The Caine Mutiny
The Caine Mutiny is a 1952 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Herman Wouk. The novel grew out of Wouk's personal experiences aboard two destroyer-minesweepers in the Pacific Theater in World War II. Among its themes, it deals with the moral and ethical decisions made at sea by ship captains and other officers. The mutiny of the title is legalistic, not violent, and takes place during Typhoon Cobra, in December 1944. The court-martial that results provides the dramatic climax to the plot.
This article is about the novel. For the American film, see The Caine Mutiny (1954 film). For other uses, see The Caine Mutiny (disambiguation).Author
The novel was later adapted into a 1954 movie of the same name, as well as a similarly named play in 1953, an American TV film in 1955 and an Australian TV film in 1959 both based on the play, and a similarly named 2023 film reboot.
Reception[edit]
The Caine Mutiny reached the top of the New York Times best seller list on August 12, 1951, after 17 weeks on the list, replacing From Here to Eternity.[10] It remained atop the list for 33 weeks until March 30, 1952, when it was replaced by My Cousin Rachel.[11] It moved back to first place on May 25, 1952, and remained another 15 weeks, before being supplanted by The Silver Chalice, and last appeared on August 23, 1953, after 122 weeks on the list.[12]
Adaptations[edit]
In 1954, Columbia Pictures released the film The Caine Mutiny, starring Humphrey Bogart as Queeg in a widely acclaimed performance[13] that earned him the third and final Academy Award nomination of his career.
After the novel's success, Wouk adapted the court-martial sequence into a full-length, two-act Broadway play, The Caine Mutiny Court Martial.[14] Directed by Charles Laughton, it was a success on the stage in 1954, opening five months before the release of the film and starring Lloyd Nolan as Queeg, John Hodiak as Maryk, and Henry Fonda as Greenwald.[15] It has been revived twice on Broadway, and was presented on television live in 1955, under the direction of Franklyn J. Schaffner,[16] and again on Australian television in 1959.
In 1988, Wouk's play was adapted as a made-for-television film directed by Robert Altman.[17]
Also in 1988, the stage script was translated into Chinese by Ying Ruocheng, a famous Chinese actor, director, playwright and Vice Minister of Culture. At Ying's invitation, Charlton Heston directed the translated play in a successful run at the Beijing People's Art Theatre, opening on October 18, 1988.[18] The play was revived in 2006, again under Heston, and has been revived there twice more (2009, 2012), since his death.
In 2023, a new film adaptation of the stage script, directed by William Friedkin and starring Kiefer Sutherland as Queeg, was released on Paramount+.[19]