All the actors in this film were fabulous, in my opinion, top ensemble cast.

@@JDAbelRN I agree. Van Johnson, Jose Ferrer, Fred McMurray, Robert Francis, EG Marshall, and of course Humphrey Bogart were all excellent in this film.

for what its worth, when Greenwald says 'I'd much rather prosecute' he is probably not referring to the defendants in question, but instead a desire to prosecute Keefer for his insubordination that led to this whole escapade where 2 well meaning officers end up as mutineers. this is clearer in his final speech delivered to the Caine officers at their acquittal reception.

Great actor. Not so much a spouse after being one 4, or 5 times.😂

Precisely

Yup

That's why he took the case

I've always loved this movie, and the book. One of the points I've grown to understand as the years go on, how Bogie handled a role that was not him. He was always the A-male, the man in charge, cool under pressure, etc. In this, he couldn't handle it and cracked, and did an awesome job of it. I read a bio of him and he was being interviewed by reporters right before the Academy Awards, where he was nominated for this film, and he just told them, "Come on, everyone knows I'm nuts." :) RIP Bogie. There will never be another one like you.

Early in McMurray’s career, he often played the heavy. It wasn’t until he worked for Disney, where he became the lovable husband.

You might want to see him with Barbara Stanwyck in "Double Indemnity."

@@bernhardwall6876 saw it oh....40 years ago for the first time. I've seen it many times since.

Can't make films like this anymore. It's superb. Only negative is the pointless love plot between Willy and May.

read the book@@Willsey

Yes, I just rewatched it last night. It was extremely well crafted as you gradually realized who was the real villain in the story. You really ended up sympathizing with Bogart in the end. Some truly great acting on all sides.

@@EtzEchad The real villain was the captain.

Keefer so deserved that, but much more. As was Fred MacMurray's acting skills so much more than light comedy. He really held his own with Bogart, Van Johnson, and Ferrer.

@Jesse Wright The captain was a paranoid, he was mentally unfit, I pity him.

​​@@TheCarnivalguyMacMurray mostly seen in light comedy, screwball comedies, and famously known for My Three Sons. However, his true claim to fame was the film noir classic "Double Idemiity", and the executive cheater in tragicomedy "The Apartment", both of these movies directed by William Wyler.

Based on the last scene of the movie, I think Barney decided right there that Keefer was responsible for the whole thing

Yes, that's how the movie played out. But in the book, Greenwald told Maryk straight out that he preferred to prosecute.

He sized it up right then didn’t he...

All in all, a very well made movie that I can watch over and over again.

They should have left in Greenwald’s speech about soap and his mother. That would have been too much for a 1954 audience although they come close.

Great analysis!

@@jfq7223 I agree!!!

Interesting theory? I haven't read the novel period by judging by Barney's entrance in the movie and the way he looked at Kiefer and questioned him I had the feeling he did not know who he was or anything really but sized him up that quickly though. Yes, the books are generally much more flushed out than movies. Unless the movie maker is just a miracle worker there's not enough time or skill to flush out a character like you can with the written dord.

@@xtropiqyztriasmythe-smythe261 No, Greenwald knew exactly who he was. The giveaway is when Greenwald asks him "You were the first to observe the captain's abnormal behavior? You explained this all to Mr. Maryk?" Greenwald read the preliminary report on the mutiny, had already known what Keefer had done, and readily suspected Keefer had encouraged Maryk to assume command when the time was right. So, even though the meeting was the first time they had met, Greenwald already had enough information to determine that Keefer was behind the motivation to relieve Queeq.

@@douglaslally156 I think Greenwald's suspicion about Keefer was further confirmed once Keefer ran out of the room after Greenwald pinned him about being an amateur psychiatrist.

To be a true intellectual is to stand by your ideas and bring courage as strong as your thoughts to bear.

Too bad the Caine's wardroom didn't have someone like Greenwald present to dump the pot before it was stirred against poor Queeg. Queeg was obviously combat fatigued but still tried turning a rust bucket mine sweeper into something decent and might have if the crew hadn't turned on him. The fact he tried reaching out to his fellow officers for help makes it that much more tragic in his downfall.

