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94-486: The novel was later adapted into a 1954 movie of the same name , as well as a similarly named play in 1953 , an American TV film in 1955 and an Australian TV film in 1959 both based on the play, and a similarly named 2023 film reboot . The story is told through the eyes of Willis Seward "Willie" Keith, a callow young graduate of Princeton University . Following a mediocre living as a nightclub piano player, he signs up for midshipman school at Columbia University with

188-472: A "rut" by being typecast in light roles. During the filming of the scene off Oahu in which Maryk swims fully clothed to retrieve a line, his character is warned that there are sharks in the water; these sharks do not appear on camera, but the actor's life was saved when a real-life Navy rifleman shot one which was approaching. Lee Marvin was cast as one of the sailors, not only for his acting, but also because of his knowledge of ships at sea. Marvin had served in

282-596: A decisive battle closer to home. Nevertheless, the Marshalls were reinforced at the end of 1943 to make their capture more costly for the Americans. By January 1944, the regional commander in Truk , Admiral Masashi Kobayashi , had 28,000 troops to defend the Marshalls, although he had very few aircraft. The 6th Base Force, under the command of Rear Admiral Monzo Akiyama , and headquartered on Kwajalein since August 1941,

376-442: A medical log documenting the captain's behavior. When strawberries go missing from the officers' mess, Queeg convenes an elaborate investigation to determine the culprit. The investigation involves searching the ship and stripping all crew members. Convinced of Queeg's instability, Maryk asks Keefer and Keith to go with him to see Admiral Halsey about the matter. Arriving aboard Halsey's flagship, Keefer backs down and they return to

470-460: A miserably small and overheated shack on deck, and stumble through their early days on board. Keith's lackadaisical attitude toward what he considers menial duties brings about a humiliating clash with De Vriess when Keith forgets to decode a time-sensitive communiqué. Shortly thereafter, De Vriess is relieved, after over five years at the helm of the Caine, by Lieutenant Commander Philip Francis Queeg,

564-421: A party celebrating both the acquittal and Keefer's success at selling his novel to a publisher, an intoxicated Greenwald arrives late, and calls Keefer out as a coward. He tells the gathering that he feels ashamed of having destroyed Queeg on the stand because Queeg and all other regular armed-forces officers have performed the necessary duty of guarding America in peacetime, which Keefer and others view as work that

658-507: A previous assignment he had on a ship named Barzun .) USS Caine is a fictional Clemson -class DMS conversion. The Clemson class was named for Midshipman Henry A. Clemson , lost at sea on December 8, 1846, during the Mexican war, when the brig USS  Somers capsized off Veracruz in a sudden squall while chasing a blockade runner . In November 1842, the Somers was the scene of

752-406: A shine to him. Finally galvanized after reading a last letter from his father, who has died of melanoma , Keith reports aboard the Caine. The ensign immediately disapproves of the ship's decaying condition and slovenly crew. He attributes these conditions to a slackness of discipline by the ship's longtime captain, Lieutenant Commander William De Vriess. Keith and another ensign are consigned to

846-668: A similar plan, first capturing islets Ivan, Jacob, Albert, Allen, and Abraham on 31 January, and then landing on Roi-Namur on 1 February. The airfield on the western half (Roi) was captured quickly, and the eastern half (Namur) fell the next day. The worst setback came when a Marine demolition team threw a satchel charge of high explosives into a Japanese bunker, not realizing it was a torpedo warhead magazine. The resulting explosion killed 20 Marines and wounded dozens more and caused an observation pilot to radio, "The whole damn island has blown up!" The relatively easy capture of Kwajalein demonstrated US amphibious capabilities and showed that

940-589: A singer — and they spend a romantic weekend together in Yosemite. But Keith is still divided between his love for her and her lower social class. He resolves to let the relationship die when his leave is over by not replying to her letters. As the Caine begins its missions in the Pacific under his command, Queeg begins to lose the respect of the crew and the loyalty of the wardroom through a series of increasingly unusual incidents — including running over and severing

1034-475: A soldier as saying "the entire island looked as if it had been picked up 20,000 feet and then dropped." Landing beaches Red 1 and 2 were assaulted at 09:30 on 1 February, the Americans reaching halfway across the runway by sunset. Although the Japanese counterattacked every night, the island was declared secure by the end of the fourth day. On the north side of the atoll, the 4th Marine Division followed

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1128-437: A strong, by-the-book figure, whom Keith at first believes to be just what the rusty Caine and its rough-necked crew needs. But Queeg has never handled a ship like this before, and he soon makes errors of judgement that he is unwilling to admit, finding ways to lay blame on others. The Caine is sent to San Francisco for an overhaul, which is interrupted by orders to return to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for further assignment. Before

