I was active duty Navy (USN) for 11 years and USNR for another 21. I once served under a C.O. During my 3rd VietNam tour who exhibited extreme mood swings, poor character and vindictive behavior. He was brutal and combative and unpredictable. He ruined the career of many good officers, and forced many others out of the Navy. Queeg brings back memories of that man. This movie does a good job of portraying life at sea under such a C.O.
Queeg was supposed to be a rather sympathetic character. Not up to the job, but he wasn't brutal or vindictive. Just a stickler for rules. The movie depicted the clash between inductees and career officers. The insinuation being that the inductees looked down on Queeg because he made the military his profession. And that he was in the military because he wasn't good for anything else.
I d seen this movie many years ago. That performance by Humphry Bogart.....That s an acting job walking the length of a razor blade. You do too little, it would be unconvincing. A LITTLE too much and the character would look like a baffoon. The silence after the testimony as he sat there rolling those marbles was just backed up HOW perfectly that role was played. WOW....no special effects, just FANTASTIC ACTING...wow.
Such a brilliant performance by Bogart. Queeg was a man right on the edge of breakup. His condition would push him over the line into delusion, paranoia etc.; and then he would reel himself in and come back to ‘normal’ lucidity. Such a complex situation. How many actors could have pulled this performance off so well? I love this movie. It’s got to be right up there with some of the other outstanding military-related court-room dramas. Think about ‘Paths of Glory’, ‘Breaker Morant’, and even ‘A Few Good Men’… So good.
@@Rickkennett143 why not? We had it in our inventory of movies provided by Armed Forces Radio and TV Service (AFRTS) when I was in. If it was available for distribution when it was first released, then yes, they could've shown it onboard then.
I don't know all of Bogart's work, but I do know a lot of it. I believe this to be his most nuanced performance. Queeg is not an easy character to portray. He's not really insane (per the book). Bogart does a great job of portraying Queeg as he is in the novel - uneven, unpredictable and unstable - without making him seem like a caricature.
The Petrified Forest (breakthrough film role) High Sierra (a more complex criminal than previously) Casablanca Treasure of the Sierra Madre (greed and paranoia) In A Lonely Place (considered his most complex character) The African Queen (AA, Best Actor) The Caine Mutiny The Desperate Hours (his last big-screen gangster) --I consider those his best.
Other portrayals of Captain Queeg have made him look (incorrectly) devious. But Bogart is able to avoid even a hint of that. His portrayal shows Queeg as sincere but disturbed.
I think Pacino's performance in the And Justice For All courtroom scene was ridiculous scene chewing nonsense. There has to be a tinge of believability in any scene or character, no matter how quirky or ridiculous (e.g., Kramer in Seinfeld is ridiculous, yet somehow believable). A scene like that would never ever actually happen and certainly no lawyer would survive that without a suspension of his license or worse. Yet the last scene of the film shows him walking up the courtroom staircase for another day in the salt mines. A bad film that could have been good.
To the judges' credit, they all look pretty stone faced after Queeg's rant; however, the prosecutor, (E. G. Marshall) looks like he's completely taken aback.
What a performance the Humph was legendary facial expressions, slightly drooling ,the blank look in his eyes when he catches himself rambling . We have one actor left of this era Mr Clint Eastwood wen he’s gone it’s over . Harry Callahan aka Dirty Harry will live forever.
The deal breaker to me was the scene where Quegg asked for advice and help, and others rejected him. Perhaps due to his hypocrisy and duplicity. After all a person can only take so much. Greenwald did bring up a good point with the line: "He's either got the job, or you're no good." However, when leaders do not allow the talent of being a mentor then all wisdom ends with them. Not responsible at all.
I’m sure the other officers and the prosecution felt like patting the Captain on the shoulder and trying to comfort the man. I experienced a year of BS in the Navy when our 4 stripper went thu some sort of ego/mental problem before a group of Lt commanders appeared and split the crew up and informed us the Captain was being releived and that “It was going to be OK. And the crew was not responsible”. It was very sad really to see the man we hated walk away.
