All language subtitles for The.Caine.Mutiny.Court-Martial.1988.1080p.WEBRip.x264-RARBG

What's going
-on, Steve?
-Oh, it's not good.

What are they
doing in there?

That is a hell
of a long recess.

Longest recess yet.

-I've seen longer.
-I thought the trial would
be over by now.

All they do is
swear somebody in
and recess,

and then look at a paper,
recess, look at a...

You won't tell me
what you're doing,

how you're gonna
conduct my case,
what I'm supposed to say.

It would only
confuse you.

I don't like the way
you're handling me.

Good. That makes us even.
I don't like handling you.

What? Well, then,
maybe I'd better just
go into court and...

Maryk, I'd rather
be prosecuting you
than defending you.

I told you that
the first time we met.

Nevertheless,
I am defending you.

If it is humanly
possible to win an
acquittal in this case

I'm gonna win you
an acquittal.

If you want a prediction,
I'm gonna get you off.

But you can't help me,
so just leave me be.

Hell of a thing to say,
you'd rather be prosecuting
me than defending me.

How do you suppose
that makes me feel?

-You're nervous.
-Oh, sure I am.

I am too,
a bit. Sorry.

I can ask the court
for a different counsel.

Forget it.
I don't take on a case
just to lose it.

You do think I was right
to relieve Captain Queeg?

I can't say that.

After everything I've
told you, you still do
not think he was nuts?

No, I don't.

Then I get hung.

Not necessarily.

Maybe I should
plead guilty.

Eight legal officers
advised me...

I don't care if every
legal officer in the
Navy says otherwise,

I think I can
get you off.

This is
a whole foul up.

You'll do nobly.
You may come out of this
a great naval hero.

Greenwald,
is something
eating at you?

I used to daydream about
a court-martial coming up

and some poor Joe
would be defending,

and I'd step in, take over,
twist the Navy's arm,

make it holler Uncle.

Well, now here's
my dream come true.
You know something?

I don't look forward
to twisting the Navy's arm.
Not one bit.

-Scared of the brass, huh?
-Worse.

-What?
-Respectful.

Ah, look, I put in for
transfer to the regulars.
I respect the Navy, too.

It's just...
I don't know, Maryk.

I'm a damn good
lawyer and I'm
a pretty poor...

We're spending
excessive time on
all these recesses.

I appreciate
your wanting to have
the record letter perfect.

I think there is
a big pile of foolishness
connected with the Navy.

In fact, sometimes
I think that the Navy
is just a master plan

designed by geniuses
for execution by idiots.

You think what?

That the Navy is
just a master plan

designed by geniuses
for execution by idiots.

Where'd
you hear that?

Couldn't I have
just made it up?

You could
have just made up the
Gettysburg address, too.

Where'd you hear it?

Well, as a matter of fact,
it's one of Tom Keefer's
favorite cracks.

Ah, yes. You echo
your novelist friend
quite a bit, don't you?

Well, let's get
on with the case,

keep thetechnicalities to a minimum.

Aye, aye, sir.

Well, here we go.

Better you did it
out of your own
noble judgment

than you took
the advice of
a sensitive novelist.

Attention!

Court is in session.

Court finds the charge and
specification in due form
and technically correct.

Is the accused
-ready for trial?
-Yes, sir.

"Charge. Conduct to
the prejudice of good
order and discipline.

"Specification.
In that Lieutenant
Stephen Maryk, USNR,

"did, on or about
18 December, 1944,
aboard the USS Caine,

"willfully, without
proper authority and
without justifiable cause,

"did relieve from his duty
as commanding officer,

"Lieutenant Commander Philip
Francis Queeg, USN,

"the duly assigned
commanding officer
of said ship,

"who was then and there
in lawful exercise
of his command,

"the United States then
being in a state of war."

Stephen Maryk, Lieutenant,
United States Naval Reserve,

you have heard the
charge and specification
preferred against you.

-How say you?
-Not guilty.

Guilty or not guilty?

Not guilty.

Judge advocate,
present your case.

Call Lieutenant
Commander Queeg.

Lieutenant Commander Queeg.

This guy had a ship
we used to call
the USS Purgatory.

You do solemnly swear
the evidence you shall
give in this court

shall be the truth,
the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth,

-so help you God?
-I do.

State your name, rank
and present position.

Philip Frances Queeg,
Lieutenant Commander,
United States Navy,

temporarily assigned
to commandant,

12th Naval District,
awaiting reassignment
by Bupers.

If you recognize
the accused,
state as whom.

Lieutenant Stephen Maryk,
USNR.

Commander Queeg,
on December 18, 1944,

were you in command
of the USS Caine?

-I was.
-What type of
vessel is the Caine?

Her official designation
is high-speed mine-sweeper.

What she is,
is a four-piper,

one of those flush deck,
1,200 ton destroyers
from World War One,

fixed up with
-mine-sweeping gear.
An old ship, then?

I guess about
the oldest type still
doing combat duty.

What is her
primary mission?

Well, that's a hard one.

These old buckets
are regarded as
pretty expendable.

By and large,
we were doing the
usual destroyer duty,

anti-submarine screening,
also ran the mail,
transported marines,

carried aviation gas
and torpedoes,

gave fire support
in minor landings,
or what have you.

Also swept mines
now and then.

Commander,
on December 18, 1944,

were you relieved of
command of the Caine?

-Yes.
-By whom?

-By the accused.
-Was this a regular relief?

It was totally
irregular, sir.

How would you describe it?

The most charitable
description would be
that it was an incident,

a regrettable incident of
temporary and total collapse
of military discipline.

Commander, please
relate all the facts that bear
on this unauthorized relief.

Okay.

I'll try to do this
consecutively, here.

We sortied, the Caine,
sortied, from Ulithi Atoll
on the 16th of December.

I believe the
15th or the 16th.

We were a screening vessel
with a group of fleet oilers.

Our mission was to
rendezvous with and refuel

Admiral Halsey's
fast carrier force
in the Philippine Sea.

Okay. Well, we made
the rendezvous,

and then this
typhoon came along.

The fueling was broken off
and the fleet began to
maneuver to evade the storm.

Now, the storm was
traveling due west,

so Admiral Halsey
set fleet course due south,

and we began to
make a run for the
safe semi-circle.

What was
the date and time of
that course change?

That would be the
morning of the 18th, sir.

Well, uh, as I say,
visibility was almost zero.

The storm was pretty
bad at this point.

Couldn't see the guide
or even the next ship
in the screen.

We were just steaming
blindly through
rain and spray.

And, of course,
with the wind and
sea and all,

we had to maneuver
pretty smartly

with engines and
rudder to hold fleet
course and speed.

But we were doing fine.

My executive officer,
however, pretty early in
the game began to show

unusual symptoms
of nervousness.

What were
these symptoms
of nervousness?

Well, for instance,
he began talking
very early,

oh, it couldn't have been half
an hour after the fleet
started to run south,

that we should operate
independently and
come around north.

And why would
he want to do that?

To give you
a picture on that.

You see, the typhoon
was coming at us
from the east,

and we were on
the western edge of it.

Now, as you know, these
blows spin counter-clockwise
above the equator.

That means where
we were, the wind was
coming from due north.

Admiral Halsey, of course,
was running south,
with the wind,

to get out of
the storm's path.

Now this is in accordance
with all existing storm
doctrine from Bowditch on up.

But my exec insisted
that the ship was
on the verge of foundering,

and that we had
better come around
and head into the wind,

that is, north,
if we were to survive.

Of course we weren't in any
such bad shape at all.

And that's what I mean
by nervousness.

What was your objection
to coming north, as your
executive officer suggested?

Why, everything was
wrong with that idea that
could be wrong with it, sir.

In the first place,
my orders were
to proceed south.

My mission was screening.

My ship was in
no danger and was
functioning normally.

Why, to drop out of station

and act independently
under those conditions
was unthinkable.

Coming around to north

would have headed
the ship directly into
the heart of the typhoon.

It was not only
a senseless suggestion,

in the circumstances,
it was almost suicidal.

And, I might add, I have
since checked my decisions
of December 18th

with the finest
ship handlers I know,

up to the rank
of rear admiral,

and they've all
Commander...

...that the only course
in that situation

-was south!
-Your last remark...

Commander, your last
remark was hearsay evidence.
That is not acceptable.

I'm sorry, sir.
I'm not up on these
legal distinctions

as much as I should
be, I guess.

Perfectly all right.

Does the defense counsel
move to strike out that
part of the testimony

that was hearsay evidence?

