Mutiny (1952)

"Each man kills the thing he loves," wrote Oscar Wilde in "The Ballad of Reading Gaol,". Poor Patrick Knowles, trapped in a prison of his own making, kills the thing that's keeping him there, the bitchy Angela Lansbury. Well, she deserved it. She was about to stab Captain Mark Stevens, who is trying to sneak his ship full of gold past the British blockade in the War of 1812. We don't hear much about the War of 1812, probably because we didn't "win" it. And the burning of the White House was hardly an American home run. In the original "Master and Commander", the enemy "Acheron" was an American ship, not French. The British blockade featured in this film was successful -- to the extent that the Brits wanted it to be successful -- because after finishing with Napoleon in Europe, Britain found itself with a much larger fleet. The Battle of New Orleans, which made a hero of Andrew Jackson, was a major victory for the US -- fought several months after the signing of the peace treaty. News didn't travel at the speed of light in 1814.Let's see. I believe that takes care of the historical interlude. Now back to the movie, such as it is. The acting. Nobody stands out. How could they, when the script is so burdened with stereotypes? Mark Stevens is the hero. Patrick Knowles is the weak first officer who betrays his friend and pays for it by self sacrifice later. He grovels at the feet of Angela Lansbury who is treacherous, selfish, and unworthy of his devotion. Gene Evans is the grubby leader of the inevitable mutiny. The officers and guests dine at a genteel dinner table. The crew are slobs and get drunk.The dialog is larded with nautical expressions. "Keep a weather eye open for the captain." A submarine sinks a British ship, but the submarine is far more advanced than that used by the Confederates fifty years later. Much of the story is filmed at night and the upload on YouTube shows it as splotches of black and white.It's not insulting or preachy. It's simply one hundred percent routine, the pinnacle of commercial perfection.

"Mutiny" is surely one of the weakest films of 1952. Yes, it's in color (though the color photography isn't so hot) and, yes, the cast includes some solid actors. On the other hand production values are minimal and the screenplay is worse than routine. The results are decidedly below par.What can we say about the director? Edward Dmytryk had directed several excellent films before he tackled this one. I should mention, among others, "Murder, My Sweet," "Cornered," and "Crossfire." After "Mutiny," he went on to direct "The Caine Mutiny," "Soldier of Fortune," and "The Left Hand of God." So how did Dmytryk get roped into doing this one? Someone more familiar with the man's career will have to explain that one. Suffice it to say that "Mutiny" places pretty far down the list of this fine director's works. Its short length is in its favor, but that's a rather weak virtue. (Even though it is a short movie, one wishes it were even shorter.) All in all, this is not a good movie. Unless you have absolutely nothing better to do, I strongly recommend that you skip this one.

All you 3 out of 10s are not looking at the 'big picture' here - the historical background added interest; the presence of a woman on board and a strong one at that; 'mateship' overriding one of the mens' love for that woman, and causing one to go to the assistance of the other and the good acting made this worthwhile for me. I did enjoy Angela Lansbury as the scheming grasping female lead! I could overlook the absence of full sized ships, however I was disappointed it was not in colour. We are so spoilt nowadays. There was a time when all movies were black and white only and when colourised movies were released everyone said people wouldn't like them, audiences would get ill watching them - how wrong they were. I'm surprised a film made in 1952 was B & W - there must have been a tight budget.

Though about average overall, "Mutiny" has some strengths, with an interesting period/adventure setting and a couple of good performances. The story includes some good action sequences that help make up for the less interesting stretches. The shipboard atmosphere generally works well, but the lighting and photography are so dark (at least in the print as it now seems to be available) that a lot of details get lost or obscured.The setup has Mark Stevens as the captain of a ship carrying out a special mission during the War of 1812, with Patric Knowles as a disgraced captain who is now serving as second in command, Angela Lansbury as Knowles's greedy and domineering wife, and a mutinous gun crew looking for a way to turn things to their own advantage. It's interesting in taking the historical setting as the backdrop to what becomes a largely private battle of nerves and wills. The circumstances of the war do come into play often enough to make the setting relevant.Knowles is effective in portraying his complicated, somewhat indecisive character, Lansbury gets the kind of role that she used to perform quite believably, and Rhys Williams and Gene Evans are good as the ringleaders of the mutineers. Stevens is solid, but sometimes slightly lacking in energy, as the captain.The finale is the best part of the movie, and it is set up nicely, leading to a three-way showdown with plenty of suspense and action, plus an interesting depiction of a primitive submarine. It's good enough to make up for an overall lack of consistency in much of the rest of the movie. In the earlier parts, especially, the script sometimes takes too long to establish simple points, and it also has some stretches in which some weak dialogue weighs it down. So its by no means perfect, but it does have enough to fill its relatively short running time with a generally interesting story.