⁠@@tomservo5347maybe because he acted like a captain Bligh and roughshod over the crew and the officers hadn’t acted the ship might have gone down in that storm and all hands lost. Did Queeg ever show the slightest concert for the crewmen who had a skin irritation which is why he wad given permission for his shirt tail out? No. Queeg also had the crew search the ship looking for an imaginary key he knew didn’t exist even when he was told the newsboys had eaten the extra strawberries. None of this stuff fostered any trust in Queeg.

I like when Greenwald questioned Keefer, and noted his answers, which is when he realized the defendants weren't entirely guilty.

@@jeromerizzo423 Greenwald didnt have his heart in defending, he said so himself he'd rather prosecute, not a very good lawyer if you ratther do that than defend you cliets.

Ferrrer is projecting.

It's disgusting how Keefer completely backs down after being confronted by Griswold. The moment Keefer has to be held accountable, he scurries away like a rat, leaving Maryk twisting in the breeze. Fortunately Griswold exposes Queeg at trial, exonerating Maryk. But, Keefer is a weasel from start to finish. A brilliant ensemble cast!

@@dougalmacrobbie1918 No, Keefer GREW UP and doesn't have to go ape man because Griswold has internal conflicts and is a wino. Griswold has mental issues and deals with his problems by alcoholism and losing control. Secondly, Griswold is full of crap. GRISWOLD hid from the war. Keefer DID NOT. Bottom line, Queeg put the lives of about 300 Marines at risk. Removing him was CORRECT, PERIOD.

I'd have tossed Keefer from the room before sitting down to protect attorney-client privilege then interviewed Maryk and Keith separately so they couldn't play off each other while telling their story. One of the more minor differences between courtroom dramas and real cases. But this is a great movie, and Ferrer and MacMurray are gems.

My Dad introduced me to this movie when I was about 10. My Grandpa introduced my Dad to it. As my Dad points out it shows Fred MacMurray's range in acting. He usually played a wholesome sort of character but played the rat perfectly in this movie and 'Double Indemnity'.

Very stagy here, as was Bogart. 1954, that would be before "method acting" took over. To quote Bertolt Brecht, "Method actors give you a photograph", while "real actors give you an oil painting."

It’s just too bad that Mr Ferrer had such a small part in “Lawrence of Arabia.”

he was great in Lawrence of Arabia@@thomaschacko6320

Keefer hung himself telling Greenwald what he did.

Yes

It was awful how Keefer betrayed Maryk on the witness stand. When Keefer showed up at the party afterward, I was surprised that Maryk didn't punch him or at least tell him to get the hell out. But I guess that wouldn't have left room for the scene where Greenwald outed Keefer in front of all the other officers.

Tom Servo: In the novel, Greenwald actually told Maryk that he'd rather prosecute. So in the movie, Maryk's (Van Johnson) reaction to Greenwald (Jose Ferrer) saying the same line is consistent with the book. Greenwald was initially unsympathetic to Maryk before ultimately taking the case.

I agree with your assessment. In the book, Greenwald was a navy pilot, I believe. No matter, really. I thought that Francis was very miscast for the role. Ferrer was almost flawless. As for Maryk, miscast too. I'd have rather seen a more burly gentle thug-like actor, if you get my meaning.

@@normanbraslow7902 When you consider Bogart's portrayal as the OCD Queeg, Ferrer as the dominant Greenwald, and MacMurray as the two-faced Keefer, I think Johnson was a perfectly understated counterbalance against them.

ECO473, a agree with the Queeg and Keefer casting. Great acting. It's just my mental image of Maryk's character when I read the book is different, that's all. As Woulk described him, like a pug nosed prizefighter. One comment Greenwald made about the top brass, most of them are very, very capable men. A few are not. My son is a commander and never had a Queeg, but he has had a few who were borderline competent, and they all were eased out once higher authority realized it. Sometimes, only under the stress of actual command authority can the cracks appear. Then they must be ruthlessly weeded out. In peacetime it can be easy, In war, as one of the psychiatrists said, both in the book and the movie, sometimes the billet just has to be filled. Then, its up to the subordinate officers to cover for the CO as much as possible. That is where Keefer really messes up, and drags Maryk and Keith and the others along. It's really quite fascinating.

