The Caine Mutiny (Collector's Edition)

As good as the movie is, however, the transfer to DVD is about the worst I've ever seen. The moment the movie started, I was stunned by how much noise was evident. I wasn't looking for it or analyzing the picture, it jumped out because it was so extreme. Every face, every object, every thing was literally swimming with digital noise. And the sound is as bad or worse. No effort was made to re-master the soundtrack to even rudimentary surround sound making this the first movie I've seen in years to be presented in basic stereo. In addition, the sound is flat throughout, with even big explosions lacking punch.

The Caine Mutiny is a classic film and deserves much better treatment from the studio. As a movie, I would give it 5 stars but I deduct one for the extraordinarily poor picture and sound quality of the DVD.


Improved picture and sound - easy to recommend   May 10, 2007
Darren Harrison (Washington D.C.)
29 out of 29 found this review helpful

It's a tradition for television stations to show a selection of war movies over the Memorial Day holiday and it is fast becoming a tradition for the studios to release a slew of war themed DVDs to celebrate the contribution of the nation's veterans in time for the last Monday in May.
Special mention this year goes to Columbia who are releasing collector's editions of two classics that had already been afforded a release on those shiny silver discs.
First up is "The Caine Mutiny" which was first released on DVD back in late 1998. That bare bones version was widely panned for its poor transfer, which featured an overabundance of digital noise and was presented in basic stereo.
Those failings have been corrected for this most recent digitally remastered release. Here we are presented with a quite exceptional picture and soundtrack and a nice smattering of special features.
Based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Herman Wouk the film (which itself was nominated for seven Academy Awards in 1954) details the tension between the captain of a World War II era minesweeper (played superbly by Humphrey Bogart) and his crew. Bogart's character is overly paranoid and viewed by some as displaying cowardice in the face of battle.
Playing the part of the executive officer, Lt. Steve Maryk is Van Johnson who, spurred on by third in command, the spineless Lt. Keefer (Fred MacMurray), finally takes control of the ship when the safety of the ship and crew are threatened. Queeg's stubborn insistences to maintain the heading of the ship in a typhoon, flying in the face of good seamanship, forces Maryk to take action and he, along with Ensign Keith, are charged with mutiny upon return to port.
It is here that the movie truly shines. Reluctantly defending the two is the always-excellent Jose Ferrer, and the scene where he interrogates Queeg on the stand is spellbinding.
Complimenting the movie Columbia have added an interesting scene specific audio commentary by Program Director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center Richard Pena and filmmaker and producer Ken Bowser. The two detail the difficulties the filmmakers initially faced when confronted with an initially uncooperative Department of he Navy, careers of the actors involved and the context of the film in relation to a political environment that saw Hollywood filmmakers blacklisted.
Apparently the Navy has never had a mutiny onboard one of its ships (a fact which leads to the placement of a disclaimer to the beginning of the picture) and they were none too pleased with the fictitious account. However, following a change in command, they reversed their decision and offered the use of dockyards, ships, aircraft carrier and even real sailors for the movie.
Both Pena and Bowser return for the two-part documentary on the making of the movie. Running for 18:48 and 16:16 respectively they are joined by Film Critic Bob Castle.
The three begin by discussing the mood in Hollywood at the time. Apparently movie audiences declined rapidly from 1946 to 1962 with the advent of television and greater foreign competition and so a nervous industry was looking for a "sure bet." Producer Stanley Kramer had bought the film rights to "The Caine Mutiny" book before it became a bestseller for $60,000. The book was a major selling point that led to the producers being able to cast the movie with a strong ensemble. Castle mentions some of the un-credited roles to illustrate this and Bogart reportedly read the book and actively campaigned for the role of the captain.
Rounding out the special features are trailers for "Walking Tall: The Payback," "Hard Luck" and "Edison Force." None bear any thematic connection with the main feature.
Recommended


