The Caine Mutiny (1954 film)

The Caine Mutiny (1954) is the story of a mutiny aboard a World War II naval vessel, and the subsequent court-martial of Queeg, the ship's captain.

The film is based upon Herman Wouk's best-selling, and 1951 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. Wouk's novel had already been the basis for a successful nationwide stage play titled "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial."

The Navy Department initially objected to the film's depiction of a mentally unbalanced man as the captain of a naval vessel and the word "mutiny" in the film's title. After the script was altered, the Navy cooperated with Columbia Pictures by providing ships, planes, combat boats, and access to Pearl Harbor and the San Francisco port.

Lieutenant Commander Queeg was Humphrey Bogart's last great film role, earning him his third Best Actor Academy Award nomination (one of the film's seven nominations). The film received six other nominations: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Tom Tully), Best Screenplay, Best Sound Recording, Best Film Editing, and Best Dramatic Score (Max Steiner). None of the nominations won; Bogart lost to Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront.

Fred MacMurray was cast against type as an unlikeable lieutenant, and the title role, USS Caine, was played by USS Thompson (DMS-38).

Following the credits, the epigraph to the film disclaims that the film's story is non-factual. No ship named USS Caine ever existed, and no Navy captain has been relieved of command at sea under Articles 184-186.

There has never been a mutiny in a ship of the United States Navy. The truths of this film lie not in its incidents but in the way a few men meet the crisis of their lives.