All right, sir,
-I so move.
-No objection.

A ship-handling expert
will be called to testify
on that point, Commander.

I see, and I'm very
glad to know that, sir.
Thank you.

Proceed with
your description
of the relief.

Okay.

Well, it's just that

Maryk kept insisting
on coming north,

more and more stridently
as the weather deteriorated.

Finally, I began
to be a little
concerned about him.

Suddenly he walked up
to me out of the clear sky

and told me
I was on the sick list
and he was relieving me.

It was only when I heard
him shouting orders at
the officer of the deck

[CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY]and countermanding my
instructions to the helm

that I began to realize
what was going on.

Commander,
can you recall
anything at all

in your own bearing
or manner that could

have provoked your
executive officer's act?

Well, truthfully,
sir, I cannot.

Frankly, I don't think
my bearing or manner
had anything to do with it.

It was a pretty
scary situation
at the wheelhouse.

The wind was force 10 to 12,
screeching and all that.

The waves were mountainous.

The barometer was about
as low as it's ever been
in the US Navy history.

We took one
very bad roll, and
I mean a bad one,

and I've done a lot of
North Atlantic rolling, too.

Well, I think Maryk
simply went into panic.

Was the Cainein
grave danger at that moment?

Oh, oh, no, I wouldn't
say that. No, sir.

We righted very nicely
from that bad roll.

He repeatedly tried to
order me off the bridge,

but I stayed
right where I was.

I only gave him orders
when it seemed necessary
for the safety of the ship.

In the situation,

I thought the chief hazard
was any further acts of
frenzy on his part.

And to the extent
that the Cainedid come
safely through the storm,

despite this
unprecedented running amuck
of my executive officer,

I believe my handling
of the emergency
was the correct one.

Did Mr. Maryk cite
any authority at all
when he relieved you?

Oh, he mumbled
something about
Article 184.

I didn't even
catch it at the time.

Later, he said his
authority came from
Articles 184, 185 and 186

of the Navy regulations.

Are you familiar
-with these articles?
Certainly.

In substance,
what do they provide?

Well, as I
understand it, they
make it possible for

an executive officer to
take over in an emergency.

A highly unusual emergency,
where the Captain is...

Well, frankly, where the
Captain's gone absolutely
and hopelessly loony.

Were these articles
properly invoked
in your situation?

Well, I'm sort of an
interested party here.

But you won't have to
take my word for it.

I was successfully
conning my ship
through a typhoon.

Fortunately, there are
130 witnesses to that fact,

every man who was
aboard that ship.

There, again, sir,
you're testifying to the
conclusions of others.

Strike the last sentence of
-the answer from the record.
-I'm sorry.

I'm obviously
no legal expert.

I'll withdraw the sentence.

Have you ever been
mentally ill, sir?

No, sir.

Were you ill
in any way when
Mr. Maryk relieved you?

I was not.

Did you warn your
executive officer of the
consequences of his act?

I told him
he was performing
a mutinous act.

What was his reply?

That he expected
to be court-martialed,

but was going to
retain command anyway.

What was the attitude of
Lieutenant Junior Grade Keith,
the officer of the deck?

He was in a state of panic
as bad as Maryk's.

What was the attitude
of the helmsman?

Stilwell was
emotionally unbalanced,

and for some reason
was very devoted
to Mr. Keith.

They both backed up Maryk.

Is there anything
else you care to
state, Commander,

in connection with the
events of December 18
aboard the Caine?

Well, I've thought a lot
about it all, of course.

It's the gravest
occurrence of my career,

and the only
questionable one
that I'm aware of.

It was an unfortunate
freak accident.

If the OOD
had been anyone
but this immature Keith,

and the helmsman
anyone but Stilwell,

I don't think it
would have happened.

A confident officer
of the deck would have
repudiated Maryk's orders.

And a normal sailor at the
helm would have disregarded
both officers and obeyed me.

It was just bad luck
that these three men,
Maryk, Keith and Stilwell

were combined against me
at a crucial time.

Bad luck for me,
and I'm afraid
worse luck for them.

Court would like
to question the witness.

Commander, you've taken
all the prescribed physical
and mental examinations

incident to entrance
to the Academy,

graduation, commissioning,
promotions and so forth?

Yes, sir,
for 14 years.

Does your medical record
contain any history of
illness, mental or physical?

It does not, sir.
My tonsils were removed
in the fall of 1938.

Have you ever had
an unsatisfactory fitness
report, Commander?

Negative, sir.
I have one letter of
commendation in my jacket.

Commander,
can you account for
Lieutenant Maryk's opinion

that you were mentally ill?

Well, sir, that's
rather a tough one.

Well, I appreciate
that, but I think it
might be helpful.

Well, sir,

I will say that I did assume
command of an extremely
disorganized and dirty ship.

Now that's no reflection
on the officer I relieved.

The Cainehad had a year
and a half of the most
arduous combat duty

and it was understandable.

Still, the safety of that ship
and its crew demanded its
being brought up to snuff.

I took many stern measures.

Lieutenant Maryk,
I may say, from the first,

never saw eye to eye
with me at all on the idea

of making the Caine
a taut ship again.

Maybe he thought I was
crazy to keep trying.

I guess that's
the picture, sir.

No more questions.

Commander Queeg, I should
like to ask you whether
you have ever heard

the expression
"Old Yellow Stain"?

-In what connection?
-In any connection.

Old Yellow Stone?

Old Yellow Stain, sir.

I have not.

You are not aware,
then, that all the
officers of the Caine

habitually referred to
you as Old Yellow Stain?

I object to the question.
This is impertinent
badgering of the witness.

How does Defense Counsel
Greenwald justify this
line of questioning?

If it please the court,
the nickname
Old Yellow Stain

used by the officers
of the Cainewill be

relevant to the issue
of mental competence, sir.

Before ruling,
the court would like to
caution defense counsel.

This is a most unusual
and delicate case.

The honor and career
of an officer with

an unblemished record
of 14 years standing
is involved here.

Defense counsel will have
to take full responsibility
for the conduct of this case.

Subject to the foregoing
comment, the judge advocate's
objection is overruled.

The stenographer will
repeat the question.

"You are not aware,
then, that all the
officers of the Caine

"habitually referred to
you as Old Yellow Stain?"

I'm not aware of it.

No further questions
at this time.

Is that the extent
of your cross-examination,
Lieutenant Greenwald?

Commander Queeg
will be called as a witness
for the defense, sir.

For the defense?

Yes, sir.

Commander, you will refrain
from conversing with
any person, whomsoever,

regarding your
testimony here today.

Aye, sir.

You're excused,
and thank you.

Thank you, Captain.

Call Lieutenant
Thomas Keefer.

Lieutenant Thomas Keefer.

How do I look?

Like an idiot.

Give 'em hell, Tom.

I'm glad he's
-here to testify.
You are?

Hell, he knows
everything Captain Queeg did.

You do solemnly swear
the evidence you shall
give in this court

shall be the truth,
the whole truth and
nothing but the truth,

-so help you God?
-I do so swear.

Tom Keefer will tell
the things straight.

If I had my way,
Lieutenant Thomas Keefer

would never appear
in this courtroom.

State your name,
rank and present station.

Thomas Keefer,
Lieutenant USNR,

communication officer
of the USS Caine.

If you recognize
the accused, state as whom.

Steve Maryk,
Lieutenant Stephen Maryk,

executive officer
of the Caine.

What is your occupation
in civilian life?

I'm a writer.

And has your work
been published?

A number of my short
stories have been
published, yes, sir.

In national magazines.

Have you done any
writing in your spare time
while in service?

I've completed
half a war novel.

What is the title? Multitudes, Multitudes.

What was that? Multitudes, Multitudes,sir.

Oh, thank you.

And has this novel
Multitudes, Multitudes,
though incomplete,

recently been accepted
by a New York publisher?

Yes.

I'm asking these
questions to establish
your reliability

as an observer
of personalities.

I understand, sir.

Now, Lieutenant Keefer,
were you serving aboard the
Caineon December 18, 1944,

-in your present capacity?
Yes.

Was Captain Queeg
relieved of command
on that date?

-He was, sir.
-By whom?

The accused.

Describe how
you learned the
Captain had been relieved.

Well, Mr. Maryk
passed over
the loudspeaker

for all officers to
lay up to the wheelhouse.

When we got there,
he told us that the
Captain was sick

and that he had
assumed command.

Did Captain Queeg
exhibit any external
signs of being sick?

