The Caine Mutiny Court Martial is based on Herman Youk`s novel, The Caine Mutiny.  More specifically, it is based on Youk`s play derived from the original novel.  The play is set almost entirely in the courtroom where Lieutenant Merrick is tried for mutiny of the U.S.S. Caine and for defying his captain, Queeg, while the novel (and the Humphrey Bogart film from 1954) focuses mainly on the action of the ship before and during the mutiny.   The Bogart film is a great movie in the great Hollywood tradition, and, overall, both films are different, but still equal in quality, but this 1988 version contains scenes that will most likely shock those familiar only with the Bogart film, and is a must-see in that situation.

 The story is probably well known to film buffs; the U.S.S. Caine, by all accounts a ship near the bottom of the Navy food chain, is introduced to a new captain, Queeg (played here by Brad Davis).   At first, he seems like a take-charge sort of guy, but after a while, everybody starts to question, if not hate, the man.  He is seen as a power-hungry paranoid with an inferiority complex, given to strange activities.  A  classic example, well-depicted in the Bogart version, is his investigation of the missing strawberries.   His insistence that somebody stole the remaining strawberries  by creating a duplicate key in the icebox results in him demanding a sweep down of the ship to find every single key, and to try out every single key  -- even though it's obvious that all that happened is that the mess boys had eaten the rest of the berries.

 Later on, the mutiny occurs; Merrick takes over the ship during a fierce typhoon.  The explanation is that Queeg`s directions would have caused certain death, and so Merrick, using an obscure regulation in the Navy rule book, does, as lieutenant, relieve Queeg of command and takes over.  Naturally, Merrick is charged with mutiny.   The Altman film is a depiction of the trial, and clearly lacks the drama that existed in the Bogart version, yet what happens on the stand in this version makes the entire story as a whole much more clear.

 Merrick (Jeff Daniels in the Van Johnson role) is represented by Barney Greenwald (Eric Bogasian in the Jose Ferrer role), who right away tells Merrick flat out that he'd rather be prosecuting.  This naturally leads to tension, but it is clear that Merrick will probably not find any other lawyer who will defend him.

 The trial begins with Queeg recounting his side of the story, rather intensely, and with numerous interruptions from the council to refrain from hearsay testimony.   Other key players include Keith, one of the men who played along with the events, a couple of doctors and experts, and, of course, Keifer, a writer who, as people who've seen the original know, is the man who instigated the whole notion that Queeg is less than suitable for the Caine.

 The first half of this film is naturally more adept at depicting the trial, which only took about ten minutes in the original.   This version does include a lot of little details that expand what was included in the original, yet still feeling, for the most part, pretty close to what one who saw the original would expect.  But the final half really takes off, and will totally mess up your impression of the original.

 If you know the original, you know the generalities.   Queeg gets on the stand and all the evasions and stresses come back to haunt him, and is left playing with his two marbles, which he rotates around in his hand when he gets nervous.   He is embarrassed.   Yet Barney is ashamed of his part in ruining a captain of the Navy, and he storms the celebration party, and splashes a glass of champagne on Keifer`s face, saying that he was the one who should have been on trial.

 All fine and dandy; the original gave us a good idea of what can happen when one resentful, bitter man (Keifer) spreads his ill will to the rest of the group.  Soon everybody believes that Queeg is paranoid and starts a mutiny.  Sure, Queeg is disturbed, but it is obvious that Keifer did what he did for less than noble reasons.

 This stuff happens in this version as well, but the effect is totally different.  Once Queeg hits the stand for the second time (he only does it once in the 1954 version), his true personality shines, and will shock you enough that you will start believing that this, and not Bogart`s performance, is the definitive Queeg performance.   Queeg`s rage, anger, paranoia, ego, insecurity... everything... just pours out of him, and we realize exactly what was at stake for him on that ship.  In the Bogart testimony, what ruins him is his yammering about the strawberries, but in the Davis testimony, the strawberries are far from the point.  He even says so himself  -- it had nothing to do with the strawberries, but with the fact that he was the captain of the ship, and the captain's word was law.  He wanted to drill discipline and hierarchy into those men's heads, even if it meant doing things that, to the people beneath him, appeared the acts of a crazy man.

 He makes amazing accusations, however, and is generally hostile and intense (Bogart was more miffed than truly upset on the stand), so it is true that Queeg is not exactly the sort of guy we could like.  In fact, he's far more nastier and unlikeable than Bogart was in the original.  But, at the same time, Queeg looks a bit better in this version, if only because we realize that we probably need people like this to run ships during wartime.  War is not a pretty business; do you want sensitive, squeamish people running things when the world is at stake.

 Nevertheless, it is  clear that Queeg will be ruined.  I won't say how, but I will say that I thought the way it happens in this version is far more effective and powerful than in the Bogart version.   His tragic flaw is exposed in the raw, and is more than a mere social embarrassment.

 And it gets even more powerful afterward.   The party scene in which Barney gets in a drunken rage is more effective, because key elements are now restored.    One element is the fact that Barney is Jewish, which makes his reasons for being angry about having ruined a captain of the Navy, part of a military that fought the Nazi regime, all the more stronger.   Some of the lines he says to Keifer, while in a drunken rage, really hurt.

 Few characters are spared in this version of the story.  In the original, Merrick was a good guy, a man who took command of the ship not because he was selfish, but because the people beneath him were unsatisfied.  He was thinking of the ship.  Van Johnson was able to portray a man who was decent, who showed genuine remorse.   The other men were just unsophisticated enough to believe that perhaps Queeg was insane because Keifer told them so.  The only real villain was Keifer (played brilliantly in that version by Fred MacMurray), because he unleashed his resentment and snobbery on an unsuspecting crew, and let Merrick be the fall guy while he weaseled from responsibility.

 In this version, however, Altman`s direction subtly implies that all of the men were just a bunch of immature frat boys who didn't like their captain, and that Keifer is only more villainous because he was more intelligent.   He was the brains behind the conspiracy.  And Barney has a contemptuous attitude toward more people besides Keifer.

 The acting among the main players is great.   Bogasian and Peter Gallaghar, the opposing lawyers, have very meaty roles.   Jeff Daniels portrays Merrick as less a noble person than a man eager to move up in the Navy.   And Brad Davis plays Queeg as a very expressive, totally intimidating and strict Navy captain, and certainly (being a TV movie) would have deserved an Emmy nomination, at least.

 Robert Altman is up to his usual tricks, with the overlapping dialogue and the interesting camera angles, which is great,  since after all this is a movie based on a play, with only two sets.   Altman is able to tell the story visually as well as through the dialogue, and, as I said before, hints at certain possibilities which are not referred to through the words.

 The Caine Mutiny Court Martial is a powerful production, although I can't say how a novice to the material will take to  it.  I was stirred because my knowledge of the original was shattered due to this version's climax, but a novice may see this film differently.  All I can say is that I recommend this film to fans of the original Caine Mutiny, and that it is also worth watching for the great performances and dialogue.

Rating: ***1/2

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