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By
NICK ZEGARAC
Based on the novel by Herman
Wouk, director Edward Dymtryk's The Caine Mutiny
(1954) is a superbly crafted, intelligent military
melodrama. The film stars Humphrey Bogart in an
uncharacteristic departure from his usual stock in
trade, as Lt. Cmdr. Philip Francis Queeg. Seems
Queeg runs a tight ship -- too tight, in fact, for
the likes of the Caine's rather lackadaisical
crew.
Lt. Tom Keefer (Fred MacMurray) takes an instant
dislike to the captain and begins imparting
notions of Queeg's mental instability to the rest
of the crew. But is Keefer so far off? Lt. Steve
Maryk seems to think so. A dedicated seaman and
first mate, Maryk stands by his captain's
decisions, even as the logic behind each
subsequent order or command grows more feeble and
convoluted.
A subplot to this high-octane drama involves newly
appointed seaman, Ens. Willis Seward Keith (Robert
Francis), a young buck eager to make good on his
first military assignment, but also torn in his
private life between a romance with nightclub
singer, May Wynn (May Wynn -- how precious is
that?) and rather possessive loyalty to his doting
mother.
During routine military maneuvers, the Caine is
caught in a typhoon that threatens to capsize the
ship. Queeg loses control to Maryk, and by the
articles of military maritime law is arrested at
port as a mutineer, along with Ens. Keith. Their
defense attorney, Lt. Barney Greenwald (Jose
Ferrer) is repulsed by the action of the men he is
bound to defend in the court martial. But is he
loyal to the military or the law?
Dmytrk's direction is solid and forthright,
delivering an impressive powerhouse of a movie
that only occasionally falters (mostly, in the
Keith/May romance that is quite obtrusive to the
rest of the narrative). Playing the rather
un-heroic and paranoiac Queeg, Bogart is a sublime
revelation. Primarily a musical/comedy star, Van
Johnson is also impressively on point in the
heavyweight role of a mutineer.
Sony Home Entertainment has released two discs of
The Caine Mutiny prior to this single disc Special
Edition. Image quality on both of the
aforementioned is identical and quite poor in
spots, with a considerable amount of film grain,
digital grit, color fading and the glaring
presence of age-related artifacts. This new
mastering effort cleans up most of these problems.
In fact, the image on the SE is more smooth and
refined throughout and over all, with a robust
color palette and deeper, more solid contrast
levels. Fine detail is evident throughout --
though occasionally the picture elements become
softly focused. However, the chief concern this
reviewer has with the SE is in its flesh tones --
they appear, for the most part, quite red.
Everyone looks as though they've been in the sun
too long. Quite possible, I suppose, if they're
sailors on a ship. Though the results will not
distract the first time viewer, this sacrifice in
fidelity is nevertheless obvious.
Extras are confined to two very potent
documentaries on the film and its back story,
crudely divided on the disc (without chapter
stops) as Part I and Part II. Recommended. |
