Back in the late 1940s and through the 50s, there were quite a few television programs which featured live teleplays. Some of these teleplays were later remade into film classics, such as "12 Angry Men", "Marty", and "Days of Wine and Roses". Well, despite these and many other classics, not all of them were stellar productions...such as "Mutiny on the Nicolette"...a confusing and klunky story from start to finish.
The story is set on a merchant ship filled with scum of the earth crew members. One of them, Skaggs (Karloff), orchestrates a mutiny and they kill the captain. Soon, however, the ship is commandeered, supposedly for the war effort and crew members begin to wonder...is the new captain actually NOT from the Allied forces but a Nazi. All during which, Skaggs schemes and makes everyone doubt what is and isn't true.
I just thought the writing for this one wasn't up to the usual standards. Karloff was okay and was enjoyable to watch at times, but all the machinations and confusing twists left me feeling uninvolved and I just wanted it all to end so I could try a different episode of this otherwise terrific series.
By the way, since these shows are done live, it is sometimes funny to watch mistakes...such as when the one guy punches the officer in very slow motion at about the 25 minute mark.