1222-541: A structure suited for film, he noted that Roberts had "endeavored to follow it faithfully." The result, he argued, was that the court-martial became "an anticlimax" as it repeated Queeg's visible collapse seen in the typhoon but still considered the core of the film "smartly and stingingly played" and "though somewhat garbled" was still "a vibrant film." On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 95% of 41 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "Humphrey Bogart

1316-639: A subordinate can relieve a commanding officer in extraordinary circumstances. Maryk, a dutiful and dependable exec who brooks no public criticisms of Queeg, nevertheless begins to keep a secret log of Queeg's actions, and ultimately decides to bring them to the attention of Admiral Halsey , commanding the Third Fleet , when Halsey's flagship and the Caine are anchored at the Ulithi atoll. Keefer agrees to accompany Maryk, but then gets cold feet and backs out, and both men return to their ship without ever meeting

1410-516: A widely acclaimed performance that earned him the third and final Academy Award nomination of his career. After the novel's success, Wouk adapted the court-martial sequence into a full-length, two-act Broadway play, The Caine Mutiny Court Martial . Directed by Charles Laughton , it was a success on the stage in 1954, opening five months before the release of the film and starring Lloyd Nolan as Queeg, John Hodiak as Maryk, and Henry Fonda as Greenwald. It has been revived twice on Broadway, and

1504-459: Is 2.5 mi (4.0 km) long, but it is only 880 yd (800 m) wide. There was therefore no possibility of defence in depth , and the Japanese planned to counter-attack the landing beaches. They had not realized until the Battle of Tarawa that American amphibious vehicles could cross coral reefs and land on the lagoon side of an atoll; accordingly the strongest defenses on Kwajalein faced

1598-470: Is a 1954 American military trial film directed by Edward Dmytryk , produced by Stanley Kramer , and starring Humphrey Bogart , José Ferrer , Van Johnson , Robert Francis , and Fred MacMurray . It is based on Herman Wouk 's Pulitzer Prize -winning 1951 novel of the same name . Set in the Pacific theatre of World War II , the film depicts the events on board a U.S. Navy destroyer-minesweeper and

1692-406: Is an attorney in civilian life, represents Maryk. Greenwald's opinion, after Queeg is found to be sane by three Navy psychiatrists , is that Maryk was legally unjustified in relieving Queeg. However, he decides to take the case after deducing Keefer's background role in the crisis. During the trial, Greenwald unrelentingly cross-examines Queeg until the increasingly defensive Queeg starts to display

1786-502: Is beneath them. Greenwald states that the officers' disdain and disrespect for Queeg is what led to his inability to take action during the typhoon. Greenwald concludes by saying that officers like Queeg kept Greenwald's Jewish mother from being " melted down into a bar of soap " by the Nazis. He calls Keefer, not Maryk, "the true author of 'The Caine Mutiny,'" and throws a glass of champagne, "the yellow wine ", into Keefer's face — bringing

1880-525: Is superb as a domineering captain with brittle composure in The Caine Mutiny , an inquisitive courtroom drama teeming with memorable performances." American Film Institute Lists In his book American Literature on Stage and Film , historian Thomas S. Hischak says that Dmytryk handled both the action sequences and character portrayals deftly, and calls Queeg's breakdown during the trial "the stuff of movie legend." The film and novel influenced

1974-483: Is the world's largest coral atoll and comprises 93 islands and islets; it has a land area of 1,560 acres (6.33 km ) and surrounds one of the largest lagoons in the world, measuring 324 mi (839 km ) in size. The two most significant land masses are Kwajalein Island in the south and the linked islands of Roi-Namur in the north. By the start of World War II, the Marshalls were already an integral part of

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2068-513: Is undone; he stops and stares stricken at the court, during second after ticking second of dramatic and damning silence." Director Edward Dmytryk felt The Caine Mutiny could have been better than it was and should have been three and a half to four hours long to fully portray all the characters and complex story, but Columbia's Cohn insisted on a two-hour limit. Reviewing the film in The New York Times , Bosley Crowther wrote that

2162-454: The Caine and the conclusion of his duties is to find May Wynn and ask her to marry him. His wartime experiences have finally crystallized his desire and decision. However, it has been over a year and a half since they last saw each other. He discovers she is in musical and romantic partnership with a popular bandleader, has dyed her hair, and is now performing under her real name, Marie Minotti. Keith surprises her when he appears unexpectedly at

