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Post date: Feb 28, 2021 1:31:15 PM
"The Caine Mutiny" is 1954 film by produced by Stanely Kramer. He also produced the great "Inherit the Wind" , the racial provocative "Defiant Ones", and the lack luster "Judgment at Nurnberg"I admire him for his legacy of producing complex moral stories. He does not mind offending people but does give the victors and easy answers.
Compare this to director Otto Preminger. He was known for cutting edge movies when they come out. Looking back on them now, they all seems pretty thin. He controversial 1953 "The Moon is Blue" was banned in Boston because it used the word "Virgin" and suggested sex outside of wedlock. His "Man with the Golden Arm" is only significant for it first depiction of drug use.
The "Caine Mutiny" has background of the Hollywood Blacklist and the House on un-American Committee.(HUAC). The director, Edward Dmytryk, was one of the Famous Hollywood Ten that were sacrificed to prove the validity of the committee. Dymytryk was the only one to recant and save his career.
The "Caine Mutiny" movie shows that no narrative is simple and there is no moral high ground.
The movie has a great daring performance by Bogart in one of the lead roles as Captain Queeg. Fred MacMurray performance is second only to his role in Double Indemnity.
I always find it interesting with compelling movies to try to figure out whether it is the story or the film makers. In this case, it is most definitely the film makers. This is easy proven by the remake of the movie by film maker Robert Altman. The much praised Altman has always seems like a lazy film maker to me. His half hearted attempts at movies with their improvised dialog and their rambling narrative never really seem to master the material. In his remake called "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial", it is two hours of talking heads with no real conflict. There is no cross examination of Queeg and no final judgement at the end. It makes me wonder why he bothered making the movie.
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