@@normanbraslow7902 Points well taken, and I must admit that the book's description of Maryk would not have reminded one of Van Johnson. That said, do you think a William Bendix or George Matthews-type would have been a better fit as Maryk?

Agreed. Van Johnson played him as a very innocent and earnest man, easy to like and respect.

Aka stand up guy…

Sadly, the book indicates that his career was over

He's exactly the type of captain that everyone would want-but not at all one that meets the requirements of running a tight ship during wartime. Being a captain isn't a popularity contest. He completely failed at canning any and all slander and the manipulations of Keefer on him, his fellow officers, and the entire crew. This inactivity allowed the poison to spread to the officers and crew against Queeg. When Queeg basically pleaded for help from his officers Maryk did absolutely nothing. Supporting Queeg probably would have kept Queeg from going to pieces under combat strain and Queeg in turn would have made them better officers. Queeg is a professional Navy officer while all of them are wartime 'shake and bakes' from wartime expediency that don't have anything close to him in experience.

@@tomservo5347 Maryk wasn't merely about popularity. Remember he stuck by Queeg even when everyone else was turning against him. You say he didn't do enough to support Queeg, but what else could he have done? He gave Queeg sound advice as an XO, which Queeg constantly disregarded. He tried to keep the other officers from turning against him, but Queeg's lies, cowardice, and incompetence was simply too much for that to succeed. It just got to the point where everyone realized Queeg was dangerously unstable and needed to go, because it was true. I'm honestly not convinced that Greenwald was right and that Queeg could have been salvaged if the other officers did more to support him. He was already falling apart well before he asked them for help, and really it was his own terrible choices that pushed them away.

Nimoy did just fine. Thanks.

Could have played the Captain, and the crew would follow him anywhere.

Yes, a great one too.

Now that you've pointed it out, that is very ironic. And yet he tore Keefer to pieces at the party. Maybe it was more because of the way Keefer sold out Maryk on the witness stand and pretended to be so blameless for everything that happened.

If you're quick enough you can spot guys like this. I've seen more than my share of them. In the service and outside.

That makes him a native American.

Because he went to schools in the states and learned how to properly speak English. This was pre-Schwarzenegger Hollywood. If you wanted good parts in Hollywood you better learn to speak English with no accent and clearly or you wouldn't get any good parts. I know native Americans that speak perfectly Spanish. I know many native Latinos that speak good English. It depends on their education and the person. Ferrer not only grew up in private schools in Puerto Rico he went to the states. So his education was very deep.

@@deathfire096 Oh? Bela Lugosi? Peter Lorre? Boris Karloff?

The ending scene was so good. Bogart was at the end of his rope but as the defense counsel stated if the crew had rallied around Bogart rather than turned on him...there would have been no need to relieve him.

That's actually "guys in 1944 bucking authority." The typhoon was a year before the war ended.

Wouk’s novel is among the greatest I’ve ever read.

@@michaelschramm1064 Same here.

@@michaelschramm1064 His first book was a comedy about advertising soap. After Caine he wrote a sympathetic story about a New York Jewish girl who falls in love on a summer vacation at a hotel in the Catskills, Marjerie Morningstar, (Morgenstern). As usual, the book was better than the movie, which was excellent. Her co-star was Gene Kelley, who didn't dance and surprisingly was an excellent actor.

@@kansasross One day I should read his “The Winds of War”, It’s just that fiction has fallen out of favor with me and now I exclusively read non-fiction. Interestingly enough “Caine Mutiny” lead to my reading six or mor books on the Pacific Theater of WW2.

The movie is already over 2 hours. I'm sure a lot was left on the cutting room floor. And The Caine Mutiny is not a short book.

Greenwald had on his chest the bar of a Purple Heart, meaning he was injured in battle.

Correct. He is also wearing wings that’s indicative that he is a flyer and I believe he burned his hand in an emergency landing or something.

I always wonder why if Keefer hated Queeg and being on the Caine,that he did not request a transfer or fact of the matter all the other dissatisfied officers.

@@snowblind9065 2 reasons. First, Keefer was an intellectual snob who thought military life was beneath him. Secondly, in the book, Queeg denied Keefer shore leave to see his brother, and the brother was killed in battle the very next day. Obviously, Keefer never forgave Queeg for that.

