"Ahh, but the strawberries that's... that's where I had them."

The year 1954 would be a great one for Humphrey Bogart. He would have four movies released that year. It would be the last time in his career that he would have so many movies released in one year. The first to be released was the quirky Beat the Devil. The next was probably the best of the four, The Caine Mutiny. The other two were stellar as well and will be looked at this week.

Herman Wouk won a Pulitzer Prize for the book, “The Caine Mutiny.” It was an enticing project for any production company. Stanley Kramer was fortunate enough to acquire the rights to the book. He got a distribution deal through Columbia Pictures and was immediately in business. Two major stars, Bogie and Fred MacMurray, were signed on. Van Johnson and Jose Ferrer were added to make the cast something special. It is interesting to note, that much like The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948), Bogie is surrounded by talented male actors. The typical Hollywood formula dictates that there needs to be a big male and big female role in order to make a success. This movie didn’t need that.

What it has is great performances. Bogie, who was nominated for his third Academy Award, is perfect as the paranoid Captain Queeg, new commander of the U.S.S. Caine, a destroyer/mine sweeper in the Pacific.

Queeg is the new sheriff in town. The Caine had been run by a lax commander. The crew of the ship understood that the Caine wasn’t going to see much action, due to it being an ancient ship. So things were relaxed before Queeg appeared. MacMurray and Johnson play officers on the ship who clash at times with Queeg’s paranoid personality.

Queeg happens to do everything by the book and allows these strict regulations to interfere with important tasks. Such as his first task as new captain of the Caine involves tugging targets out so that destroyers can practice. Queeg gets so angry at one of his men for an untucked shirt, that he doesn’t realize his ship has cut its tow line, costing the government money.

MacMurray’s character, the wannabe novelist, Lt. Keefer, picks up quickly on Queeg’s perceived paranoia. He gets the other officers to believe that there is something psychologically wrong with their captain. This point is perfectly demonstrated when the Caine is involved in leading an invasion of an island. While the other boats in the Caine’s class continue toward the island to help support the drop boats, the Caine pulls up short as Queeg becomes afraid of the ship being damaged by enemy fire. This earns Queeg the nickname of “Old Yellow Spot.”

Things don’t get better for the crew of the Caine though. The captain makes a big deal over what he believes is some stolen strawberries. This comical scene is famous and it also helps prove Keefer’s point that the captain is crazy.

That is not all though, because during a terrible storm, Queeg is forced to make a decision about what to do. He wants to stay the course and whether the storm, even though his advisors have told him that it would mean certain suicide. This is where the movie gets its name from, spurred on by Keefer, the leadership on the Caine switches from Queeg to executive officer Maryk, played by Van Johnson. The Caine mutiny has occurred and Queeg makes sure Maryk is brought before a court marshal.

Here Lt. Greenwald, Jose Ferrer, defends Maryk. Expecting some help from Keefer, Maryk is disappointed when Keefer acts just as cowardly as Queeg does when he testifies. So in a desperate attempt to save his client, Lt. Greenwald has to push the unstable Queeg, to prove the instability present in the ships commander. This is the best scene in the movie and the one that earned Bogie his Oscar nomination. Rolling steel balls in his hands, Queeg breaks down on the stand. The speech is one of the best acted in film history.

Of course, Queeg’s testimony proves that he is missing something upstairs, so Maryk isn’t court-martialed. The ending involves a bittersweet crew of the Caine drinking champagne. Maryk knows Keefer is a coward and Greenwald is disappointed that the Navy is losing one of its most loyal captains. It is a fitting ending to a movie that has been well crafted throughout. The Caine Mutiny is a fantastic watch today and has been restored well on DVD.