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 heroic 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 (Van Johnson) 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 his rather possessive loyalty to a doting mother (Katherine Warren).
During routine military manoeuvres the S.S. 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 defence attorney, Lt. Barney Greenwald (Jose Ferrer) is repulsed by their actions but bound to defend them in the court martial. Is he loyal to the men or the law?
The Caine Mutiny is an impressive powerhouse of a movie. The Keith/May romance aside, few courtroom melodramas can compare. Bogart is sublime as the paranoiac Queeg. Primarily a musical/comedy star, Van Johnson is equally impressively as the heavyweight mutineer. When all else fails there's Franz Planer's lush cinematography and Max Steiner's exceptional score to keep the viewer enthralled. This is a great movie - if underrated by today's standards - and one that deserves renewed attention.
That's just what The Caine Mutiny gets on Blu-ray. Previously issued DVDs have suffered from an overly grainy image and unstable colours. The Blu-ray delivers a solid visual presentation. There are still anomalies to reckon with. Occasionally contrast levels seem a tad boosted, with flesh tone becoming curiously washed out and flat. These instances, however, are brief and largely forgettable. Otherwise, image quality is very impressive.
Grain is retained but it now looks like grain, not digitized grit. Colours are bold and fully saturated. Fine detail is evident throughout. The image is razor sharp. Best of all, the background artefacts that plagued the various DVD incarnations have been eradicated for a smooth and very satisfying visual presentation.
The audio gets a rather robust upgrade too. Max Steiner's music cues deliver a sonic bravado not heard before, and the typhoon is genuinely terrifying now with its manufactured sounds of wind, rain and ocean spray. Extras are confined to two very potent featurettes on the film and its back story, crudely divided on the disc (without chapter stops) as Part I and Part II. These are carryovers from the DVD collector's edition and presented herein at 720i resolution. Nevertheless, this is a no brainer upgrade. Highly recommended.
* One pet peeve: The Caine Mutiny Blu-ray is only available at Amazon.com. I'm not exactly certain why Sony would give such a deep catalogue title as this a limited release. The studio claims that demand for classic movies on Blu-ray is limited. Well, it will be even more limited if the movies continue to be sold as 'exclusives' on a single website - even one as big and universal as Amazon.com.
FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)
5
VIDEO/AUDIO
4
EXTRAS
2
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