Primetime Cinema Obscura Classic Movie Night - THE CAINE MUTINY (1954)

So this one has been a long time request by one of our members, as it can be a difficult movie to find, streaming or otherwise. Which is a shame. Because it features one of Humphrey Bogart's best performances.

Despite being somewhat obscure these days, THE CAINE MUTINY (1954) was a hit for Columbia Pictures and gathered seven Oscar nominations, although it failed to take home a single statue. The Oscar snub for Bogart his was perhaps the biggest disappointment of his career, as his maniacal, ball-bearing twirling Lieutenant Commander Queeg has itself become a legendary meme.

Ahh! The strawberries! That's where I had them!

It's was truly an unhinged performance against type, and Bogart milked it for all it was worth. Along for the ride are several other recognizable faces, also in large part playing against type, including Fred MacMurray, Jose Ferrer, and Van Johnson. But this is Bogart's and director Edward Dmytryk's (MURDER, MY SWEET (1944), RAINTREE COUNTY (1957)) movie, and it set the standard for both military and civilian courtroom dramas for years to come.

The film is based upon a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Herman Wouk about a Navy destroyer and minesweeper under the command of Bogart's Queeg. Dedicated to the extreme to strict discipline over common sense, Bogart's increasingly bizarre behavior eventually leads to an actual mutiny when it appears he is heading the ship into certain disaster during a typhoon. The trial that follows is a textbook example of how to film a legal battle, and the courtroom scenes are even used in some law school presentations as an example of how to cross-examine a witness. While perhaps unrealistic in certain aspects, THE CAINE MUTINY nonetheless stands as one of the finest non-war military procedure movies ever made, and for me was always the "Oscar that got away" for Bogart.

I like mainstream Hollywood movies as much as anyone. And we'll continue to keep the drive-in nostalgia feelings going with the Backyard Movie Series events during good weather. But to be honest...probably 70-80% of my movie collection are films that many have never heard of or have forgotten (and therefore may not attract enough interest to make it worth spending a day setting up my backyard for).

So welcome to the smaller, indoor more intimate Cinema Obscura Movie Nights. In some cases they may be mainstream classic movies (I have great fondness for 40's - 50's film noir). In some cases they will be foreign, arthouse, or documentary films that I treasure in my collection, often because they are now out of print. Some will be genre films for people who like to watch the bizarre/weird labors of love that used to play at drive-ins and grindhouses. In all cases we'll leave time to discuss the movie afterwards.

Hard limit on this will be 16 attendees because that's about as many as my living room will hold comfortably.

I'll get whatever cheese plate Central Market is pushing that week. I'll have some soft drinks, coffee, and hot chocolate if it's cold out. Maybe some other food if the mood hits me. All else will be BYOB. We'll snack and chat for about an hour before the movie, which will start around 7:30.

See you then.