cheesy but gripping didacticism right down to the ludicrous "twist" near the finish line.
The Caine proves to be the least reputable ship in the navy of WWII: Ensign Keith (Robert Francis) is notably disappointed to find his fresh-out-of-training, top-of-his-class self assigned to the battered minesweeper, where morale is low and the standards of conduct are lower. But though the notably lax skipper is shortly replaced, the situation doesn't improve when Lt. Cmdr. Queeg (Humphrey Bogart) arrives to smarten up the crew. Queeg is a paranoid perfectionist who turns yellow at crucial moments–traits that catch the attention of wisecracking Lt. Keefer (Fred MacMurray). After Keefer convinces second-in-command Lt. Maryck (Van Johnson) of the captain's screw-loosed-ness, a few nutty incidents pass and the Caine is caught in a typhoon, during which Queeg cracks under pressure and Maryck relieves him of duty, perhaps illegally. Court-martial, anyone?
From the first, the film does its best to keep everything as loud and in-your-face as possible. There are no alternative readings to The Caine Mutiny: what you see is what you get, and it's pitched at such a volume as to drown out any supporting thinking. We're cued to Queeg's mental state by his constant fidgeting with ball bearings, a device that grows more obvious as the movie wears on. Keith, in a bit of business that "fills out" his character, has a girlfriend named May (May Wynn, who took her stage name from her character here) whom he annoys by succumbing to his mother's apron strings. Keefer, meanwhile, fluctuates not merely because of his intense cowardice, but also because the plot machinations require him to drop out of usefulness once the going gets tough. His arguments about the skipper's paranoia wouldn't convince any adult with a brain, but a filibuster on his part soon has Maryck hilariously poring over a book labelled MENTAL DISORDERS with a pained expression. It can't be misinterpreted: this is a movie-movie, with only one possible destination.
Despite–or because of–all this hokiness, The Caine Mutiny works like gangbusters. It's the kind of guy flick where men stand around issuing ultimatums and sermonizing: we know that this is meretricious showboating, but it's so skilful in its stimulus/response tactics that it constantly hits the sanctimonious love-button in your brain. Everything builds to a thrilling courtroom climax involving a terrible betrayal and surprise tactic by Maryck's lawyer Lt. Greenwald (Ferrer) that has you biting your nails in spite of yourself. And one wouldn't really want to be deprived of the ridiculous speech Greenwald delivers after the court-martial; rest assured that it's as spectacular in its emptiness as the final scene of Pulp Fiction or any given David Mamet rant. Whether or not we like to admit it, sometimes that's just what the doctor ordered, and I recommend The Caine Mutiny for the irresistable workmanlike helping of swill that it is.
THE DVD
Sony's Collector's Edition reissue of The Caine Mutiny under their Columbia Classics banner is quite good. As someone who hasn't seen the old DVD, I found the 1.85:1, 16×9-enhanced image crisp and lustrous, though too much ruddiness keeps it from scoring top marks. The Dolby 2.0 mono audio is nearly as good, some excess diffuseness when anyone makes an "s" sound aside. Extras begin with a commentary by Film Society of Lincoln Center bigwig Richard Peña and documentarian Ken Bowser; they've got their heads screwed on straight and deliver a warts-and-all appreciation of the feature. They're alive to the more risible aspects of the film (such as the ridiculous, Sirkian affluence that shows no signs of wartime austerity) and flesh out the drama behind the scenes, recounting director Edward Dmytryk's HUAC woes and run-ins with the Navy, who wouldn't cooperate with the production until the last minute. All said, an excellent yakker.
Peña and Bowser are accompanied by critic Bob Castle for the two-part "Behind The Caine Mutiny". "Part I" (18 mins.) offers expanded versions of information in the yak-track and discusses most of the film's chief personnel, including Dmytryk, producer Stanley Kramer, and various members of the cast. It's perhaps a little too credulous of The Caine Mutiny but worth watching for its nuggets of trivia. Credulity reigns in "Part II" (16 mins.), an extended exegesis on the film. I can't believe they're dissecting this movie this much, but it does bring specific themes into focus–and it's amusing to hear of the even funnier ending to the novel, which entails Keefer's too-apt comeuppance. Trailers for Walking Tall: The Payback, Hard Luck, and Edison Force round things out.
125 minutes; NR; 1.85:1 (16×9-enhanced); English DD 2.0 (Mono), French DD 2.0 (Mono); CC; English, French subtitles; DVD-9; Region One; Columbia TriStar
