This is a classic film of modern day mutiny aboard a Naval vessel based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Herman Wouk. The nervous and inept behavior of Captain Queeg (Humphrey Bogart) during maneuvers aboard the U.S.S. Caine a destroyer/mine sweeper attracts the attention of the ship's crew members and it's executive officer, Maryk (Van Johnson). When Queeg's neurotic behavior reaches a breaking point during a fierce typhoon, Maryk takes command of the ship. Queeg then retaliates by having Maryk court-martialed. In a tense courtroom sequence, Lt. Greenwald (Jose Ferrer), assigned to Maryk's defense, systematically breaks Queeg down on the stand. Maryk wins the case but the victory is short-lived as Lt. Greenwald reveals that the men have all been the unwitting victims of a deceptiveshipmate named Lt. Keefer (Fred MacMurray), who actually instigated the mutiny for his own purposes. An all-star cast makes this film one to remember.

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