Intrigue, manipulation and hard choices. A great film!   August 17, 2002
Linda Linguvic (New York City)
28 out of 31 found this review helpful

The 1954 classic is about a naval captain who shows signs of mental instability and the resultant actions of the men in his command. It's not as simple as that, however. The characters are the key to the story, each one developing in front of our eyes into complex individuals with moral dilemmas to confront. There is Humphrey Bogart, cast a Captain Queeg whose decisions are no longer respected by his men. There's Fred MacMurray, cast as a smart and manipulative lieutenant. There's Van Johnson, cast as the lieutenant on whose shoulders the responsibility falls. There's Robert Francis, the young ensign whose perceptions change in front of our eyes. And then there is Jose Ferrer, cast as the attorney who defends Van Johnson when he is put on trial for mutiny. Put them all together in a fast paced script with enough twists and turns, and I couldn't take my eyes off the screen.

The special effects, of course, are nothing like they are today. But they were certainly enough. I wasn't thinking about the special effects as I watched the film. I just simply felt I was on that ship. I wasn't thinking about the actors' performances either. Instead, I was so totally involved with the story that I felt I was actually in the skin of each of the characters. Just like real life, the situations were never crystal clear and each choice that was made opened up new challenges.

These were challenging roles for all the actors and they rose to the occasion magnificently. I'll never forget the twitch in Humphrey Bogart's cheek or the way the lighting captured the white of his eyeballs. I'll long remember Fred MacMurray's speculations and the kind of choice Van Johnson had to make. Robert Francis was good, but not as great as his co-stars, and his role was hampered by a silly romance. This was a strong film, though, and this small diversion didn't matter at all.

Even though this film was about the military, I can't classify it as a war film. Here, there was no enemy but the men themselves and the choices they made. It's a wonderful theme and has the classic universality to it that can adopt the lessons it teaches to a wide variety of situations. I give it one of my highest recommendations. Don't miss it!


A Must See Classic   May 5, 2000
A. Fultz (Santa Barbara, CA, USA)
21 out of 21 found this review helpful

For many of my generation, Fred MacMurray is the father on "My Three Sons" repeats and the best military/courtroom drama is "A Few Good Men". Many people my age have not even heard of, much less seen, the Caine Mutiny. Well, I am here to tell all of you Gen X'ers (anyone else sick of that term?), don't miss this movie. It is a compelling story of a "mutiny" aboard a naval ship during World War II.

The story centers around the ship the Caine. The easy-going Captain of the Caine is replaced by the disciplinarian Captain Queeg (marvelously portrayed by Humphrey Bogart). The crew is not used to the Queeg's ways and question his leadership. Led by Lt. Keefer (MacMurray in a role vastly different from his Disney and "Sons" days), several officers on the Caine begin laying the groundwork for removing Queeg from power. When the moment comes, the drama has been built to a peak.

The trial that follows the mutiny is a well written, and the performances are wonderfull. If you enjoyed the courtroom scenes of "A Few Good Men", you will not want to miss this movie. The ending of the film, revealing the true problem aboard the Caine, is great drama. Jose Ferrar's performance in the final scene is one of the best around. The cast is for the most part fantastic. Bogart is of course on of the finest actors of all time and gives one of his best, deepest performances in this film. In addition to MacMurray and Ferrar, Van Johnson, E.G. Marshall, and Scott Savage also are excellent. Robert Francis is the only weak link in the cast, but even his performance can't spoil this great film. Look for Lee Marvin in an a small role.

So, younger viewers, if you have not seen "The Caine Mutiny" yet, get ahold of this classic. It is definitely worth adding to your DVD collection.