Me too

Read the book many years ago. My recollection is that the 'love story' was very well told by Wouk himself as just part of his great novel. Hollywood turned it into a Xmas tree.

In 1940, Fred McMurray was the most highly paid actor in the world.

@@newellaorbana Fred was in some of my favorite films. This one, Double Indemnity and The Absent Minded Professor. Really, a very fine actor.

@@PrimarchX I like him more as a villain that a hero.

@@newellaorbana Oh, I agree. His work here and Double Indemnity, for example, are quite dark.

In 1938 Fred McMurray was the highest paid actor on Planet Earth. He did waste his money and bought a gigantic ranch. He was fabulously wealthy and only worked after he was 40 because he had a strong work ethic.

Harry Cohn from Columbia demainded a 2-hour run time, so there were 50 or so pages cut from the script. Maybe the point about riding out the typhoon was one of the things that were cut

They could have cut out the ridiculous and boring love story which added nothing. Just concentrate on the developments on the ship.

I thought the same. After Queeg said, "the ship was riding well," it would've been a perfect counter to show photographs of the damaged ship.

Nope, he should have been...

If he wasn't, he certainly should have been.

@Rommel the Cat I can see the criticism for McMurray's character but Ferrer's condemnation of the others was over-the-top.

@Rommel the Cat Interesting take on the situation. As a former cockpit crewmember, both military and civilian, If some O-4 AC would have flown us into a thunderstorm, and done as many boneheaded stunts as Queeg did, the crew (if they survived) would have gone to the Squadron Commander and got rid of that guy pronto. I think WW II was such a massive effort that lots of "Queegs" were put in secondary leadership roles, and if there were losses, unfortunately it was part of the cost of doing business. I had an instructor tell me once that the pilots that concentrated on the minutia, were the most dangerous, as they were covering for there inadequate flying skills.

There is genuine pity for Queeg, in the novel he is apparently also much younger and it is explained better that he has become like this because of PTSD.

It's also the mark of a guilty conscience.

The mess boys ate them. It's revealed later when End Harding goes on leave to visit his sick wife and then again during the trial with Queeg on the stand.

Gremlins took em. WW2 was full of them-!

Wrong. A Few Good Men is based on a real life incident.

Some scenes of “A Few Good Men” were inspired by this film.

OMG Sorkin has lifted dialogue directly or indirectly from every famous courtroom movie from this, through 'To kill a mockingbird' to 'The Verdict'. Shameful but no one seems to notice and since they don't then giving examples won't help. But I'll give you one example he stole from The Verdict: 'That's correct you are being paid to be here (to testify)? ....As are you sir'.....From A few good men: 'I see you're wearing your class A uniform for you appearance in court today'.....'As are you Liutenant'

@@TheStapleGunKid That doesn't mean Sorkin didn't RIP off dialogue.

@@zzzzzzzzzzzk You are King of the understatement sir ;)

That wasn't hostility. Barney was reading them out. This is a court martial in the military. This isn't a joke.

That is an unanswerable question.

I'm not an expert. However, my Dad wore many of those same ribbons on his salad bar, along with a lot of devices on them. Mr. Greenwald appears to have a Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal and Purple Heart on the top row; American Defense, American Campaign and Asiatic Pacific Campaign on the second row. Mr. Maryk wears the Bronze Star and Purple Heart on his first row; his second row is the same as Mr. Greenwald. Mr. Keefer and Mr. Keith wear similar ribbons as the others. I can't speak to the correctness of the devices. And I don't know but I've been told, Navy wings are made of gold.

A Fletcherman's Son, My respects to your father. I must say, you are right, and I was wrong on the ribbons. I mistook the bronze star ribbon for the national defense service medal. I really ought to have known better. I was not in the Navy, my son is. His ribbon rack is impressive for a doctor LTCDR, with twelve ribbons, including being with the Marines in Afghanistan combat, and his Fleet Marine Corps and Surface Warfare Medical Services pins. No quite real gold, but both were very hard for him to earn.

And my respects to you (they also serve who wait at home) and your son, Sir. He has earned the respect and gratitude of those within the Naval Service and those who support the men and women in uniform. Bravo Zulu.