Actually, the only relevant issue is what happened during the typhoon. Queeg wouldn't allow radioing headquarters for instructions, froze, and then issued an order containing a dangerous, incorrect heading, which could well have sunk the ship. XO Maryk had no choice but to legally relieve him of command. Not guilty. Period.
But Greenwald is zealously defending his client, which is his job. In doing so, he brings up the other incidents, illustrating Queeg's questionable mental state at earlier times.
@@WilliamSmith-vo8zu Regardless of abandoning the fleet or not, the ship's safety comes first. Movie makes it clear that Queeg's heading, in the typhoon, would have endangered the ship even more than that which already existed (and she was already damaged). And, perhaps most importantly, Queeg had forbidden any radio contact with HQ, for instructions on what to do in the crisis. If Maryk had thought that Queeg's order didn't directly endanger the Caine, he wouldn't have countermanded it with one of his own.
Herman Wouk carefully folded into his narrative actual events of Adm Halsey's fleet encountering a typhoon when at least one ship foundered with all hands lost. The best practice is to point the bow into the wind and ride it as best you can. Queeg presented his beam, the worst thing you can do. He deserved to be replaced.
@@danwallach8826 Wouk was a promising young writer for broadcast radio when Uncle Sam called; like many others, he interrupted his career for military service.
@@danwallach8826 Small detail mentioned in the book. The Cain's fuel was very low causing the ship to ride too high. SOP is to flood empty tanks with sea water to add ballast. Queeg refused to do that because of the time and trouble it would be to pump out and clean said tanks once back in port. Dan, for a great read check out "Halsey's Storm" (of Hurricane ) About just this storm .
I think Herman Wouk had William Bligh in mind for the character of Queeg (although Bligh was an excellent sailor who got his men to safety; not only was he exonerated, he was promoted, and continued his naval career). There was food theft aboard H.M.S. Bounty, I believe.
Bligh was an excellent seaman, and an inept officer. He had more than ONE mutiny under him. They transferred him to Australia to act as governor of one of the provinces, and the people he was supposed to govern ALSO mutinied against him. He had a wonderful knack for alienating people he was in authority over. The British admiralty, in exonerating him, effectively white washed his conduct because, As a bunch of children of the aristocracy, they saw nothing wrong whatsoever with being an autocrat at sea over the lower classes. From 1796 to 1815 there were over a THOUSAND mutinies in the British navy. That is one mutiny EVERY WEEK for 19 years. That alone should give you an idea of what the Admiralty was perfectly willing to endorse in terms of treatment of men under their command. It should be noted that in the entire history of the United States Navy, there has never been a SINGLE mutiny.
i dont think so.in the novel wouk is more against the navys hidebound methods that produce queegs than the movie is. the transfer who tells queeg about the strawberries is the reason they dont go to the admiral.when on the carrier they meet him and he is on the verge of a breakdown.if you think queegs bad he tells them then try life on a big ship.no sleep because every spare moment is filled with writing stupid essays and reports .every officer making life for those below them a misery.he is terrified of his section commander. everything by the book they love to report even minor infractions because they think it puts their conduct reports in a good light.wouks point is queeg wasnt abnormal he was just average.no imagination or ability to command.in the peacetime navy he was fine hed never rise high enough to command so his faults didnt matter.in war he is in command of a ship and cannot make decisions ,hes too scared of losing it.not from fear of death but blotting his record with the navy.the problem is making inadequte men due to the system commanders of vessels.jimmy cagney in mr roberts was much the same without the excuse of insanity.wouks postscript makes his point.by the end of the war torpedoes kamikaze attackes etc have made the way the navy runs change.they are losing too many officers to carry on with the system they had at the start.so after queeg casualties and war result in willy keef who was a rookie with no naval experience at the beginning becoming captain of the caine in its final conflict.he muses it took queeg twenty years of toeing the line writing reports and essays to reach the same point and fail.keef promoted via necessity succeeds .war has changed by force the navy way.
a movie made when Hollywood still had a conscience, before it was taken over by the Wall Street brokerage houses, whose only interest was profit. now such movies are made by the very few "independents". almost every lead actor in this film broke their molds, from Bogart to Johnson to MacMurray, with the possible exception of José Ferrer, who never fit into the Hollywood system anyways.
