Caine Mutiny

The Caine Mutiny

Society cannot judge a person until they walk a mile in that person’s shoes. This movie shows how the strains of war shape who we are. The communications officer (Lieutenant Thomas Keefer) talked the Executive Officer (Lieutenant Steve Maryk) and Ensign Willie Keith into scrutinizing the captain’s actions (Captain Queeg), to look for mental instability. Cynical, but smart Keefer, slowly persuaded loyal Lieutenant Steve Maryk, that Queeg's unusual behavior and petty actions were endangering the ship and crew.

The crew refers to Queeg as "Old Yellow stain" following the escorting of troop transports for the invasion of Kwajalein. Captain Queeg feared the ship had come to close to shore and had fallen under fire. So he drops a yellow dye marker to mark the spot, and then leaves the area. The nickname has two meanings, it refers to both the dye marker and his apparent cowardice, but it also provides an intriguing twist in the end. Lieutenant Maryk tells everyone to knock it off and supports his Captain. Keefer begins to plant the suggestion that Queeg might be mentally ill in the mind of Maryk, and steers Maryk to "section 184." This Navy Regulation explains that a subordinate can relieve a commanding officer for mental illness in extraordinary circumstances. After Keefer leads Maryk into diagnosing Queeg as a paranoid, Maryk reluctantly relieves Queeg of command during a typhoon. At the height of the storm, Queeg's freezes, and fearing the loss of the Caine, Maryk feels that he must relieve Queeg of command. Keith, on duty as the Officer of the Deck, supports the decision, although his decision (as he later realizes) based on the hatred he had developed for Captain Queeg. Maryk's actions ultimately saved the Caine was.

During the trial Maryk’s attorney, Lieutenant Greenwald, relentlessly cross-examines Queeg until being overcome by the stress and displays confusion during the cross examination. Greenwald's tactic of attacking...