Per Wikipedia : in 1943, Johnson was involved in a serious car accident that left him with a metal plate in his forehead and a number of scars on his face that the plastic surgery of the time could not completely correct or conceal; he used heavy makeup to hide them for years. The injuries from the car accident exempted him from service in World War II.

@@stvdagger8074 In 1954, Van Johnson knew he would not be offered any more romantic roles. He decided that as a character actor, showing scars was a normal character-building thing to do.

The League of Badasses garb, I think.

WW 2 Naval Air. Back them all branches had 1 or 2 types of different uniforms depending of the military community.

@@deathfire096 I recall that in the book he was a marine aviator, which was the same thing, as their training was at naval bases.

that is a fun fact!

What happened?

I never heard of this, what happened?

You're exactly right about Keefer's presence in the interview. The movie screenplay created this scene to telescope some important plot points into a short interval. In the book, Keefer wouldn't've said these things to anyone, because he was already bugging out. There's a passage, before the trial, where he sounds confident but has a dazed look as though he hasn't eaten in a week: during that week he was scared out of his wits until he worked out the story he'd tell on the stand.

Somebody may've said this, but Keith's not on trial here. Greenwald even says his trial depends on Maryck's. As for your other point, I'm not really sure

@@jeffreyknickman5559 Keith was. I'd have to rewatch the movie to see if he had a separate trial but he does need separate counsel.

I think it's that Greenwald realises very quickly that Maryk isn't a cynical, disloyal man relieving his captain in a fit of pique or out of some personal vendetta. Maryk says that "the only way to prove [he] was right was to let the ship go down" and is willing to admit that he "may be a fool...but [he's] not a mutineer" - he was acting out of a genuine belief that he had to relieve Queeg to save the Caine and everyone on it (and cited navy regulations while doing so). And he's open to the notion that he was wrong while being willing to take the consequences. He's may not be the sharpest knife in the draw, but he's a decent man with the right intentions. Greenwald also very quickly picks up that Keefer manipulated Maryk into a course of action while keeping his own hands clean. Maryk's principles and good nature (and his position as XO - the only one who could legally relieve Queeg) were taken advantage of by Keefer who wanted Queeg gone so he could get back to his easy life of a comms officer on a slackly-run minor warship, writing novels in his spare time and thumbing his nose at the navy. Greenwald is sharp enough to see that Maryk shouldn't really have been on trial...and Queeg shouldn't have to be 'broken' on the witness stand to prove the point. That's why he takes the case after sussing out Maryk's character and motives...and getting a sense of Keefer pulling the strings from the sidelines.

@@jozg44 To be fair, Keefer was right that Queeg needed to go, he was clearly out of his mind. Both he had Maryk should have reported Queeg's crazy behavior, lying, and cowardice to the fleet admiral long before the storm. That was their big mistake. They had a chance to report him earlier, but didn't take it.

@@TheStapleGunKid Absolutely - what makes Wouk's story so compelling is that none of the characters are plainly right or wrong, good or bad. Keefer was 'right' (Queeg was mentally ill and had to go) but he was 'bad' in that he didn't want to stick his neck out or risk his position in order to make that happen. He lacked integrity and moral courage when it mattered. As Maryk plainly states, he needed Keefer's smarts and insight to make the convincing case to their superiors - as XO he was the only one who had the authority, but without Keefer he lacked the right sort of intelligence to bring the case in the right way.

@@jozg44 I don't know if Maryk lacked intelligence. I think it's more that he was so respectful of his superior officers that he simply wasn't willing to do anything to go against his captain until it was absolutely necessary to protect the ship and crew. Sadly, he didn't realize that reporting Queeg earlier would have likely prevented that from being necessary in the first place. For the most part, I think Maryk has most of the traits required to be a good captain himself. Ironically his one mistake was not listening to the "villain" of the story, Keefer, that Queeg clearly needed to be relieved of command. If Keefer and Myrak had actually combined their strengths in a constructive manner, they actually could have resolved the whole thing with no mutiny. Sadly, Maryk knew Keefer was greedy and selfish, and I think that may have been a reason why he wasn't willing to consider the important thing Keefer was right about.

