The Caine Mutiny based on the Pulitzer Prize Winner

The Caine Mutiny based on the Pulitzer Prize Winner

This film is included on the New York Times' Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made list.

And the original material has won the Pulitzer Prize.

In a strange manner, I have almost missed a chef d'oeuvre.

When I had started reading the book, first the large size, then the introduction to the narrative did not appeal to me.

So I have placed this aside and thought that reading hundreds of pages about men isolated and mutinous on a ship is not my cup of tea.

But luckily, I tried this again and what a treat I have been given.

The film is excellent, even if I prefer the novel.

It is based on a story that never happened.

It is made clear from the start that the American navy has never had a mutiny on board one of its vessels.

Or maybe they said not a successful one.

Anyway, even if this is purely fictional, it is still a gripping account.

The captain of the Caine has so many elements of madness.

He is obsessed with the tail shirts of the sailors under his command to an absurd point.

In fact, while he is reprimanding someone on the ship, the vessel is cutting its own line.

Paying attention to a minor detail, the commanding officer made a much graver mistake of letting the ship sail in a complete circle.

In another instance,scared and afraid for his life, the captain increases the speed of the Caine beyond the limit at which it could be followed.

The attack teams that were supposed to sail with the ship are left to follow a yellow line on the water.

Therefore, the captain became The Yellow Stain.

This neurotic man is continuously playing with steel balls in his hands.

And he becomes crazy about some...strawberries!

The captain finds out that there are no more strawberries and he decides to have an investigation!

Someone has eaten maybe five hundred grams of the fruit and that is unacceptable.

So, in the middle of the night, this commander makes his officer search for e culprit.

He has everyone looking for the...key.

He is sure that the criminal has  made a copy, unlocked the strawberries and has eaten them.

Someone in the right mind would have balanced the gains and losses of this stupid, exhausting action and given up.

Not the captain of the Caine.

And there are other crazy things he does, recorded in a book by the second in command.

In a typhoon, the latter takes over and states that the captain is unfit and cannot control the vessel.

And I totally agreed with that.

Consequently, I was cheering for the mutineers in the following trial.

The accusations wee very serious and the accused could be hanged if found guilty. A

They are fortunate because they are defended by an exceptional lawyer.

Nevertheless, the proceedings of the trial are not favorable for the accused.

It seems that the witnesses, even those thought favorable, do not help their cause.

On the contrary.

But then the captain aka Humphrey Bogart takes the stage.

For some minutes, he appears to be the sane, good commanding officer.

And then there is a dramatic change.

The phenomenal surprise takes place out of court though.

And all that the reader has been made to believe is shattered.

The Caine Mutiny is an astounding, memorable masterpiece.