Well, at the height of
a typhoon nobody aboard
a four-piper looks very well.

Was he raving,
-or foaming?
-No.

Did he look any worse,
-say, than Lieutenant Keith?
-No.

Or Maryk?

Well, we were all tired
and dripping and
just knocked out.

Mr. Keefer, did you make
any effort to persuade Maryk
to restore Queeg to command?

I did not.

Didn't you feel
the seriousness
of the situation?

I certainly did, sir.

Well, why'd you take
no remedial action?

I wasn't present when the
Captain was relieved.
Maryk was in full command.

The entire ship was
obeying his orders.

I decided that
for the safety
of the entire ship

my best course was
to obey his orders.
That was what I did.

Now, Mr. Keefer,
were you aboard the Caine

throughout the period
Captain Queeg was in command?

I was.

Did you ever
observe any evidence
of insanity in him?

I don't... I can't
answer that question,
not being a psychiatrist.

Well, surely now,
Mr. Keefer, as a writer,

you're not
wholly ignorant
of such matters.

Well, not wholly
ignorant, I hope not, sir.

What, for example,
is a Rorschach Test?

I believe that's
the inkblot test.

The analyst detects
psychopathic tendencies
in a person

by showing him inkblots
and getting the person

to say what the
shapes resemble.

And who's Alfred Adler?

Well, these things
are very elementary.
Adler split from Freud.

Any college man can
tell you that much, sir.

A novelist, however,
is apt to understand and
appreciate these things

more than the
average man.

Well, our work
is in the narration
of human conduct.

Naturally.

Now, Mr. Keefer, with
your grasp of such matters,

if you see a man
rushing up and
down passageways

screaming that
a tiger is after him
when there is no tiger,

would you venture
to say the man was
temporarily deranged?

I would, sir.

Did Captain Queeg ever
exhibit such behavior?

No. Nothing like that.

Did you ever think
he may be insane?

Did you ever think
he might be insane?

Objection. The witness
isn't an expert.

I withdraw the question.

Now, Mr. Keefer,
were you informed at any
time prior to December 18

that Mr. Maryk
suspected Queeg
of being mentally ill?

-Yes, sir.
-Describe how you
learned this fact.

Now let me see.

Two weeks before the typhoon,
Maryk showed me a medical log

he'd kept on
Queeg's behavior.

He asked me
to come with him
to the New Jersey

to report the situation
to Admiral Halsey.

Did you consent
-to go with him?
-Yes, I did.

Why?

He was my executive officer

and my close friend.

Did you believe
the log justified the
relief of Captain Queeg?

No. No.

When we arrived
aboard the New Jersey

I told him as
forcibly as I could

that the log would not
justify the action.

What was
his response?

Well, after a lot of arguing,

he followed my advice.
We returned to the Caine.

Were you surprised then
two weeks later when
he relieved the Captain?

I was flabbergasted.

Lieutenant,
speak up so the
court can hear you.

I was flabbergasted, sir.

Were you pleased,
Mr. Keefer?

No.

I was badly disturbed.

We still can't
hear you, Lieutenant.

I was badly disturbed, sir.

I thought at best
he would be in
grave difficulties.

It was a terrible situation.

No further questions.

No questions at this time.

Does defense counsel
intend to recall this
witness at a later date?

No, sir.

No cross-examination of this
highly material witness?

No, sir.

The court will
question the witness.

Now, Mr. Keefer,
as to this so-called
medical log,

the facts are contained
which convinced
Lieutenant Maryk

that he should
report the Captain
to Admiral Halsey,

didn't convince you.
Is that right?

-They did not, sir.
-Why not?

Sir, speaking
from ignorance...

It's always seemed to me
that mental disability was
a relative thing.

Captain Queeg was
a very strict disciplinarian

and extremely meticulous
at hunting down small matters.

There were several
occasions where I thought
he bore down too hard

and those were
the things that were
recorded in the medical log.

They were very unpleasant.

But to jump from them
to a conclusion that the
Captain was a maniac, no.

No, in all honesty
I was against
Maryk doing that.

No further questions.

You'll not discuss your
testimony outside of
this courtroom.

Witness excused.

Why didn't you
cross-examine
Tom Keefer?

Why'd you let him
off like that?

Call Signalman
Third Class Urban.

Signalman Third Class Urban.

Just tell the truth,
the whole truth
and nothing but the truth.

Excuse me, sir. Sir.

Damn it,
he should have
talked himself.

Sure he should.
You don't understand,
do you?

Come up here and
be sworn in, son.

You do solemnly swear
the evidence you shall
give in this court

shall be the truth,
the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth,

-so help you God?
-Aye, sir.

State your name, rank
and present position.

Junius Hannerford Urban,
Signalman, Third Class,
USN of the USS Caine,sir.

If you recognize
the accused,
state as whom.

Sir?

Do you recognize the
officer at that table?

Which one, sir?
There are four.

Name the one you recognize.

Well, that's
the exec, sir.

His name?

He's Mr. Maryk.

What's he the exec of?

Well, the ship.

Name the ship.

The Caine.

Thank you.

Sorry, sir.

Urban, were you serving aboard
the Cainein your present
capacity on 18 December, 1944?

Sure, I was aboard, sir.

Were you in the pilot house
when Lieutenant Maryk
relieved Captain Queeg?

Yes, sir.

Who else was in the
wheelhouse at the time?

Well,
there was the Captain
and Mr. Maryk, sir.

Yes.

And the helmsman.

His name?

Stilwell.

Who else?

-The OOD.
-His name?

Mr. Keith.

What were you doing
in the wheelhouse
at the time?

Well, I had
the watch, sir.

Urban, describe,
in your own words,

how Lieutenant Maryk
relieved Captain Queeg.

Well, he said,
"I relieve you, sir."

What was
happening at the time?

Well, the ship was
rolling very bad.

Urban, describe
everything that happened

in the 10 minutes
before the Captain
was relieved.

Well, like I say,
the ship was
rolling very bad.

That's all?

Did the exec
say anything?

Did the Captain
say anything?

Did the OOD
say anything?

Did the ship just
roll in silence
for 10 minutes?

Well...

I think the Captain
wanted to come north

and the exec wanted
to come south.

Or the other way around
or something like that.

Why did the Captain
want to come south?

I don't know, sir.

Why did the exec
want to come north?

Sir, I'm a signalman.

But the Captain did not

act queer or crazy
in any way, at any time
that morning, correct?

The Captain was the
same as always, sir.

Crazy or sane, Urban?

He was sane, sir.
As far as I knew.

No further questions.

Urban, were you aboard
when the Cainecut
its own tow cable

the time it was towing targets
outside Pearl Harbor?

Yes, sir.
-What were you doing at
the time that it happened?

Well, I was...

Well, that is,
the Captain was eating...

He was balling me out
on the bridge, sir.

What for?

My shirt tails was out.

Was the Captain
very strict on the
subject of shirt tails?

Oh, he was nut...

I mean, yes, sir.
He was very strict
on shirt tails, sir.

So, while the
Captain was discussing
your shirt tails

the ship went around in
a circle and steamed over
her own towline.

I object
to the question.

I object to the question.
Counsel has tricked
the witness

with leading questions
into asserting as fact
the Cainecut a towline.

A material point
not touched upon
in direct examination.

If it please the court,
the witness stated

he had never
seen the Captain
do anything crazy.

I'm attempting
to refute this.

Defense counsel have
the opportunity to
originate evidence later.

Objection sustained.

The cross-examination
thus far will be stricken
from the record.

Urban, what is a
paranoid personality?

Sir?

Could you recognize
a psychotic person?

Me?

No further questions.

Urban,

you will not discuss your
testimony with anyone outside
this courtroom, understood?

No, sir.

Excused.

Thank you, sir.

Call Chief Watertender,
Bud.

One moment.

I understand that
the judge advocate
intends to call

a dozen members of
the crew of the Caine.

That's correct.

Is the purpose to confirm
Urban's testimony

that the Captain
was never seen to
do anything crazy?

That's the purpose.

Defense will concede

that the testimony of
these witnesses will
corroborate Urban's,

if the judge advocate
concedes that

these 12 men don't know
anymore about a paranoid
than Urban.

I'll gladly make
that concession, sir,
on those terms.

Lieutenant Greenwald, you're making
a weighty concession.

By your leave, sir,
I make that concession.

Just don't record that.

-Mr. Greenwald?
Yes, sir.

The court understands that
you were appointed defense
counsel by the judge advocate.

Is that right?

-Yes, sir.
When were
you appointed?

Four days ago, sir.