@@TheStapleGunKid Which is exactly the point Greenwald drives home in his speech at the end of the film (and, to a greater extent, in the book). The temporary wartime officers were, in various ways, looking out for themselves - Keefer most obviously, but Maryk was looking to get a command and make the Navy a career (I agree he would have made a good commander) and Keith disliked both the navy as a whole and Queeg as a captain and a man. Greenwald knocks them all down a peg by pointing out that if they had worked together in the wider interests of the ship, the men and the navy the whole thing could have been resolved. This is made even clearer in the book; Maryk gets a dead-end command of a landing craft, Keefer becomes another Queeg and Keith grows and matures into a decent officer...with the realisation that the 'mutiny' needn't have happened at all.

The romance in the book is much more meaningful. "The Caine Mutiny" is really about Willie and his maturation from a nothing-civilian into a hardened, salty combat captain (he becomes captain of the Caine). His relationships and feelings towards nation, family, and love interest are all important. In the movie the romance is a dumb sideline that doesn't tie in at all.

Harry Cohn insisted on the romance angle and thus it was sort of jammed in there and stripped of all its context and relevance that it had in the book. Knowing this, I have to hand it to Francis and Wynn for doing the best they could with a lousy written, toothless sub plot. If they were names, they probably could've demanded a rewrite but this was their first big Hollywood movie so...

@@blusafe1 Thanks Blu - you confirmed my recollection of this great novel that I finally read about 20 years ago.

You must remember that this is a novel and women readers want and need to see the young ensign had a life before the Navy. By giving us a look into his persona, he becomes a sympathetic mirror for us landlubbers to understand the ways of the Navy against or through Keith.

What are you an English expert from Britain? Words are pronounced differently by region.

That was the actor who portrayed him, Robert Francis.

@@ECO473 He was piloting a private plane with a couple who were friends of his. His plane lost its engine and he crashed into the parking lot of a grocery store in the San Fernando Valley, killing all of them. Although he was a little weak in his role of Keith, he grew by appearing in three more movies before he died, thus ending a promising career.

@@kansasross Yes, very sad.

The movie was portraying several things in this scene. * The view of all servicemen is that mutiny should only occur under the very rarest of circumstances -- if ever. * The Naval department were unaware of Queeg's battle fatigue, and so all were sympathetic to the Captain. * The Naval legal department were trying, and failing, to find a lawyer willing to represent the men charged with mutiny, because the details so far revealed gave no hope of acquittal. Greenwald had his arm twisted to speak with the defendants. * Greenwald, having read the preliminary investigation, entered the conference room thinking that the mutiny had very likely been unjustified. * Before deciding whether to take the case or not, Greenwald wanted to know whether the defendants were mutineers (nefarious), or foolish, so he gave them a hard time to see beneath the surface, using a manner of interrogation similar to what the defendants could expect in Court. * Greenwald revealed to Keefer that although not a defendant, if Keefer spoke as a witness of the Captain's psychotic tendencies and that he had discussed the matter with the defendants aboard ship, he would also be liable to a charge of mutiny. This was revealed by Greenwald because Keefer would eventually come to know of this naval regulation, and Greenwald was anticipating that Keefer would panic on being informed and would change his testimony to save his skin.