2256-592: The Caine steaming back and forth several times under the Golden Gate Bridge , the romantic subplot features scenes shot on location at Yosemite National Park . The USS  Rodman , a Gleaves -class destroyer minesweeper , was one of the ships chosen to represent the USS Caine in the film. The Rodman had one less smokestack than the actual Clemson -class destroyers on which Wouk served, and had more anti-aircraft guns. Completed in 1941, she

2350-538: The Caine . Herman Wouk had already adapted his novel as a stage play, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial , which premiered on Broadway in January 1954 and ran for more than a year. The play was directed by Charles Laughton and was a critical as well as a commercial success. Wouk was initially selected to write the screenplay, but director Dmytryk was disatisfied with his draft. He replaced the novelist with Stanley Roberts , an experienced screenwriter. Roberts later quit

2444-581: The National Philharmonic Orchestra . The lyrics of the song, "Yellowstain Blues", which mocked Queeg's perceived cowardice during the landing incident, were drawn from the source novel. The original soundtrack album for The Caine Mutiny was not officially released until 2017, and copies of the soundtrack made before that are very rare. Perhaps a dozen copies survive. RCA Victor planned an LP release with musical excerpts on

2538-793: The Southard, Wouk was recommended to captain the ship home to the United States at the end of the war before it was beached at Okinawa in September 1945, during Typhoon Louise . Wouk was serving aboard the USS Zane in December 1944, and though his ship did not experience much or any of the effects of Typhoon Cobra , as did the fictional Caine during this time, the American Third Fleet had many ships lost or damaged in

2632-566: The U.S. Marines from the beginning of American involvement in World War II through the Battle of Saipan in 1944, during which he was wounded. As a result, he became an unofficial technical advisor for the film. Before choosing Dmytryk for The Caine Mutiny , Kramer had hired the director for three low-budget films. Dmytryk had previously been blacklisted , and the success of the film helped revive his career. The Caine Mutiny would be

2726-537: The United States Navy to avoid being drafted into the United States Army during World War II . He endures inner conflicts over his relationships with his domineering mother and with May Wynn, a beautiful red-haired nightclub singer , the daughter of Italian immigrants, whom he accompanies on piano in their nightclub performances. After barely surviving a series of misadventures that earn him

2820-455: The 4th Marine Division commanded by Major General Harry Schmidt , the Army's 7th Infantry Division commanded by Major General Charles H. Corlett , as well as the 22nd Marines and the Army's 106th and 111th Infantry regiments. The 4th Marine Division was assigned to Roi-Namur, and the 7th Infantry Division would make the assault on Kwajalein. The 2nd Battalion of the 106th was assigned to

2914-982: The Americans had penetrated the "outer ring" of the Japanese Pacific sphere. For the Japanese, the battle represented the failure of the beach-line defense. Japanese defenses became prepared in depth, and the Battles of Peleliu , Guam , and the Marianas proved far more costly to the US. Kwajalein Atoll is in the heart of the Marshall Islands. It lies in the Ralik Chain, 2,100  nmi (2,400  mi ; 3,900  km ) southwest of Honolulu , Hawaii at 8°43′N 167°44′E  /  8.717°N 167.733°E  / 8.717; 167.733 . Kwajalein

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3008-586: The Atlantic, caused the captain to ultimately become indecisive during the typhoon. He denounces Keefer as the real "author" of the mutiny and throws a glass of champagne, the "yellow wine", in Keefer's face. The rest of the officers walk out, leaving Keefer alone in the room. Keith, now married to his girlfriend May Wynn, is promoted to lieutenant (junior grade) , and assigned to a new Sumner -class destroyer commanded by now-Commander De Vriess, his first captain in

3102-507: The Japanese base closest to the Gilberts and Maloelap, the most powerful enemy bases threatening the upcoming operations. Mili was the subject of several attacks throughout November, causing considerable damage to installations and high losses of aircraft for the Japanese. But Mili remained the only base within fighter reach of the Gilberts, and the defenders managed to keep the facilities there operational and reinforced with aircraft. Following

3196-703: The Japanese perimeter of defense. Its facilities were being utilized as outlying bases for submarines and surface warships, as well as for air staging for future advances being planned against Ellice , the Fiji Islands , and Samoa . After the capture of Makin and Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands , the next step in the United States Navy 's campaign in the central Pacific was the Marshall Island chain. These islands had been Imperial German colonies, after their purchase from Spain in 1899. At