Uhhmm . . . Not really. Movie BUSINESS . . . room for prestige pictures, but choice of stars (Tab Hunter, etc. ) was to attract audiences, sell tickets, make money. Yupp, they tried to do that.
Queeg was not an unbalanced man. He had seen combat and suffered the physiological effects but with reliable officers behind him he would have done well. Sad movie.
What I love about this scene is everyone felt bad for him. No one held any malice for him.
spot on. everyone has a breaking point.
brilliant performance by bogart
I was active duty Navy (USN) for 11 years and USNR for another 21. I once served under a C.O. During my 3rd VietNam tour who exhibited extreme mood swings, poor character and vindictive behavior. He was brutal and combative and unpredictable. He ruined the career of many good officers, and forced many others out of the Navy. Queeg brings back memories of that man. This movie does a good job of portraying life at sea under such a C.O.
@HVAC Quality Assurance ...No, I don't get your meaning. If you have something to say, have the guts to day it, or shut up.
Please write books depicting all your military experiences.
What was his name?
Queeg was supposed to be a rather sympathetic character. Not up to the job, but he wasn't brutal or vindictive. Just a stickler for rules. The movie depicted the clash between inductees and career officers. The insinuation being that the inductees looked down on Queeg because he made the military his profession. And that he was in the military because he wasn't good for anything else.
Ty for your service to our country.
What phenomenal acting in this & the following scene of the after party. Jose Ferrer had the perfect mix of pity anger and contempt.
I d seen this movie many years ago. That performance by Humphry Bogart.....That s an acting job walking the length of a razor blade. You do too little, it would be unconvincing. A LITTLE too much and the character would look like a baffoon. The silence after the testimony as he sat there rolling those marbles was just backed up HOW perfectly that role was played. WOW....no special effects, just FANTASTIC ACTING...wow.
Movies were made much better then ;!
What an actor wowwww wat a star ...nobody comes close to him in this stupid generation ❤
Such a brilliant performance by Bogart. Queeg was a man right on the edge of breakup. His condition would push him over the line into delusion, paranoia etc.; and then he would reel himself in and come back to ‘normal’ lucidity. Such a complex situation. How many actors could have pulled this performance off so well? I love this movie. It’s got to be right up there with some of the other outstanding military-related court-room dramas. Think about ‘Paths of Glory’, ‘Breaker Morant’, and even ‘A Few Good Men’… So good.
This was a great movie. I first saw it when I was in the Navy. It was one of the most accurate depictions of Navy life.
Just curious, but would they have allowed this film to be shown aboard ship?
@@Rickkennett143 why not? We had it in our inventory of movies provided by Armed Forces Radio and TV Service (AFRTS) when I was in. If it was available for distribution when it was first released, then yes, they could've shown it onboard then.
The menacing sound of those metal balls after Queeg realizes he was rambling on is absolutely haunting
I just thought of how quiet the room got during that scene.
@@bernhardwall6876 I agree. The room fell silent, so much so that the those clicking metal balls sounded all the more eerie
I don't know all of Bogart's work, but I do know a lot of it. I believe this to be his most nuanced performance. Queeg is not an easy character to portray. He's not really insane (per the book). Bogart does a great job of portraying Queeg as he is in the novel - uneven, unpredictable and unstable - without making him seem like a caricature.
I agree. This was arguably Bogie's best film and one for which he should have won his second Oscar.
The Petrified Forest (breakthrough film role)
High Sierra (a more complex criminal than previously)
Casablanca
Treasure of the Sierra Madre (greed and paranoia)
In A Lonely Place (considered his most complex character)
The African Queen (AA, Best Actor)
The Caine Mutiny
The Desperate Hours (his last big-screen gangster)
--I consider those his best.
@@steelers6titles ; Key Largo was also excellent.