Film acting simply doesn't get better than this   September 11, 2004
Robert Moore (Chicago, IL USA)
20 out of 20 found this review helpful

THE CAINE MUTINY remains one of the finest films ever made about the Navy. It was also one the U.S. Navy had a complex relationship with. On the one hand, the navy provided considerable access to naval vessels. Significant scenes were shot on at least three: the destroyer-mine sweeper used to represent the Caine, a light cruiser at the very end, and the U.S.S. Kearsarge, which represented Halsey's flag ship the U.S.S. Enterprise, though he later moved to the U.S.S. Missouri. Despite this remarkable cooperation, the Navy very nearly withheld its approval for the film. It was afraid that the public might imagine that the story represented actual events or that it might be imagined that there had been a mutiny aboard some ship. Only after the filmmakers agree to begin the film with a historical disclaimer did they approve.

More than anything, despite the presence of ships, the film is mainly a showcase for great acting. The quality of the cast simply can't be exaggerated. There are a host of stellar performances, and they even have such future stars as Lee Marvin in throwaway parts. Humphrey Bogart absolutely dominates the screen with one of the finest performances of his career. Most of the fan and critic polls I have seen over the years of the greatest movie stars of all time invariably place Bogart in the number one spot, and when you see him in this role, and then realize that he has 7 or 8 roles just as great, it is easy to see why. He is such a forceful presence that one would imagine that he wouldn't have been capable of a variety of roles, yet you contrast this film with THE MALTESE FALCON and THE AFRICAN QUEEN, and you realize that he had a capacity to play a surprisingly wide range of roles. Lt. Commander Queeg lacks almost all of the qualities of Rick in CASABLANCA, and possesses a host of lamentable ones as well. The scene in which Queeg cowardly has the U.S.S. Caine quickly outrun the landing crafts it is assigned to protect and then retreat to safety as fast as possible is made all the worse by the courage his characters in other films display. Queeg's final crack up on the witness stand at Lt. Maryk's court martial is justifiably famous, and is among the great scenes in cinema. It is now impossible for any character in any film to play with a pair of steel balls and not think of Bogart.

The rest of the cast is hardly shamed by Bogart. Van Johnson, as the loyal, enormously capable, conscientious Lt. Maryk is superb. (This is, by the way, the only film in which the make up department didn't cover the quite large scars on his forehead that he suffered over a decade earlier in a serious car wreck, which resulted in a steel plate being placed in his forehead.) Robert Francis, who had a promising career cut short at the age of 25 in a plane crash he suffered a year after this film, is solid as the young, idealistic Ensign Keith (though the parallels between his hesitancy to stand up to his mother and marry the woman he loves and his hesitancy to stand up to his commanders isn't developed as much as it is implied) holds his own against stiff competition. Fred MacMurray, who spent his entire career bouncing between utterly lovable and absolutely reprehensible characters, here takes the latter course as the complex, spineless Lt. Keefer. His character adds a delicious degree of ambiguity to the film. Jerry Paris, who would later play Rob and Laura Petrie's friend in THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, is excellent as the ship's other junior ensign. Tom Tully managed an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor in his stellar performance as Lt. Commander DeVriess, the first commander of the Caine. Jose Ferrer (who is, by the way, George Clooney's uncle by marriage), whose screen roles never seemed to come up to the level of his talent, is outstanding in his small but memorable role as the mutineers' defense attorney.

On a minor note, I very much enjoyed the very unusual location scene in Yosemite National Park. Although we take location shots for granted today, Hollywood in the thirties, forties, and fifties was only very slowly willing to undertake location shots. It is hard today to realize how radical it was for directors like John Huston (who shot parts of THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE in Mexico and THE AFRICAN QUEEN in Africa) or John Ford (who shot extensively in Arizona for his Westerns and in Ireland for THE QUIET MAN) to shoot on location. The general preference was to build sets on Hollywood backlots. It is so unusual to see location shots that no sound film was shot on location in Chicago (many films were made at the old Essanay Studios in Chicago in the teens and twenties) until the superb Jimmy Stewart CALL NORTHSIDE 777. The scenes in this one, therefore, set in Yosemite are pretty unique.