3290-556: The Marshall air offensive. Japanese losses for the day amounted to 10 fighters (four on the ground) and four damaged. Other aircraft types participating in the offensive included North American B-25 Mitchells and Curtiss P-40 Warhawks . It was necessary to take another atoll in the eastern Marshalls—Majuro. This feature is 220 mi (190 nmi; 350 km) southeast of Kwajalein and could serve as an advanced air and naval base as well as safeguard supply lines to Kwajalein. Majuro

3384-644: The Marshalls had been recognized as early as 1921 in War Plan Orange , an American interwar plan for a possible conflict with Japan. The Marshalls were a key step in the island-hopping march to the Japanese mainland. After losing the Solomon Islands and New Guinea to the Allies in 1943, the Japanese command decided that the Gilbert and Marshall Islands were expendable. They preferred fighting

3478-591: The Navy subsided, the film production received wholehearted cooperation. This included the conversion of two soon to be decommissioned destroyer/destroyer minesweepers, USS  Thompson and USS  Doyle , as facsimiles to portray the USS Caine . An epigraph appears on screen immediately following the opening credits that reads: "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

3572-460: The Navy, becomes Maryk's defense counsel. At the court-martial, Keefer claims he never observed any mental illness in Queeg and was "flabbergasted" when he was relieved. Under Greenwald's relentless cross-examination, Queeg exhibits odd behavior on the stand, including his habit of rolling two steel balls in his hand symbolizing his mental instability, and Maryk is acquitted. Following the acquittal,

3666-616: The Philippine Sea during the storm. The Zane , however, was grounded during a heavy rain squall while disembarking her troops in the Russell Islands around June 1943 and, while serving as executive officer, Wouk offered to captain the Clemson -class DMS USS Southard home in September 1945, before she was grounded off Okinawa by Typhoon Louise, a serious storm that damaged over 20 American ships. The novel also describes

3760-542: The Queeg characterization to make him less of a madman, as portrayed by Wouk, and more a victim of battle fatigue. Studios did not want to purchase the film rights to Wouk's novel until cooperation of the U.S. Navy was settled. Kramer purchased the rights himself for an estimated $ 60,000 – $ 70,000. The Navy's reluctance to cooperate led to an unusually long pre-production period. Stanley Kramer and Columbia Pictures intended to cast Humphrey Bogart as Philip Queeg. Columbia Pictures president Harry Cohn knew that Bogart wanted

3854-579: The United States. It was the most successful of Kramer's productions, some of which had previously lost money, and put his entire production company – as well as Columbia Pictures – in the black. The film got a major pre-release boost three weeks before its premiere when Bogart as Queeg appeared on the cover of the June 7, 1954 issue of Time magazine. The accompanying cover story ("Cinema: The Survivor") praised Bogart's portrayal of Queeg as "a blustering, secretive figure in Navy suntans, who brings

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3948-464: The admiral. Soon afterward, the Caine is caught in Typhoon Cobra , an ordeal that sinks three destroyers and threatens to overwhelm the Caine . At the height of the storm, Queeg's paralysis convinces Maryk that he must relieve the captain of command in order to prevent the loss of the ship. Keith, as officer of the deck , supports the decision. Maryk turns Caine into the wind and rides out

4042-402: The cable to a valuable towed gunnery target , which he blames on John Stilwell, the helmsman — that reveal his cowardice, paranoia, and inability to accept responsibility. Queeg becomes increasingly isolated from the other officers, who come to dread his rages and unreasonable demands, which often entail loss of leave privileges and, at one low point, a 48-hour moratorium on drinking water while

4136-480: The captain. When Queeg's pet theory is finally decisively flouted, he disappears into his cabin, leaving the ship in executive officer Lieutenant Stephen Maryk's hands for days. The intellectual communications officer, Lieutenant Tom Keefer, who coined the "Yellowstain" nickname, suggests to Maryk that Queeg might be mentally ill. Keefer directs Maryk to "Section 184" of the Navy Regulations , under which

4230-470: The capture of Eniwetok, and further phases being the capture of remaining islands. Bombardment by the Seventh Air Force , and a carrier air attack on 4 December 1943, followed by additional attacks in January 1944, destroyed all Japanese aircraft. Staging through Baker Island airfield, Consolidated B-24 Liberators bombed strategic targets. In the beginning, the most important was Mili,

4324-486: The capture of Tarawa and until 19 December, 106 B-24s dropped a total of 122 short tons (111 t) of explosives on Mili's airbase. The largest of those raids came on 4 December when 34 B-24s pulverized the atoll in conjunction with carrier-based bombing raids of other parts of the Marshalls. On 18 December renewed strikes were initiated against enemy targets on Mili with land-based Douglas A-24 Banshee dive bombers and Bell P-39 Airacobra fighters making their debut in

