The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (1988) (TV)

Director:

Robert Altman

Writers:

Herman Wouk (play)
Herman Wouk (teleplay)

Release Date:

8 May 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

A full-length adaptation, originally staged as a play, of the court-martial segment from the novel "The Caine Mutiny". |

Plot Keywords:

Court Martial | US Navy | Pulitzer Prize Source | Courtroom Drama | Courtroom

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Eric Bogosian	...	Lt. Barney Greenwald
Jeff Daniels	...	Lt. Steve Maryk
Brad Davis	...	Lt. Cmdr. Phillip Francis Queeg
Peter Gallagher	...	Lt. Cmdr. John Challee
Michael Murphy	...	Capt. Blakely
Kevin J. O'Connor	...	Lt. Thomas Keefer
Daniel Jenkins	...	Lt. Willis Keith
Danny Darst	...	Capt. Randolph Southard
Ken Michels	...	Dr. Bird
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Barnett	...	Legal Assistant
Brian Haley	...	Party Guest
Kenneth V. Jones	...	Legal Assistant
Matt Malloy	...	Legal Assistant
David Miller	...	Stenographer
Matt Smith	...	Party Guest
L.W. Wyman	...	Party Guest

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Fort Worden State Park - 200 Battery Way, Port Townsend, Washington, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Television

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The gymnasium floor where trial is held has modern basketball court markings.

Movie Connections:

Version of The Caine Mutiny (1954)

The Caine gets the Altman treatment

This was an good adaptation of the Caine story. I've read the original book on which the story was based, and have seen the 1950s film version many times, but hadn't seen a stage version of this film. (Wouk wrote both the book and this play.) This version is interesting on several levels. First, unlike the original story, everything is stripped out except the courtroom scenes and the party afterward. This allows us to experience the story without having seen it first, which allows us to view the Queeg story fresh, without having seen it ourselves and formed opinions about it.

Also, Altman wisely chose actors which were very unlike (in most cases) the 1954 version of the story. The most noteworth, of course, is Queeg himself, with Davis doing a very credible job that is very different from the Bogart portrayal. (For one thing, Davis is a very different physical type than Bogart and is a lot younger.) Keefer is good too - and again, different than the 1954 version, with Fred McMurray in the role.

And, of course, this film has the usual Altman technique of using a lot of side conversations that are barely heard and added noises to make the film seem more naturalistic. As others noted, this is most evident during the party scene at the end, but it used with good effect during the rest of the movie too.

Overall a nice piece of work.