Do you think
you've had time
to prepare your case?

May it please the court,
Lieutenant Greenwald
accepted this assignment

at my earnest request.

I see by your uniform,
you're a flying officer.

-Yes, sir.
What do you fly?

-F6
-F's, sir.

What're you doing
on the beach?
Were you grounded?

Hospitalized for
third degree burns, sir.

I see.
How were you burned?

Crashed a barrier
on the USS Wasp,sir.

Did you have a chance
to practice much law
before the war came along?

A little, sir.

Court will speak to the
accused off the record.

Yes, sir.

Come up here,
Lieutenant.

Come here.

It seems the court's duty
at this point to inquire

whether your counsel's
conduct of the defense
meets with your approval.

May it please the court,
if the accused answers
that question now,

he must do so
on blind faith.

I beg the court
for an opportunity
to speak to my client first.

No, we've had
too many recesses here.

Not a recess, sir,
a brief delay, two minutes.

All right, court will
remain in session.

There'll be a two minute
pause in the proceedings.

Challee.

Well,
do you want to
get rid of me?

I don't know.

Everything's
all right up till now.

-I'm sunk.
-You're not.

Fifteen years
-in the brig.
-You won't go to the brig.

What's going on here, Jack?
Where'd you get this bird?

Sir, Barney Greenwald.
We went to
Georgetown Law together.

Before the war, he was
one of the most successful
young lawyers in Washington.

-He was?
-Yes, sir.

Well, don't you think
he's putting on a damned
queer show here?

-Well, yes, sir, I do.
-Why didn't you
cross-examine Tom Keefer?

-There isn't time to tell.
-He knows everything that
Captain Queeg did. Everything.

-Sure he does.
-And if he wouldn't talk,

it was up to you
to drag it out of
him, wasn't it?

You don't begin to
understand...

I don't understand
what you're doing, mister,
that's for sure.

I just happen to want
to fight this case.

Why? Why?
What's it matter to you?
You're a total stranger.

I want to win it.

I want
to believe you.

It's God's truth.

No, you said you'd
rather be prosecuting
me than defending me.

Maybe this is
your screwy way
of prosecuting me.

A Jewish fellow, isn't he?

Yes, sir.
Barney's Jewish.

You're telling me
he's a hell of a lot
sharper than he seems.

Gentlemen.

The court again
asks the accused,
are you satisfied?

I'm satisfied, sir.

Court will not
reopen this question.

I understand that, sir.
I'm satisfied with
Lieutenant Greenwald.

Continue your case,
Commander Challee.

Call Lieutenant Keith.

Lieutenant Keith.

You do solemnly swear
the evidence you shall
give in this court

shall be the truth,
the whole truth and

nothing but the truth,
so help you God?

I do.

State your name,
rank and present station.

Willis Seward Keith,
Lieutenant,
Junior Grade, USNR,

Assistant Communications
Officer of the USS Caine.

If you recognize
the accused, state as so.

Steve Maryk, my executive
officer on the Caine.

Mr. Keith, were you officer
of the deck of the Caine
during the forenoon watch

-on 18th December, 1944?
Yes.

Was the Captain relieved
of his command during
your watch?

-Yes, he was.
-Do you know why
the executive officer

relieved the Captain?

Yes. Captain Queeg
had lost control of himself

and the ship was in
grave danger of foundering.

How many years have you
served at sea, Lieutenant?

One year and three months.

Do you know how many
years Commander Queeg
has served at sea?

I guess about 10 years.

Which of you
is better qualified to judge

whether a ship is
foundering or not?

Myself, sir, if I'm in
possession of my faculties
and Commander Queeg isn't.

What makes you think
he isn't in possession
of his faculties?

He wasn't on the morning
of December 18.

Have you studied
medicine or psychiatry?

No.

Did the Captain rave,
or foam, or make
insane gestures?

No, but what he did
do was just as bad.

Clarify that a bit,
if you will.

His orders were
vague and sluggish
and not appropriate.

He insisted on going south,

when we had a
north wind of 90 miles
an hour behind us.

With a stern wind
that strong, the ship
couldn't be controlled.

In your expert opinion,
as a ship handler, that is.

Steve Maryk
thought so, and he's
an expert ship handler.

Mr. Keith,
were you wholeheartedly
loyal to your captain

or antagonistic to him,
prior to 18th December?

I was antagonistic
to Captain Queeg at
certain isolated times.

At what isolated times
were you antagonistic
to him?

When Captain Queeg
maltreated the men,
I opposed him.

When did Captain Queeg
ever maltreat the men?

Well, for one thing,
he systematically persecuted

Gunner's Mate
Second Class Stilwell.

In what way?

First he restricted him
to the ship for six months
for reading on watch.

He refused to grant him leave
in the States when we were
back here in December '43.

The man was getting
anonymous letters about
his wife's infidelity.

Maryk gave Stilwell
a 72-hour emergency leave

and he returned
a few hours over
leave and...

Mr. Keith, you say Maryk
gave Stilwell a pass.

Did Maryk know
the Captain had denied
leave to Stilwell?

Yes, sir.

Did Maryk check with
the Captain before
issuing the pass?

No, sir.

Mr. Keith, are you
testifying that Maryk

deliberately violated
his captain's orders?

Well, I mean, it was
my fault, actually.

I begged him to.
I was morale officer.

-Mr. Keith. Mr. Keith.
-And I thought
the man's morale...

We now have your
testimony that you,
Maryk and Stilwell

connived to circumvent
an express order of your
commanding officer,

a whole year
before the typhoon
of 18th December.

Please tell the court
any other instances of

maltreatment that occur to you.

He cut off the movies
for six months

just because he wasn't
invited to a showing
by mistake.

He cut off the water
at the equator

because he said the men
were using too much and
had to be taught a lesson.

Mr. Keith,

did Captain Queeg ever issue
any rules or punishments not
permitted by regulations?

He never did anything
not allowed by regulations.

You didn't like the Captain,
did you, Lieutenant?

I did, at first, very much.

But gradually I realized
that he was a petty tyrant
and utterly incompetent.

Did you think
he was insane, too?

Not until the day
of the typhoon.

Very well.
Come to the day
of the typhoon.

Was your decision to obey
Maryk based on your judgment
that the Captain had gone mad

or was it based
on your hatred
of Captain Queeg?

I just don't remember my
state of mind that long ago.

No further questions.

Mr. Keith, you stated
you disliked Captain Queeg.

I did dislike him.

Did you state under
direct examination all your
reasons for disliking him?

Not at all.

State the rest of your
reasons now, please.

Well, for one thing,
he extorted $100 from me.

Objection.

The issue in this case is
not whether Captain Queeg
was a model officer,

but whether he was
insane on 18th December.

Defense counsel hasn't
even touched this issue.

Please the court,
this will bear directly on

the mental fitness
of Captain Queeg to
command a naval vessel,

and as evidence,
it is nothing but
a clarification

of Mr. Keith's dislike
for his commanding officer,

a fact established by the
judge advocate at great
pains in direct examination.

Objection's overruled.

Describe this so-called
extortion, Mr. Keith.

Well, this was
back last December
in San Francisco Bay.

The Captain had
this big crate

full of cheap tax-free
whiskey from Pearl Harbor

he wanted to
sneak into Oakland.

He appointed me
boat officer,

and a working party
started to load the
crate into the gig.

It was terrifically
heavy and Captain
Queeg got excited

and screeched a whole bunch
of contradictory orders.

The sailors got rattled
and dropped the crate
into the water.

It sank like a stone,
and I was out $110.

You mean the Captain was?

No, sir, I was.

The Captain informed me
that I was responsible

because I was the boat officer
in charge of the loading

and he asked me
to think over what I
ought to do about it.

Well, I was supposed to
go on leave the next day,

my girl had flown in
from New York to be with me.

So I went to the Captain and
I apologized for my stupidity

and said that I'd like to
pay for the lost crate.

He took my money gladly
and then he signed my
leave papers.

What further reasons did you
have for disliking Queeg?

My chief reason
for disliking Captain Queeg
was his cowardice in battle.

What cowardice?

He repeatedly ran
from shore batteries.

Objection!

Counsel's originating
evidence beyond the
scope of direct examination.

He is leading the witness
into irresponsible libels
of an officer of the Navy.

Please the court,
Mr. Keith's dislike for his
commanding officer

is not only within the scope
of direct examination, it was
the key fact brought out.

Now the witness has
confessed an ignorance
of psychiatry.

