The Caine Mutiny: A New Reason to Appreciate A Classic

It seems timely, as so many folks are finding their lives upended, that dealing with crisis with questionable leadership is a vital lesson to consider.

Humphrey Bogart as Lieutenant Commander Philip Francis Queeg, Van Johnson as Lieutenant Steve Maryk, Fred MacMurray as Lieutenant Tom Keefer in The Caine Mutiny (1954).

While social media was debating movies with the name “mutiny” in it this morning, seems like a good time to discuss a film that really is one of my all time favorites and the reasons why. Among them, one of the great, all-time walk off one-liners of “If you want to do anything about it, I’ll be outside…I’m a lot drunker than you, so it’ll be a fair fight,” a heavyweight cast at their very best, and some timeless subject matter for a then-contemporary war movie.

The Caine Mutiny came out in 1954, so if you are one of those folks scrupulous about spoiler warnings over a 66 year old film, then consider yourself thusly warned.

The film centers on the fictional US Navy minesweeper USS Caine during World War 2, with Humphrey Bogart, Van Johnson, Robert Francis, and Fred MacMurray leading a stellar cast as the crew. The reader’s digest version is Lt Maryk (Johnson) and Ensign Keith (Francis) are newly assigned to the Caine, an overworked and undermanned minesweeper under the command of demanding veteran Lieutenant Commander De Vriess. De Vriess is played by…