"Queeg wasn't crazy" Topic

I mentioned, in conversation to a pal, "The Caine Mutiny".
Certainly a great novel & an equally great movie.

I hadn't read or seen it for many years so this prompted me to re-watch the Humphrey Bogart version – I believe there's a newer one?

And I was surprised. My memory was that Lt. Cmdr. Philip Francis Queeg was crazy. And he wasn't. As the defence attorney Lt. Barney Greenwald points out, he was not a good leader but was sadly let down by his officers.

Admittedly, I was much younger when I read/watched it (& not nearly as handsome as I am now). But this greatly changes the movie. I have started to read the novel to see if this interpretation holds up there as well.

A talentless career-hack like Queeg who arguably should never have gotten command & in the scheme of things would never have risen higher, demands obedience & loyalty from those under him – this is military hierarchy, 'Strawberry Incident" or not. This almost makes him the hero of the movie & casts Lt. Tom Keefer in an even worse light.

Have you ever so misinterpreted a movie as this?

I agree. His officers simply didn't like him, and got out of line.
Not that he wasn't a jerk. 😄

He should of been left in charge of the Motor Pool or whatever the Navy equivalent is.

But that's what gives the movie that extra layer- Life is complex & decisions are fraught.

There were two times during World War II when a US Navy executive officer relieved the captain when he collapsed under the strain. Both incidents occurred aboard submarines and both times the exec was exonerated by a board of inquiry. (And in both cases the captain was actually rather glad the exec did what he did.)

He may not have been crazy, but he was definitely a coward. Turning away from the beach while escorting the landing craft was all the reason they needed to relieve him.

Yes but the point is, was it the junior officers' role to judge their commander or to support him, flawed or not?

Support him, flawed or not. When subordinates believe they can countermand the orders of a superior officer based on little more than "I think he's crazy," then military discipline ceases and the crucial chain-of-command crumbles. Result: Chaos.

It is the role of the junior officer to provide the commander with the knowledge and insight they have about their particular duties and area of oversight. It is *not* their job to second guess the commander's decision.

In any case, the story itself is fiction, and frankly not a little absurd and over-the-top. Wouk may have written a great story, but that's all it is. And his fictional officers did what he wanted them to do, not what any actual officer might or would do. And that includes Queeg.

So debate over it really is kind of meaningless.

As I think the movie could be one of my favorites, the book is way better and suggest read it. The movie leaves out a lot but isn't a different story.