Things Queeg did
which caused the witness in
his ignorance to dislike him

may in fact have been
the helpless acts of a
sick man.

I respectfully
urge my objection, sir.

Court finds the question
within the scope of
direct examination.

And the answer is material.
Objection overruled. Proceed.

Mr. Keith,
where and when
did Captain Queeg

run from shore batteries?

Practically every time we heard
gunfire from the beach.

I guess the worst time
was at Kwajalein.

That's where he got the
nickname, Old Yellow Stain.

What did this nickname,
Old Yellow Stain, imply?

Well, cowardice, of course.

It referred to a
yellow dye marker he
dropped over the side.

Describe this
Yellow Stain incident.

Well, I wasn't
on the bridge, so I only
heard about it afterwards.

-Objection.
What happened was...

Does defense counsel seriously
intend to enter these hearsay
libels on the record?

I withdraw the question.

Defense will introduce
direct evidence on the
Yellow Stain incident.

Strike the question and
the answer from the record.

Can you
describe any incidents
of cowardice

to which you were
an eyewitness, Mr. Keith?

Well, in any
combat situation,

the Captain was always
found on the side of the
bridge away from the firing.

I saw that a dozen times
when I was OOD.

No further questions.

Mr. Keith,

has Commander Queeg ever
been court-martialed by
a higher authority

for any of the alleged acts
of cowardice you described?

No.

Well, can you cite
any official records that
might substantiate these

fantastic and
libelous stories
you've been telling,

under the guidance
of defense counsel?

Official records, no.

Can you state
as fact, that the crate
that was lost at sea

contained smuggled liquor?

It was
-common knowledge.
Common knowledge?

Did you see any liquor
-in the crate?
-No.

Can you name one person
who will testify that they
saw liquor in the crate?

Well, naturally, he was
pretty careful about that.

-Not one person.
-I just don't know who'd
have actually seen it.

Mr. Keith,
you've testified that
you hate Captain Queeg.

You've reported, as fact,
every evil rumor about him

and you've made wild,
irresponsible charges
under oath.

Isn't that the
plain truth of your
testimony, Mr. Keith?

I haven't lied once.

Mr. Keith, on the morning
the Captain was relieved,

did you really think
he had gone crazy?

I said before,
I can't say for sure
what my state of mind was.

No more questions.

You'll not discuss
any details of your testimony

outside this courtroom,
Lieutenant.

Aye, aye, sir.

You're excused.

Call Captain Southard.

Captain Southard.

What will
they ask Captain Southard?

I don't know.
But we'll soon find out.

Come on up here,
Captain, we'll swear you in.

Do you solemnly swear
the evidence you shall give

in this court
shall be the truth,
the whole truth

and nothing
but the truth,
so help you God?

I do.

State your name, rank
and present station.

Randolph Patterson Southard,

Captain US Navy, Commander,
Destroyer Squadron Eight.

You understand, sir,
that you've been called
as an expert witness

on destroyer
-ship handling?
-I do.

State your
qualifications.

Some 20 years in destroyers.

Ten years
commanding all types,

from the World War One
four-piper on up to
the newest 2,200 tonner.

Now, sir,

I'm going to describe
a hypothetical
ship handling problem

for your expert opinion.

Very well.

You're in command
of a destroyer
in the Philippine Sea.

A typhoon blows up,
without warning,
traveling west.

The wind keeps increasing,
its direction holding
steady from the north.

The wind is now
force 10 to 12,
your seas are mountainous.

Under those circumstances,
sir, what would you do?

I believe I'd execute the
classic Navy maneuver known as
getting the hell out of there.

How would you
go about that, Captain?

It's almost a
rule of thumb.

You say the wind's from
the north at 90 knots,

the center of the
typhoon is coming
at you from the east.

The best course is south.

How about turning north
under those circumstances
and heading into the wind?

That would be dubious
and dangerous,
not to say idiotic.

Why, Captain?

Because you're
headed right back into
the path of the typhoon.

Unless you're interested in
sinking, that's not smart.

That's all, sir.

Captain, have you ever
conned a ship through
the center of a typhoon?

I have not handled
a DMS at the center
of a typhoon, no.

But I don't know
who the hell has beside
the skipper of the Caine.

Will you state,
without reservation,

that the rules of
destroyer handling

would hold for a DMS
in the center of a typhoon?

At the center of
a typhoon there are
no hard and fast rules.

That's one situation
where it's entirely up
to the commanding officer.

Too many things
can happen too fast.

Captain,
you remember the
hypothetical question

of the judge advocate
about the typhoon?

I do.

Now in that situation,
I ask you to assume that

the winds and seas
have become worse than
any you've experienced.

The ship is
wallowing broadside,

you actually believe
your ship is foundering,

you're in the
last extremity.

Now, do you bring your
ship north into the wind,

or do you continue south,
stern to wind?

You're getting
mighty hypothetical.

Yes, sir.
You prefer not to answer
that question, Captain?

I'll answer it.

In the last extremity,

I'd come around to the north
and head into the wind,

if I could,
but only in the
last extremity.

No further questions.

In your opinion, Captain,

who is the best judge
as to when a ship
is in its last extremity?

There's only one judge,
the commanding officer.

Why, sir?

Well, the Navy has
made him captain

because his knowledge
of the sea and of ships

is better than anyone
else's on the ship.

Panic is a common
hazard at sea.

The highest function
of command is to override it,

to listen to nothing
but the voice of his
own professional judgment.

Thank you, Captain.

You will not discuss
your testimony outside the
courtroom, Captain.

Understood.

You're excused
and thank you.

Call Dr. Forest Lundeen.

Raise your right hand. You do
solemnly swear the evidence
you shall give in this court

shall be the truth,
the whole truth,

and nothing but
the truth,
so help you God?

I do.

State your name,
rank and present station.

Forest Lundeen, MD,
Captain US Navy.

Head of psychiatry,
US Naval Hospital,
San Francisco.

Were you
head of the medical
board which examined

-Lieutenant Commander Queeg?
I was.

How long did the
examination last,
Doctor?

We had the commander under
constant observation and
testing for three weeks.

What was the finding
of the board?

Commander Queeg
was discharged with
a clean bill of health.

Doctor, is it possible
that two months ago
on December 18

he was in such a state
of psychotic collapse

that relieving him
from a naval command
would be justified?

It's utterly impossible.

We're going to place
your report in evidence
and hear Dr. Bird.

Thank you, Doctor.

Dr. Lundeen,
my background is
legal, not medical,

so I hope you'll
bear with me if I try to
clarify technical terms.

Of course,
of course.

I'll probably ask some
elementary questions.

Perfectly all right.

Now, Doctor, would you
say Commander Queeg
is absolutely normal?

Well, normality, you know,
is a fiction in psychiatry.

No adult's without problems,
except a happy imbecile.

Can you describe
Commander Queeg's
problems, please?

Well, you might say
his overall problem is
one of inferiority feelings,

generated by an
unfavorable childhood

and aggravated by
certain adult experiences.

Unfavorable childhood
in what way?

Disturbed background,
divorced parents, financial
trouble, schooling problems.

And the aggravating
factors in adult life?

In general, the commander
is rather troubled
by his short stature,

his low standing
in his class
and such factors.

The commander is
well adjusted to
all these things.

Can you describe
the nature of
this adjustment?

Yes, I can. His identity
as a naval officer is the
essential balancing factor.

It's the key to
his personal security.

Therefore, he has
a fixed anxiety about
protecting his standing.

That would account
for the harshness
and ill-temper.

Would he be disinclined
to admit to mistakes?

Yes. Of course,
there's nothing
unbalanced in that.

Oh. Would he be
a perfectionist?

Such a personality would be.

Suspicious of subordinates?
Inclined to hound them
over small details?

Any mistake by a subordinate
is intolerable because it
might endanger him.

And yet he will not
admit mistakes when
he makes them himself.

You might say
he revises reality
in his own mind,

so that he comes
out blameless.

Yes, but, Doctor, isn't
distorting reality a symptom
of mental illness?

Well, it's a question
of degree. None of us
wholly faces reality.

But doesn't the commander
distort reality more than,
say, you do?

That's his weakness.
Other people have
other weaknesses.

It's definitely
not disabling.

Would he be inclined
to stubbornness?

You'll have a certain
rigidity of personality
in such an individual.

The inner insecurity
checks him

from admitting that
those who differ with
him may be right.

Doctor, you've testified
that the following symptoms

exist in commander
Queeg's behavior.