@@Gallagherfreak100 It took the Feds to pin a rap on Johnny Rocco! And he was gonna beat that one too, see? lol
Other portrayals of Captain Queeg have made him look (incorrectly) devious. But Bogart is able to avoid even a hint of that. His portrayal shows Queeg as sincere but disturbed.
Bogart was a remarkable actor--watch those astonishing eyes as his thoughts explode in his head!
He stops dead, and the eyes show the fear. Dmytryk knew how to use close-ups.
One of the BEST performances in a courtroom scene...right up there with Al Pacino in And Justice For All and Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men!!!
Don't forget multiple incredible performances in Judgement at Nuremberg.
I think Pacino's performance in the And Justice For All courtroom scene was ridiculous scene chewing nonsense. There has to be a tinge of believability in any scene or character, no matter how quirky or ridiculous (e.g., Kramer in Seinfeld is ridiculous, yet somehow believable). A scene like that would never ever actually happen and certainly no lawyer would survive that without a suspension of his license or worse. Yet the last scene of the film shows him walking up the courtroom staircase for another day in the salt mines. A bad film that could have been good.
@@gmh471 It's 2023....there's NO such thing as RIDICULOUS anymore!!!
Trial tip of the day - never roll little metal balls on the witness stand.
When movies were movies
Those strawberries will get you every time!
He had balls of steel .
Didn't help. Great performance by Bogart.
To the judges' credit, they all look pretty stone faced after Queeg's rant; however, the prosecutor, (E. G. Marshall) looks like he's completely taken aback.
Very powerful scene !
What a performance the Humph was legendary facial expressions, slightly drooling ,the blank look in his eyes when he catches himself rambling . We have one actor left of this era Mr Clint Eastwood wen he’s gone it’s over . Harry Callahan aka Dirty Harry will live forever.
Queeg should have said, "You can't handle the truth!!!"
But the strawberries!
The deal breaker to me was the scene where Quegg asked for advice and help, and others rejected him. Perhaps due to his hypocrisy and duplicity. After all a person can only take so much.
Greenwald did bring up a good point with the line: "He's either got the job, or you're no good." However, when leaders do not allow the talent of being a mentor then all wisdom ends with them. Not responsible at all.
look on the court martial presiding officer too. it's like "Holy SHIT!!!"
What great acting
Naturally, I can only cover these things from memory.
Classic acting!!
A sick man.
I’m sure the other officers and the prosecution felt like patting the Captain on the shoulder and trying to comfort the man.
I experienced a year of BS in the Navy when our 4 stripper went thu some sort of ego/mental problem before a group of Lt commanders appeared and split the crew up and informed us the Captain was being releived and that “It was going to be OK. And the crew was not responsible”. It was very sad really to see the man we hated walk away.
Actually, the only relevant issue is what happened during the typhoon. Queeg wouldn't allow radioing headquarters for instructions, froze, and then issued an order containing a dangerous, incorrect heading, which could well have sunk the ship. XO Maryk had no choice but to legally relieve him of command. Not guilty. Period.
But Greenwald is zealously defending his client, which is his job. In doing so, he brings up the other incidents, illustrating Queeg's questionable mental state at earlier times.
@@WilliamSmith-vo8zu Regardless of abandoning the fleet or not, the ship's safety comes first. Movie makes it clear that Queeg's heading, in the typhoon, would have endangered the ship even more than that which already existed (and she was already damaged). And, perhaps most importantly, Queeg had forbidden any radio contact with HQ, for instructions on what to do in the crisis. If Maryk had thought that Queeg's order didn't directly endanger the Caine, he wouldn't have countermanded it with one of his own.
Herman Wouk carefully folded into his narrative actual events of Adm Halsey's fleet encountering a typhoon when at least one ship foundered with all hands lost.
The best practice is to point the bow into the wind and ride it as best you can.
Queeg presented his beam, the worst thing you can do.
He deserved to be replaced.
@@danwallach8826 Wouk was a promising young writer for broadcast radio when Uncle Sam called; like many others, he interrupted his career for military service.