4418-523: The changes to training and tactics after the costly Battle of Tarawa had been effective. It allowed Admiral Chester W. Nimitz , Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas , to speed up operations in the Marshalls and invade Ebeye Island on 3–4 February, Engebi Island on 18–19 February, Eniwetok Island on 19–21 February, and Parry Island on 22–23 February. The Japanese also realized that beach-line defenses were too vulnerable to naval and aerial bombardment. In

4512-411: The club where she performs and makes his case with ardent conviction. The book ends with their romantic situation unresolved; Minotti must put her past heartbreak over Keith as well as her current relationship behind her, and assess whether she can trust what her heart tells her, but the reader is left with the sense that the two will finally unite, and the book closes as confetti from the victory parade in

4606-497: The designated departure point, and instead orders the dropping of a yellow dye marker, leaving the landing craft to fend for themselves. Queeg asks his officers for their support, but they remain silent and nickname him "Old Yellowstain", which implies cowardice. Keefer, believing Queeg to be paranoid , encourages Maryk to consider relieving Queeg on the basis of mental incapacity under Article 184 of Navy Regulations . Though Maryk angrily rejects that possibility, he does begin keeping

4700-533: The drafters of the 25th Article Of Amendment to the U.S. Constitution , which set forth conditions for removing the President of the United States. John D. Feerick , former dean of Fordham University School of Law , who assisted in drafting the amendment, told The Washington Post in 2018 that the film was a "live depiction" of the type of crisis that could arise "if a president ever faced questions about physical or mental inabilities but disagreed completely with

4794-610: The efforts of the minesweepers and underwater demolition teams, another Clemson -class destroyer, the USS Kane , served in the Marshall Islands and at Saipan in the Marianas at the same time as Wouk's ship Zane . The destroyer Kane may also have been an initial inspiration for the name of Wouk's fictional ship. The Caine Mutiny reached the top of the New York Times best seller list on August 12, 1951, after 17 weeks on

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4888-507: The end of World War I they were assigned to Japan in the post-war settlement through the South Seas Mandate . The islands then became a mystery because the Japanese closed them to the outside world. It was presumed the Japanese had built illegal fortifications throughout the islands, but the extent of such fortifications was unknown. Japan regarded them as part of the "outer ring" of their territory. The strategic importance of

4982-506: The erratic and unreasonable behavior that the officers had previously reported. Queeg's performance results in Maryk's acquittal and the dropping of charges against Keith and Stillwell. Maryk, who had aspired to a career in the regular Navy , is sent to command a Landing Craft Infantry , a humiliation that ruins his naval career ambitions. Queeg is transferred to a naval supply depot in Iowa. At

5076-639: The fictional Caine as having been struck by a kamikaze, which caused relatively minor damage, while Keefer was in command during the Battle of Lingayen Gulf. This did in fact happen to the Southard on January 6, 1945, although Wouk was not aboard at the time, as he was still serving on the Zane . The name for the USS Caine came from the story in Genesis of Cain killing his brother Abel, and Cain's resulting banishment, nomadic life, and isolation. While supporting

5170-595: The film's climactic courtroom scene. In Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles , members of the human resistance serve aboard the submarine USS Jimmy Carter piloted by a reprogrammed Terminator that has been named "Queeg" by the crew. In the Star Trek episode " The Doomsday Machine ", the obsessive Commodore Matt Decker, portrayed by William Windom , fusses constantly with two futuristic tape cartridges, much as Captain Queeg rubs together two bearing balls . Windom publicly acknowledged that Decker's behavior

5264-620: The first feature role in Robert Francis 's short four-film Hollywood career, as he was killed when the private plane he was piloting crashed shortly after takeoff from Burbank Airport in California on July 31, 1955. Principal photography took place between June 3 and August 24, 1953 under the initial working title of Authority and Rebellion . In addition to the Pearl Harbor and San Francisco Bay Area locations, including

5358-470: The first side and the complete dialogue of the climactic court-martial scene on side two, but Herman Wouk believed that including this scene was an infringement on his recently opened Broadway play dealing with the court-martial. He threatened to prohibit Columbia Pictures from making any further adaptations of his work. According to Wouk, "Columbia head Harry Cohn looked into the matter, called me back, and said in his tough gravelly voice, 'I've got you beat on

5452-486: The highest number of demerits in his class, Keith is commissioned as an ensign in the Naval Reserve and assigned to the destroyer minesweeper U.S.S. Caine, an obsolete warship converted from a post- World War I -era destroyer. Arriving late, Keith misses his ship when it leaves on a combat assignment. While waiting for transportation to catch up with it, he plays piano in the evenings for an admiral who takes