Rigidity of personality,
feelings of persecution,
unreasonable suspicion,

withdrawal from reality,
perfectionist anxiety,
an unreal basic premise

and an obsessive sense
of self-righteousness.

All mild, sir.
All well compensated.

Yes, Doctor.

Now, is there an inclusive
psychiatric term,

one label for this syndrome?

Syndrome? Who said
anything about a syndrome?

You're misusing the term.
There's no syndrome
because there's no disease.

Thank you for the correction,
Doctor. I'll rephrase it.

Do these symptoms fall
into a single pattern
of neurotic disturbance?

A common psychiatric class?

I know what you're driving
at, of course. It's a
paranoid personality.

But that is not
a disabling affliction.

What sort of
-personality, Doctor?
-Paranoid.

-Paranoid, Doctor.
-Yes, paranoid.

Thank you, Doctor.
No more questions.

You will not discuss your
testimony outside this
courtroom. You're excused.

Call Dr. Bird.

Dr. Bird.

These things are
such a waste of time.

I don't know why
a deposition
couldn't do the same thing.

Yes, sir.

These doctors.
Ought to run every one
of them through boot camp.

Get your hands out of
your pockets, sailor.

You do solemnly swear
the evidence you shall

give in this court
shall be the truth,
the whole truth,

and nothing but the truth,
-so help you God?
-I do.

State your name,
rank and present station.

Alan Winston Bird,
MD, Lieutenant USNR,

on the psychiatric staff
of the US Naval Hospital,
San Francisco.

Were you a member
of the board, headed
by Dr. Lundeen,

which recently inquired
into the mental health of
Lieutenant Commander Queeg?

-Yes, sir.
-What was the finding
of the board?

We found the commander
mentally fit for command
now and has never been unfit.

Did you find
any indication
in Commander Queeg

of what is known as
a paranoid personality?

Well, I prefer to call
it obsessive personality with
paranoid features.

But this
did not indicate any
mental unfitness however?

Oh, no.

You unanimously agreed then,
Doctor, that Commander Queeg

is mentally fit now and
must have been mentally fit
on December 18

when he was relieved
from naval command on the
grounds of mental illness?

That was our
unanimous conclusion.

Thank you, Doctor.
No further questions.

Doctor, you
have a special training
in Freudian technique?

Yes.

In Freudian analysis,
is there such a thing
as mental illness?

Well, there are
disturbed people
and adjusted people.

But disturbed and
adjusted correspond
roughly, don't they,

to the terms sick and well,
as laymen use them?

Very roughly, yes.

Would you say that
Commander Queeg suffers
from inferiority feelings?

Yes, but they are
well compensated.

Is there a difference
between compensated
and adjusted?

Most definitely.

Can you explain it?

Well, let's say
a man has some deep-seated
psychological disturbance.

He can compensate by
finding outlets for
his peculiar drives.

He can never adjust
without undergoing
psychoanalysis.

Has Commander Queeg
ever been psychoanalyzed?

-No.
-He is, then,
a disturbed person?

Yes, he is. Not disabled,
however, by the disturbance.

How has he compensated?

Well, two ways mainly.

The paranoid pattern,
which is useless
and undesirable,

and his naval career,
which is extremely
useful and desirable.

You say that his
military career is a
result of the disturbance?

Most military careers are.

Doctor,
did you note any peculiar
habit of Commander Queeg?

Something he did
with his hands?

You mean the rolling
of the steel balls?

Yes. Describe
the habit, please.

Well, it's an incessant
rolling, or rattling

of two marbles in his hand,
either hand.

Why does he do it?

His hands tremble.
He does it to conceal the
trembling, to still his hands.

It makes him feel
more comfortable.

Why do his
hands tremble?

The inner tension.
It's one of the
surface symptoms.

Does this rolling motion
have any significance
in Freudian analysis?

Well, it's an obvious
sexual symbol, of course.

How far
is this totally

irrelevant technical
discussion going to
be pushed?

Are you objecting
to the question?

I'm requesting
the court set limits to
time wasting by the defense.

Request is noted.
Proceed with your
cross-examination.

Doctor, you've testified
that Commander Queeg

is a disturbed,
not an adjusted person?

-Yes.
-He is, then, in
laymen's terms sick?

I remember agreeing to the
rough resemblance between
the terms disturbed and sick.

But by those terms,
an awful lot of
people are sick.

Yes, but this trial only
has Commander Queeg's
sickness at issue.

Now if he's sick, how could
your board have given him
a clean bill of health?

You're playing
on words, I'm afraid.
We found no disability.

Doctor,
supposing the
requirements of command

were many times
as severe as you
believe them to be,

wouldn't even this mild
sickness disable Queeg?

-That's absurdly hypothetic.
-Is it?

Have you ever had
-sea duty, Doctor?
-No.

Have you ever
-been to sea?
-No.

How long have you
been in the Navy?

-Five months.
-Have you had
any dealings

with ships' captains
-before this case?
-No.

Upon what do you base
your estimate of the
stresses of command?

Well, my general
knowledge on...

Do you think command
requires a highly gifted,
exceptional person?

-Well, no.
-It doesn't?

Not highly gifted, no.
Adequate responses,
fairly good intelligence

and sufficient training
and experience, but...

Is that enough equipment
for, say, a highly gifted,
highly skilled psychiatrist?

Well, not exactly.

In other words,
it takes more ability
to be a psychiatrist

than the Captain
of a naval vessel?

It takes...

That is, different
abilities are required.

You're making the
invidious comparison,
not I.

Doctor, you've admitted
Commander Queeg is sick.

The only remaining
question is, how sick?

You don't think
he's sick enough to
be disabled from command.

I suggest that,
since you evidently
don't know very much

about the requirements
of command,

you may be wrong
in your conclusion.

I repudiate
your suggestion.

You deliberatelysubstituted the word "sick."

Which is a loose...
A polarized word...

I'm sorry,
what kind of word?

Polarized.

-Polarized?
-Invidious.

I never said "sick."

Now, my grasp
of the requirements
of command is adequate,

or I would have
disqualified myself
from serving on the board.

Maybe you should have.

The witness
is being badgered.

I withdraw
my last statement.
No further questions.

Dr. Bird, the defense
counsel has managed to
put words in your mouth

that I'm certain
you don't mean.

I am not aware
he succeeded in putting
any words into my mouth.

Doctor, he drew from
you the implication
that Captain Queeg...

Sir, I am careful in
my use of terminology.

I did not introduce
the term "sick."

I do not regard it
as a precise term.

Nevertheless, if you're
going to use such a loose
term, then Captain Queeg,

like a vast number of
seemingly healthy
people, is sick.

However, he is
definitely not
disabled for command,

which is the
only issue here.

Sir, that sounds
like a contradiction,
which I'm...

We live in a
sick civilization.

The well people
are exceptional.

And Captain Queeg
certainly isn't exceptional
in that regard.

And furthermore,
I'd like ...ank you.

Thank you, Doctor.
Certainly clarifies
the matter.

No more questions.

Doctor, Doctor, you'll
not discuss your testimony
outside this courtroom.

Yes, sir.
-You're excused.

Prosecution rests.

Is defense ready
to present its case?

Yes, sir.

How many witnesses
are you calling?

Only two, sir.
The first is the accused.

We can button this all
up tomorrow morning?

I believe so, sir.

Recess until 0900.

That was marvelous,
cutting up that doctor
like that.

Wise little bastard.

-Did you ever read it?
-What?

Your friend
-Tom Keefer's novel?
-Huh?

Multitudes, Multitudes.
You ever read it?

Tom's novel? No. He's always
-kept it in a black satchel.
-I'd like to read it.

Quite a job you did
on Bird, Barney.

Thanks, Jack.

-It won't cut any ice.
-No?

No, Blakely's headed up
a lot of these courts.

He doesn't go
for vaudeville.

-See you tomorrow, Jack.
-See you tomorrow.

I'm sure it exposes this
-war for all its grim futility.
-What does?

The book.

I'm sure it shows up
all the regular Army
and Navy officers,

bunch of stupid sadists,
bitching up the campaigns,

throwing away the lives
of fatalistic, humorous,
lovable citizen soldiers,

lots of sexy scenes
where the prose becomes
rhythmic and beautiful

while the girl gets
-her pants pulled down.
-What's eating you?

I hate this case,
you know.

More so because
I want to win
it so bad.

Because of what
I have to do
to win it.

I'm beginning
to think you...

I've got a pretty
good chance here.

You're pretty keen,
all right.

Almost as keen
as Tom Keefer?

Oh, boy, you were...
You sure were right
about him.