@@danwallach8826 Small detail mentioned in the book. The Cain's fuel was very low causing the ship to ride too high. SOP is to flood empty tanks with sea water to add ballast. Queeg refused to do that because of the time and trouble it would be to pump out and clean said tanks once back in port. Dan, for a great read check out "Halsey's Storm" (of Hurricane ) About just this storm .
I'd be very surprised if the writers of Better Call Saul didn't draw inspiration from this scene when writing Chuck McGill's competence hearing.
Scared of losing his marbles
I think Herman Wouk had William Bligh in mind for the character of Queeg (although Bligh was an excellent sailor who got his men to safety; not only was he exonerated, he was promoted, and continued his naval career). There was food theft aboard H.M.S. Bounty, I believe.
Bligh was an excellent seaman; the fictional Queeg wasn't. But neither knew how to command men properly.
Bligh was an excellent seaman, and an inept officer. He had more than ONE mutiny under him. They transferred him to Australia to act as governor of one of the provinces, and the people he was supposed to govern ALSO mutinied against him. He had a wonderful knack for alienating people he was in authority over.
The British admiralty, in exonerating him, effectively white washed his conduct because, As a bunch of children of the aristocracy, they saw nothing wrong whatsoever with being an autocrat at sea over the lower classes.
From 1796 to 1815 there were over a THOUSAND mutinies in the British navy. That is one mutiny EVERY WEEK for 19 years. That alone should give you an idea of what the Admiralty was perfectly willing to endorse in terms of treatment of men under their command.
It should be noted that in the entire history of the United States Navy, there has never been a SINGLE mutiny.
i dont think so.in the novel wouk is more against the navys hidebound methods that produce queegs than the movie is. the transfer who tells queeg about the strawberries is the reason they dont go to the admiral.when on the carrier they meet him and he is on the verge of a breakdown.if you think queegs bad he tells them then try life on a big ship.no sleep because every spare moment is filled with writing stupid essays and reports .every officer making life for those below them a misery.he is terrified of his section commander. everything by the book they love to report even minor infractions because they think it puts their conduct reports in a good light.wouks point is queeg wasnt abnormal he was just average.no imagination or ability to command.in the peacetime navy he was fine hed never rise high enough to command so his faults didnt matter.in war he is in command of a ship and cannot make decisions ,hes too scared of losing it.not from fear of death but blotting his record with the navy.the problem is making inadequte men due to the system commanders of vessels.jimmy cagney in mr roberts was much the same without the excuse of insanity.wouks postscript makes his point.by the end of the war torpedoes kamikaze attackes etc have made the way the navy runs change.they are losing too many officers to carry on with the system they had at the start.so after queeg casualties and war result in willy keef who was a rookie with no naval experience at the beginning becoming captain of the caine in its final conflict.he muses it took queeg twenty years of toeing the line writing reports and essays to reach the same point and fail.keef promoted via necessity succeeds .war has changed by force the navy way.
They eventually _found the key_
he needed some cool whip
I ate the strawberries!!!
eric777100763 I pissed on them first
Thanks for getting me off the hook!
In the book he was found not nuts and was given another ship
Queeg was given a desk job …
a movie made when Hollywood still had a conscience, before it was taken over by the Wall Street brokerage houses, whose only interest was profit.
now such movies are made by the very few "independents".
almost every lead actor in this film broke their molds, from Bogart to Johnson to MacMurray,
with the possible exception of José Ferrer, who never fit into the Hollywood system anyways.
Uhhmm . . . Not really.
Movie BUSINESS . . . room for prestige pictures, but choice of stars (Tab Hunter, etc. ) was to attract audiences, sell tickets, make money. Yupp, they tried to do that.
Bogie was the best.
Queeg. Remind you of anyone? Used to sit in the Resolute Office? Specifically #45.
No, because 45 WAS surrounded by people who undermined him and it turned out that everything he said was correct.
reminds me of the dingbat in there now.
@@ukkfayooyay And all those people flipping on him now. Good times ahead.
@@mark.8949 Archie Bunker reference. So like Trump.
he's sitting rent free in your head
Queeg was not an unbalanced man. He had seen combat and suffered the physiological effects but with reliable officers behind him he would have done well.
Sad movie.