5546-473: The hollow, driven, tyrannical character of Captain Queeg to full and invidious life, yet seldom fails to maintain a bond of sympathy with his audience. He deliberately gives Queeg the mannerisms and appearance of an officer of sternness and decision, and then gradually discloses him as a man who is bottling up a scream, a man who never meets another's eyes. In the courtroom scene, Bogart's Queeg seems oblivious of his own mounting hysteria. Then, suddenly, he knows he

5640-417: The island plus 80mm guns on the ocean and lagoon sides. The 22nd Air Flotilla, depleted after the Gilbert campaign, had 128 aircraft in the Marshalls, 10 on Kwajalein. The Marshall campaign planned by the US involved attacks on seven islands, bypassing many more. Operation Flintlock had nine phases, the main phase being the capture of Kwajalein and Majuro Atolls, a second phase, Operation Catchpole, being

5734-399: The job of condensing Wouk's novel to two hours had been achieved "with clarity and vigor, on the whole." His reservations concerned the studio's attempt to "cram" in "more of the novel than was required", such as the "completely extraneous" love affair between Keith and May Wynn, which Crowther found to be a plot diversion that weakened dramatic tension. Although he doubted whether the novel had

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5828-544: The judgment", which was not dealt with in the Constitution. Lawmakers and lawyers drafting the amendment wanted no such "Article 184 situation" as depicted in the film, in which the Vice President of the U.S. or others could topple the President by merely saying that the President was "disabled". When Michael Caine , born Maurice Micklewhite, first became an actor he adopted the stage name "Michael White". He

5922-441: The lax crew, making him unpopular with them, but admired by Keith. During a gunnery target towing exercise, Queeg is distracted berating Keith and Keefer over a crewman’s appearance, resulting in the ship steering over the towline, setting the target adrift. Queeg tries to cover up the incident. Assigned to escort a group of landing craft during an invasion of a small Pacific island , Queeg abandons his mission before he reaches

6016-497: The legalities, but I've listened to the record and it's no goddamn good, so I'm yanking it.'" Max Steiner's score was finally released by Intrada Records in 2017 as Special Collection Volume ISC 382. The film premiered in New York City on June 24, 1954, and went into general release on July 28. Made on a budget of $ 2 million, it was the second-highest-grossing film of 1954 , earning $ 8.7 million in theatrical rentals in

6110-512: The list, replacing From Here to Eternity . It remained atop the list for 33 weeks until March 30, 1952, when it was replaced by My Cousin Rachel . It moved back to first place on May 25, 1952, and remained another 15 weeks, before being supplanted by The Silver Chalice , and last appeared on August 23, 1953, after 122 weeks on the list. In 1954, Columbia Pictures released the film The Caine Mutiny , starring Humphrey Bogart as Queeg in

6204-412: The main islands of Kwajalein in the south and Roi-Namur in the north. The Japanese defenders put up stiff resistance, although outnumbered and under-prepared. The determined defense of Roi-Namur left only 51 survivors of an original garrison of 3,500. For the US, the battle represented both the next step in its island-hopping march to Japan and a significant morale victory because it was the first time

6298-529: The ocean. The bombardment by the Southern Attack Force, including the battleship USS  Tennessee , plus B-24 bombers from Abemama and artillery on Carlson island was devastating. The Navy had changed its bombardment tactics based on the Tarawa experience and used armor-piercing shells as well as firing into the island at closer ranges. The official U.S. Army history of the battle quotes

6392-412: The officers of the Caine hold a party, where Keefer receives a frosty reception from Maryk. A drunken Greenwald arrives and berates all the officers for not appreciating Queeg's long service and failing to give him the support he asked for, instead of deriding him as an incompetent. Barney claims their mistreatment of Queeg, who had been suffering from " battle fatigue " from his previous combat service in

6486-459: The only recorded conspiracy to mutiny in U.S. naval history when three members of the crew — a midshipman, a boatswain's mate , and a seaman — were clapped in irons and subsequently hanged for planning a takeover of the vessel. Many of the incidents and plot details are autobiographical. Like both Keith and Keefer, Wouk rose through the ship's wardroom of Zane from assistant communications officer to first lieutenant . As executive officer of

6580-474: The other way, he would have ended up as "Michael One Hundred and One Dalmatians ". Vince Gilligan used a clip of the film in a Breaking Bad episode titled " Madrigal ", originally transmitted in 2012, and has stated that The Caine Mutiny was one of his favorite movies as a child. The final scene of " Chicanery ", an episode of the Breaking Bad spinoff series Better Call Saul , is an homage to