Why did he do it, anyway?
I mean, he didn't have to
implicate himself.

He could have said
what he really
thought about Queeg.

What, to Blakely? Blakely's
sniffing around the edges
of Keefer as it is.

No, sir. Your friend's
one course was to
clam up. He's smart.

It's all right.
You don't like Tom much.

When I look at Tom
Keefer, I see myself
a couple of years ago.

Only like in a crazy
mirror, all distorted
and upside down.

I'm not amused.

Maybe Tom Keefer didn't
enjoy sailing under Queeg
for half a year.

Maybe he'd enjoy it less
if the Nazis and the Japs

were shaking hands
right now at the
Mississippi River.

I guess one thing
I found out, Maryk,

is there's a time for
everything, including
rebellious youth.

Possibly you and
Mr. Keefer were dead
wrong in your timing.

If that's the case, well,
the next question is,

who's the real victim
in this courtroom?
You or Captain Queeg?

Captain Queeg
was nuts.

You heard Dr. Lundeen.
It's a question of degree.

If you're at war and
your command personnel
is stretched thin,

maybe you use him
because he's got
the training.

I think Captain Queeg
is a mean, stupid
son of a bitch.

Okay!

If that was
grounds for deposing
your superior officer,

we wouldn't have
an Army or a Navy.

That's a wide-spread opinion
of superior officers.

Well, they're
not all Queegs.

Superiors all tend to look
like Queeg from underneath.

It's an
unflattering angle.

What do
you do when you
really get a Queeg?

You fight the war.
Where can we get drunk?
I mean drunk.

Attention!

Court is in session.

Defense, present your case.

I call the accused.

Do you solemnly swear
the evidence you shall
give in this court

shall be the truth, the
whole truth and nothing but
the truth, so help you God?

I do.

State your name, rank
and present station.

Stephen Maryk, Lieutenant,
USNR, executive officer
of the USS Caine.

Are you the accused
in this court-martial?

I am.

What was your
occupation in
civilian life?

Helping in
my father's fishing business.

We own a couple of boats.

Where?
-In San Francisco.

Then you were familiar with
the problems of ocean going

ship handling before
entering the Navy?

Well, I've been on
boats since I was 14.

Did you relieve the
commanding officer
of the Caine

of his command on
December 18, 1944?

-I did.
-Was the Cainein
the last extremity

when you relieved
the Captain?

-It was.
-On what fact do you
base this judgment?

Well, on several...
Well, we were unable to
hold course.

We broached to
three times in an hour.

Broached to?

Yes. Wind and sea took
charge, tossed us sideways
for 10 minutes at a time.

We were rolling
too steeply for the
inclinometer to record.

We were shipping solid green
water in the wheelhouse.
Generators were cutting out.

The ship wasn't answering
to emergency rudder and
engine settings.

We were lost
and out of control.

Did you point these
things out to the Captain?

Repeatedly, for over an hour.
I begged him to come north,
head into the wind.

What was his response?

Mostly a glazed look
and no answer,

or a repetition
of his own desires.

Which were what?

Well, I guess to hold
fleet course until
we went down.

Mr. Maryk, when did you
start keeping your medical
log on Captain Queeg?

Shortly after the
Kwajalein invasion.

Why did you start it?

I began to think
the Captain might
be mentally ill.

Why?

That yellow dye
marker business.

Was that
the incident in
which Captain Queeg

acquired the nickname
Old Yellow Stain?

Yes, it was.

You witnessed the
occurrence yourself?

I was navigator.
I was right there
on the bridge.

Describe the
Yellow Stain incident, please.

Well,
it was the first morning
of the invasion.

We were ordered to lead
a group of attack boats
into the beach.

Uh, that is, we had to
take them to their
line of departure,

1,000 yards
from the beach.

These little boats, they
lay so low in the water

that they couldn't see to
navigate for themselves.

They needed a guide
to make sure that they
hit the right island.

The right beach.

Captain Queeg rang up 10 knots
and we started to head in
towards this island.

Uh...

Yeah, it had some funny
Jap name. Our code name
for it was Jacob Island.

It was a choppy sea.
And the assault boats could
only make five or six knots.

And at that they were
shipping solid water,

and the marines were
getting just about
drowned in spray.

And they began to
fall way behind.

And naturally,
they signaled for
us to slow down.

But the Captain
just ignored them.

We pulled further
and further ahead until
we could hardly see them.

Then, when we were about
2,500 yards from the beach,
we heard some gunfire.

And the Captain suddenly
yelled, "We're running
up on the beach!

"Reverse course!
Make 30 knots!"

And while we were
turning, he...

He threw over one of
these yellow dye
markers he used

to mark water when
there's a floating
mine or something.

So we went barreling
out of there.

The attack boats were
just a lot of specks
way off in the distance,

and all you could see
behind us was this big
spread of yellow,

all over the water.

Now, Mr. Maryk,
why didn't...

Court wants
to question the witness.

Lieutenant, how do you know
you were 2,500 yards from
the beach when you turned?

Sir, I was navigating.
There wasn't a doubt
in the world

where we were
by visual plot

and our radar range
to the beach was also
2,500 when we turned.

Now, Mr. Maryk,
why didn't you go to
higher authority at once

with your doubts
about the Captain's
mental health?

Uh, well, I figured
if only I had a record
I'd be on stronger ground.

So I decided
to start the log.

I figured if ever
I was all wrong,
I'd just burn it.

I kept it under
lock and key.

What made an
incident worthy of record
in your medical log?

Well, just any act
that seemed strange
or abnormal.

Like the Silex business.

Describe the Silex business.

A mess boy slopped coffee
on a Silex. Burned it out.

Now, none of the mess
boys would admit which
one did it.

So, the Captain,
he ordered all of the
officers of the ship

to sit as a court of
inquiry until we found out
who burned out the Silex.

I mean, in itself
it's a silly little thing,

but it went on and
on for 36 hours.

All ship's work stopped.
And there we all were,
sitting in a wardroom,

dying for sleep,
needing shaves

and still trying to find out
which of those poor colored
boys burned out the Silex.

And by then those kids
thought whoever
did it was gonna get hung.

They'd have died
before telling us.

So finally, I had to go
to the Captain and tell him

that all of the officers
admitted to being
incompetent investigators,

they'd take cuts in
their fitness reports,

but that they couldn't
find out who slopped
coffee on the Silex.

So he made a note in
his black book and
called off the inquiry.

Things like that,
or like the water
business.

Describe the water business.

Well, it's all in
the log, how he cut off
the water at the equator

for two days for the whole
ship just because he caught
one simple deckhand

stealing a drink
during water
conservation hours.

Or plain crazy things,
like the strawberry business.

Describe the
-strawberry business.
-Well, there...

Objection.
The so-called medical log
was introduced as evidence

at the start of
these proceedings.

All this is just
repeating a lot of
trivial disloyal gripes.

If the court concurs,
I'll pass over the
medical log.

Well, let's
not take up time here.

Aye, aye, sir.

Only there seems
to be some confusion

about this so-called
strawberry business.

Now it started out as
a search for a quart of
strawberries, is that right?

-Yes, sir.
And it
somehow turned

into a search for a key?

-That's right.
-How was that?

That's on account
of the cheese business.

The cheese business? I don't
recall any cheese business.

Well, that was
on the first ship Captain
Queeg served on, sir,

when he was an ensign.

Cheese had been
disappearing from
ship's store.

He investigated
and he caught
a sailor

who had made himself
a duplicate key to the
padlock on the refrigerator.

Now from catching
this cheese thief,

the Captain had gotten
a letter of commendation.

This was peace time.
Naturally, he was
real proud of it.

When the strawberry thing
came up, he insisted it
was the same thing.

All we had to do
was find out

who'd made a duplicate key
to the wardroom icebox.

But, of course, it was
ridiculous. It was
the mess boys again.

We all knew they'd
eaten up this quart
of strawberries.

It was just...
It was leavings from
the wardroom mess

and they were entitled
to eat it. That was
the custom.

But naturally,
when the Captain started

to roar around about
those strawberries, why,

the boys, they froze up
and swore they hadn't
eaten 'em.

And the Captain, he was
so steamed up on this key
theory he believed.

So he ordered the
search for the key?

Yes, sir. We ain't
never saw Captain Queeg so
happy before or since.

He was living the cheese
business all over again.

Organized the search
himself. All ship's
work was suspended.

And we collected every
single key on the ship.

We had boxes of keys.
We had barrels of keys.

About 2,800 of 'em.
All tagged with the
owner's name.