Totally understand your point. However, the book does a better job (as it has more time) to 'balance the argument'. As with any situation, those that are there know the REAL truth but even among them, their perspectives , feelings and reactions can vary. As an audience, we were there and we see what's happening but still, an objective lens needs to be applied. Greenwald did his his homework prior to this initial meeting; he knew about Maryk's medical log, the ship log report from the typhoon, reports from all involved and MOST important and relevant as evidence: THREE psychiatrist reviews. Based on what he ascertained at that point, he told Maryk the truth that as a naval officer "he thought what he did, stinks." Meaning, it didn't look good but he wanted to talk to him further to get more context. In the book, it was emphasized that from an objective standpoint, the danger of not attempting to prosecute or at least formally reprimanding officer(s) who take over a ship under any circumstance, sets an extremely dangerous precedent where any crew of mostly 20 something Naval Reserve officers and sailors that didn't like a "mean captain" could justify invoking Article 184 (but would need to back their actions as set forth in Article 185 and 186) and you'd be having these incidents all the time. So, they have to err on the side of discipline and authority with heavy consequences hanging in the balance until it is "proved" that he was unbalanced and reckless. When you say, "What was Maryk supposed to do, just leave a man frozen in panic with the conn of the ship while it foundered in the storm?", that hadn't been PROVEN yet and everything else that happened prior to that at that point could easily be justified as a captain (fair or unfair) instilling discipline. That's why Keefer chickened out (twice) cause he knew this. Also (from the book) Greenwald was a champion of the underdog in his law career before becoming a Navy pilot. He took a few very unpopular cases where he helped Native American tribes win law suits against the US gov over land/territory injustices so that is why (I think) he defended Maryk after he quickly sized up the intellectual, manipulating snob that was Keefer and saw he basically put Maryk up to it. (He'd "much rather prosecute [Keefer]" is said as he continues to stare at the door Keefer just escaped through). Yes, I agree with you on the wardroom scene after the yellow stain incident, that at that point, Queeg screwed himself and his conduct at that point didn't warrant any loyalty. But, I think even there, as Greenwald says in the last scene (the hell what you think, you're in the Navy and you need to back your captain no matter how much of an A-hole he is). Granted, he didn't have the subjective experience the others had but... In the end, he had to destroy a man with "cheap lawyer tricks" (his words he used in the book) who for years stood up for his country in order to get his client off who he knew didn't deserve to be convicted. And that tore him up inside. Anyway, great comment sir.

@UCgC8mOh3hYOSI9YrnlQVbcg "Following the CO" is not a suicide pact. Article 184 exists specifically to cover just such circumstances as that portrayed in Caine. Queeg was not relieved because he was unpopular, he was relieved because he was standing his ship and crew into mortal danger unnecessarily and froze when a decision was needed to save them. No amount of prior support would have made any difference to his mental state at that point. He was determined to do things his way disregarding all counsel by his officers. Even after the ship barely escaped foundering he was still hysterical about his order being countermanded. A ship and crew are worth far more than the ego of any one officer, including the CO. And by the way, I'm a Navy veteran, destroyers, and I would hope that if we had ever been in heavy weather and my CO lost his marbles like that, a senior officer would relieve him at least until he was stabilized.

@@cozzietwothousand2707 and I'm a Navy veteran P-3 Orion squadron. JP put it best in the post above.

@@cozzietwothousand2707 Navy veteran myself as well, also surface. It's fair to point out that Greenwald was never on the Caine and didn't witness Queeg's command style, which was in fact awful. And it's true that in the middle of the typhoon, the only thing to do was relieve the captain, because his order to sail in an unsafe direction jeopardized the ship. But Greenwald is absolutely right that the officers could've kept Queeg from going down that path. None of them had the guts to speak up when Queeg shows an ounce of humanity and asks for help. They had their chance to keep Queeg sane and suggest a few courses of action, including a different command style, and they didn't, and Greenwald correctly points out that if they had, Queeg's actions in the typhoon would likely have been different. Sadly, Keefer torpedoes the whole thing by mocking his speech. Furthermore, the movie foreshadows this very well - when Queeg makes his request, and then stands up after nobody responds, he asks Paynter for medicine for his headache that has gotten worse. It shows that his mental state just got worse as well.

Queeg's officers jeopardized the ship by pushing the fragile Queeg over the edge instead of supporting him with positive feedback. Whether or not that would have worked is unknown because they didn't try it.

Yes indeed

Welcome to the "Junkyard Navy"

You don’t see drinks getting thrown in officer’s faces anymore.

McMurray thought so too, but since the network was willing to pay him a pile of money for what was essentially a part-time job, he didn't complain.

I hated Fred McMurray after this movie. I couldn't separate the actor from the part.

@@rickmorrow993 Good actors are good in any role.

@@rickmorrow993 Did you hate him in "The Apartment" too? Billy Wilder originally wanted Paul Douglas to play Jack Lemmon's boss, saying he was perfect for the role, but Douglas suddenly died a couple of days after Billy met him!

Fred MacMurray was great in this. In fact, Jose Ferrer (also outstanding in this) said that he thought Fred gave the best performance in the movie and that he never got his due as a great actor. The former is arguable, the latter I absolutely agree with.