6674-422: The part and took advantage of that fact, and he was eventually able to force Bogart to settle for much less than his usual $ 200,000 salary. "This never happens to Cooper or Grant or Gable , but always to me", Bogart complained to his wife, Lauren Bacall . Van Johnson was loaned to Columbia by MGM, where he was under contract. Being cast as Maryk was a breakthrough for the actor, who felt that he had been in

6768-564: The portrayal of a mentally unbalanced man as the captain of one of its ships and the word "mutiny" in the film's title. After Stanley Roberts' shooting script was completed and approved by the Navy after 15 months of negotiations, the Department agreed to cooperate with Columbia Pictures by providing access to its ships, planes, combat boats, Pearl Harbor , the port of San Francisco , and Naval Station Treasure Island for filming. Dmytryk recalled in his memoir that after "noisy" protests from

6862-531: The primary inspirations for the book and the movie came from Wouk's experience as second in command of the Southard when she ran aground in Okinawa as a result of Typhoon Ida in September 1945. Columbia claimed that the film contained the longest continuous courtroom scene without a cut, running to 977 feet, surpassing a scene in The Life of Emile Zola . The Navy was initially uncomfortable with both

6956-464: The production after being told to cut the screenplay so the film could be kept to two hours. The 50 pages worth of cuts were made by Michael Blankfort , who received an "additional dialog" credit. The film differs from the novel, which focused on the Keith character, who became secondary in the film. The film instead focuses on Queeg. Independent producer Stanley Kramer "mollified the Navy" by modifying

7050-409: The ship departs, Queeg browbeats his officers into selling their liquor rations to him and, in a breach of regulations, smuggles the liquor off the ship. When the crate is inadvertently lost overboard during the transition, Queeg blackmails Keith into paying for it. While on leave, Keith sees May Wynn — who is now working on achieving her degree at Hunter College, in addition to continuing to perform as

7144-401: The ship is sweltering near the equator. Keith realizes that De Vriess was a far more competent, effective, and fair-minded leader, and inwardly regrets his original, naive judgements of both captains. During the following invasion of Kwajalein , Queeg is ordered to escort low-lying landing craft to their line of departure. Instead, Queeg orders the crew to throw over a yellow dye marker to mark

7238-449: The ship. At the height of Typhoon Cobra , Maryk urges the captain to reverse course into the wind and take on ballast, but Queeg refuses and virtually freezes up on the bridge. Maryk, supported by Keith, relieves Queeg of command under Article 184. The Caine returns to San Francisco, where Maryk and Keith face a court-martial for mutiny . Lieutenant Barney Greenwald, a temporarily grounded naval aviator and an attorney before entering

7332-406: The simultaneous capture of Majuro Atoll. The rest of the 106th and the 22nd Marines were in reserve for Kwajalein, while awaiting the following assault on Eniwetok , scheduled for three months later. The 7th Infantry Division began by capturing the small islands labeled Carlos, Carter, Cecil, and Carlson on 31 January, which were used as artillery bases for the next day's assault. Kwajalein Island

7426-433: The situation by heroically dousing the fires. Keefer, discharged after the war ends, is ashamed of his cowardly behavior during the kamikaze attack, especially because his half-brother Roland has died saving his own ship, also from kamikaze fire. Keith is promoted as captain of the Caine. He receives a Bronze Star Medal for his actions following the kamikaze explosion, and a letter of reprimand for his part in supporting

7520-417: The spot, and hastily directs the Caine away from the battle area. The officers nickname him "Old Yellowstain." Queeg's next act of paranoia begins when over half of a prized container of strawberries is discovered to be empty. He concocts elaborate and time-consuming procedures in which to catch the thief. These occupy all of the officers and crew for long hours and further erode confidence in and respect for

7614-410: The storm. Maryk is tried by court-martial for " conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline " instead of "making a mutiny". Keith and Stilwell, helmsman during the typhoon, are also to be tried, depending on the outcome of Maryk's trial. In the courtroom, Keefer distances himself from any responsibility for the relief of command from Queeg. Lieutenant Barney Greenwald, a naval aviator who

7708-600: The streets settles on the shoulders of the last captain of the Caine. Wouk served during World War II aboard two destroyer-minesweepers (DMS) converted from World War I-era Clemson -class destroyers, USS  Zane being the first and USS  Southard being the second. (Wouk uses the latter name for one of his characters in the novel, Captain Randolph Patterson Southard. Also, in an allusion to history professor Jacques Barzun of his alma mater, Columbia University , Wouk also has Queeg refer to

