The Caine Mutiny (Combat Classics)

Nominated for seven Academy Awards® in 1954, including Best Picture and Best Actor, THE CAINE MUTINY is a classic film about the unstable Captain Queeg (Humphrey Bogart) and his tumultuous command of an old minesweeper and her weary crew. On the high seas during the dramatic battles of World War II, Queeg’s by-the-book approach pushes his crew and his popular second-in-command, Lt. Maryk (Van Johnson), to the breaking point. After a series of questionable orders, Maryk confronts Queeg when he orders the ship directly into the path of a deadly typhoon. Maryk invokes naval code and relieves Queeg of his command, forcing the crew to mutiny. Once safely back in port, Maryk is court-martialed for treason, setting off a tense trial that exposes the true state of Queeg’s mind. Nominated for Best Actor, Humphrey Bogart gives a searing performance as he is systematically broken down in this classic tale of military conduct in a time of war.

Humphrey Bogart is heartbreaking as the tragic Captain Queeg in this 1954 film, based on a novel by Herman Wouk, about a mutiny aboard a navy ship during World War II. Stripped of his authority by two officers under his command (played by Van Johnson and Robert Francis) during a devastating storm, Queeg becomes a crucial witness at a court martial that reveals as much about the invisible injuries of war as anything. Edward Dmytryk (Murder My Sweet, Raintree County) directs the action scenes with a sure hand and nudges his all-male cast toward some of the most well-defined characters of 1950s cinema. The courtroom scenes alone have become the basis for a stage play (and a television movie in 1988), but it is a more satisfying experience to see the entire story in context. --Tom Keogh