The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial

Director: Robert Altman Robert Altman

Overview

Based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Herman Wouk, this thought-provoking made-for-television drama chronicles the court martial of the lieutenant who commandeered the U.S.S. Caine during a potentially deadly storm. The only way his attorney can save him is to prove that Captain Queeg was mentally incompetent to safely run the ship.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/16/2010
UPC:	0043396359697
Original Release:	1988
Rating:	PG
Source:	SONY
Language:	English
Sales rank:	44,689

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Brad Davis	Lt. Cmdr. Phillip Francis Queeg
Eric Bogosian	Lt. Greenwald
Jeff Daniels	Lt. Maryk
Peter Gallagher	Lt. Cdr. Challee
Danny Darst	Capt. Randolph Southard
Brian Haley	Party Guest
Matt Malloy	Legal Assistant
David Miller	Stenographer
Matt Smith	Party Guest
Daniel Jenkins	Lt. Willis Keith
Michael Murphy	Actor
Kevin J. O'Connor	Actor

Technical Credits

Herman Wouk

Robert Altman	Director,Producer
John P. Flaxman	Producer
Herman Wouk	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Before becoming one of the most respected film directors of all time, Robert Altman started his career directing television in the '60s. The 1988 made-for-TV movie The Caine Mutiny Court Marshall continues to prove he is a masterful director regardless of the medium he is using. Although Altman may have lost touch with a mass audience during this period of his career, his skill at casting never left him. Already having put Cher in Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, and Philip Baker Hall in Secret Honor, Altman assembled a superb cast for Caine Mutiny Court Martial. Headed by Eric Bogosian, playing mostly against type, and featuring excellent turns from Jeff Daniels, Peter Gallagher, Altman regular Michael Murphy, and especially Brad Davis as the deteriorating Queeg, the cast makes this material their own by managing to overcome any resistance viewers might have because of the portrayals by Humphrey Bogart, José Ferrer, and E.G. Marshall in the 1954 film. Altman consistently uses close-ups to draw the viewer deeper into the psychological gamesmanship going on between all of the characters. By the time Bogosian's Greenwald directly confronts the crew of the Caine, his words cut through the characters and the audience making for a riveting climax. For both artistic and budgetary reasons, Robert Altman adapted numerous stage plays during the 1980s. The Caine Mutiny Court Martial is one of his finest films from that period.

All Movie Guide - Perry Seibert