7802-412: The subsequent court-martial of its executive officer for mutiny . The film was released by Columbia Pictures on June 24, 1954. It was well-received by critics and was the second highest-grossing film in the United States in 1954. At the 27th Academy Awards , the film was nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture , Best Adapted Screenplay , Best Actor for Humphrey Bogart. Edward Dmytryk

7896-479: The term "Old Yellowstain" full circle. Keith returns to the Caine during the last days of the Okinawa campaign as its executive officer. Keefer is now the captain, and his behavior as captain is similar to Queeg's. The Caine is struck by a kamikaze , an event in which Keith discovers that he has matured into a naval officer. Keefer panics and orders the ship abandoned, but Keith remains aboard and calmly rescues

7990-512: The translated play in a successful run at the Beijing People's Art Theatre , opening on October 18, 1988. The play was revived in 2006, again under Heston, and has been revived there twice more (2009, 2012), since his death. In 2023, a new film adaptation of the stage script, directed by William Friedkin and starring Kiefer Sutherland as Queeg, was released on Paramount+ . The Caine Mutiny (1954 film) The Caine Mutiny

8084-422: The unlawful relief of Queeg. The findings of the court-martial are overturned after a review by higher naval authorities, but Keith, in retrospect, agrees that their actions were legally unjustified and probably unnecessary. Captain Keith keeps the Caine afloat during another typhoon and brings it to Bayonne, New Jersey for decommissioning after the end of the war. His first desire and primary aim upon departing

8178-552: The way a few men meet the crisis of their lives." In 1842, an incipient mutiny was quashed before it occurred on board the US Navy Brig USS Somers . This was the last of a number of Bogart films scored by composer Max Steiner , mostly for Warner Bros. The main title theme, The Caine Mutiny March , was included in RCA Victor 's collection of classic Bogart film scores, recorded by Charles Gerhardt and

8272-601: Was a much more modern ship than the 1918-manufactured Clemson -class destroyer minesweepers had been. True to the theme of the novel, the actual minesweepers of Wouk's service, the Zane and the Southard , were both outdated ships by the time the film was made. The Zane was retired shortly after the war, and the Southard was scuttled in October 1945 after running aground in Okinawa with Wouk serving as Executive Officer. One of

8366-528: Was based on Queeg's. Battle of Kwajalein V Amphibious Corps : Kwajalein Garrison : The Battle of Kwajalein was fought as part of the Pacific campaign of World War II . It took place 31 January – 3 February 1944, on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands . Employing the hard-learned lessons of the Battle of Tarawa , the United States launched a successful twin assault on

8460-619: Was later told by his agent that another actor was already using the same name, and that he had to come up with a new one immediately. Speaking to his agent from a telephone box in Leicester Square in London , he looked around for inspiration. Being a fan of Bogart, he noted that The Caine Mutiny was being shown at the Odeon Cinema, and adopted a new name from the movie title. Caine has often joked in interviews that, had he looked

8554-451: Was nominated for a Directors Guild of America Award . During World War II, newly commissioned Ensign Willis Seward "Willie" Keith reports to the minesweeper USS Caine , where he meets career officer Lt. Stephen Maryk, the ship’s executive officer, and aspiring novelist and communications officer Thomas Keefer. Soon after, Lt. Commander Philip Francis Queeg is assigned command of the Caine . The eccentric Queeg instills strict discipline on

8648-436: Was presented on television live in 1955 , under the direction of Franklyn J. Schaffner, and again on Australian television in 1959 . In 1988, Wouk's play was adapted as a made-for-television film directed by Robert Altman . Also in 1988, the stage script was translated into Chinese by Ying Ruocheng , a famous Chinese actor, director, playwright and Vice Minister of Culture. At Ying's invitation, Charlton Heston directed

8742-477: Was the principal defense force of the islands. Akiyama had his men spread out over a very wide area, with naval-air bases located on Roi-Namur , Mili , Maloelap , Enewetak , and Wotje . Garrison troops on the island included the 1st Company, 3rd Mobile Battalion, 1st Amphibious Brigade, plus units of the 2nd Mobile Battalion. The defense system on the islands was mostly in line, with little or no depth. The Japanese had twin 12.7 cm guns on each end of

8836-429: Was very lightly defended, and the V Amphibious Corps Marine Reconnaissance Company and the 2nd Battalion , 106th Infantry , 27th Infantry Division were employed in its capture. The island was taken on 31 January 1944 without any US casualties. The US forces for the landings were Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner 's 5th Fleet Amphibious Force, and Major General Holland M. Smith 's V Amphibious Corps, which comprised

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