Then to make sure
we had them all,
we searched the ship.

From stem to stern.
From the crow's nest
to the build.

We stripped the crew
stark naked.

Every one of them shook out
their clothes, we
searched their lockers,

we crawled in to every
hole and every space
in the ship.

This went on for three days.

All of it over a key
which never existed.

When I saw Captain Queeg
sitting by the icebox

taking those keys
one by one out
of the barrels,

trying them on the
padlock, hours on end,
with a gleam in his eye,

I just gave up.

Continue your examination.

Mr. Maryk, when
the typhoon was over,

did Captain Queeg
make any effort to
regain command?

Yes, on the morning
of the 19th.

The storm had blown out,
we'd just sighted the fleet.

Describe what happened.

Well,
I was in the charthouse,
writing up a dispatch

to report the relief
to Admiral Halsey.

The Captain came in and
he said, "Do you mind
coming to my cabin

"and having a talk
before you send that?"

So I went below
and we talked.

It was the same thing.

First about how I'd be
court-martialed for
mutiny, and then...

Then he said, "You've
applied for transfer
to the regular Navy.

"You know this means
an end to all that."

And then he went into
this long thing about
how he loved the Navy,

he had no other interest
in life and even if he
was cleared,

this would ruin his record.

And I said I felt sorry
for him, and I really did.

Finally, he came out
with his proposal.

He said he would forget
the whole thing and
never report me.

He would resume command,

and the whole matter
would be forgotten
and written off...

What did you
say to this proposal?

Well, I was amazed.
I said,

"Captain, the whole
ship knows about it.

"It's written up in
the quartermaster's log
and the OOD's log."

And, well, he just...
He hemmed and hawed,

and finally he said,

"Well, it wouldn't be
the first time that
a penciled rough log

"had been fixed up
and corrected after
the fact."

Did you remind him
about the rule
against erasure?

Yes, he kind
of laughed and he said,

"It's either that or
court-martial for
mutiny for me."

And a black mark on
his record which he
didn't deserve.

He didn't see that a few
penciled rough lines
were worth all that.

What followed?

Well, he began
to plead and beg.

Uh, he cried at one point.

And in the end, he became
terrifically angry and
ordered me out of his cabin.

So I sent the dispatch.

Then you had the chance,
24 hours later,

of expunging the
whole event from
the official record

with the Captain's
knowledge and approval?

Yes.

Mr. Maryk,
were you panicky at all
during the typhoon?

I was not.

Now, Lieutenant,
you are charged

with relieving your
captain willfully,

without authority and
without justifiable cause.

Did you relieve
Captain Queeg willfully?

Yes. I knew
what I was doing.

Did you relieve
without authority?

No. My authority was
Articles 184, 185, 186.

Did you relieve
without justifiable cause?

No. My justifiable
cause was the Captain's
mental breakdown

at a time when the
ship was in danger.

No further questions.

Mr. Maryk,

this amazing interview,
in which the Captain offered
to falsify official records,

were there any
witnesses to it?

We were alone in the
Captain's cabin. No.

This incident at Kwajalein,
did anyone else see this chart
which, according to you,

indicated your ship
turned away from
the beach too soon?

About an hour after it
happened, the Captain
asked to see the chart.

He took it to his cabin.

When I got it back, all my
bearings and course lines
had been erased.

Then you have no
documentary corroboration
of this story.

No.

How about the radar men
who called off the ranges?

Won't they confirm this story?

Sir, you can't
expect them to remember
one single radar range

when they call them
by the thousands in
every invasion.

These poor abandoned
Marines in the assault boats

never complained to higher
authority of the dastardly
conduct of the Caine.

-No.
-Strange.

Sir, they landed against
machine gunfire.

The ones that survived,
I don't think they remember

much else besides
that landing.

Mr. Maryk,
who coined this scurrilous
nickname, Old Yellow Stain?

Uh...

It just sprang
into existence.

Throughout the ship?
Or just among the officers?

Among the officers.

Are you sure you didn't
coin it yourself?

I didn't.

Mr. Maryk, what kind of
rating would you give yourself
for loyalty to your captain?

I think I was a loyal officer.

Did you issue
a 72-hour pass to Stilwell
in December '43,

against your captain's
express instructions?

I did.

You admit to a
disloyal act in your first
days as executive officer?

Yes.

Mr. Maryk, where did
you get your schooling?

Um, in public schools
in San Francisco, and
San Francisco University.

How were your grades
in elementary school?

Okay.

Average, above average,
-below average?
-Average.

How were your grades
in high school?

Oh, well, I didn't
do so good there.
Below average.

What kind of course
did you take at college?

-Business course.
-Any pre-medical courses?

-No.
-Any psychology
or psychiatry?

-No.
-Uh...

How were your
grades at college?

-I scraped by.
-Below average?

Yes.

Where did you get
these highfalutin ideas
about paranoia?

Uh, out of books.

What books?
Name the titles.

Medical type books
about mental illness.

Is this your
intellectual hobby,
reading about psychiatry?

No.

Where did you
get these books?

I borrowed them off
ships' doctors here
and there.

And with your background,
your scholastic record,
did you imagine that

you understood these
highly technical,
scientific works?

Well, I got something
out of them.

What's a conditioned
reflex?

-I don't know.
-What's schizophrenia?

I think that's
a mental illness.

You think so.
What are its symptoms?

I don't know.

In fact, you don't know
what you're talking about

when you discuss mental
illness, is that right?

Well, I didn't say
I knew much about it.

Have you ever heard the
expression, a little learning
is a dangerous thing?

Yes.

You got a head full
of terms you didn't
understand

and on that basis
you had the
temerity to depose

a commanding officer on the
grounds of mental illness.
Is that right?

Well, I didn't relieve
him because of what
the book said.

The ship was in danger ...ver mind the ship.

We're discussing your
grasp of psychiatry.

Have you heard the diagnosis
of the qualified psychiatrist
who examined your captain?

-Yes.
-And what was
their diagnosis?

Was he crazy or wasn't
he on 18 December?

They say he wasn't.

But you, with your whining
gripes about strawberries
and Silexes, know better.

Mr. Maryk, who was
the third ranking
officer on your ship?

-Uh, Lieutenant Keefer.
Was he
a good officer?

-Yes.
-Did you consider his mind

to be as good as yours,
or, perhaps even better?

Better.

You showed this medical
-log of yours to him?
-Yes.

He wasn't convinced
by it that the Captain
was mentally ill.

-No.
-He talked you out of

trying to have
the Captain relieved.

Yes.

And two weeks later,
despite the whole weight
of naval discipline,

despite the arguments
of the next officer
in rank to you,

a superior intellect,

despite all this, you still
went ahead and seized
command of your ship?

I relieved him because
he definitely seemed
sick during the typhoon.

You still imagine
that your diagnosis
of Captain Queeg

is superior to the doctor's?

Only about Queeg on the
morning of the typhoon.

No more questions.

No re-examination.

Please step down.

Call Lieutenant
Commander Queeg.

Lieutenant Commander...

Commander, the oath...

The oath previously taken
by you is still binding.

Oh, yes, sir.

Commander, on the morning
of the 19 December,

did you have an interview
in your room with
Lieutenant Maryk?

Let's see. That's the
day after the typhoon.
Yes, I did.

-Was it at your request?
-Yes.

What was the substance
of that interview?

Well, as I say,
I felt sorry for him.

I hated to see him
ruining his life with
one panicky mistake.

Particularly, as I knew
it was his ambition to
make the Navy his career.

I tried as hard as
I could to show him
what a mistake he'd made.

I recommended he
relinquish command
to me,

and I offered
to be as lenient
as I could

in reporting what
had happened.

You never offered not
to report the incident?

Oh, how could I?
It was already
recorded in the logs.

Were the logs in pencil,
or typed, or what?

That would
make no difference.

Were they in pencil,
Commander?

Well, let's see.
Probably they were.

Quartermaster log
and OOD rough
log always are.

I doubt the yeoman
would have gotten
around to typing

smooth logs in
all the excitement!

Did you offer to
erase the incident
from the penciled logs

and make no
report at all?

Oh, I did not.
Erasures aren't permitted
in penciled logs.

Lieutenant Maryk has
testified under oath,
Commander,

that you made
such an offer.

Not only that, but that
you begged and pleaded and
even wept to get him to agree

to erase those
few pencil lines,

in return for which

you promised to hush up
the incident completely
and make no report.

-That isn't true.
There isn't
any truth in it at all?

Well, it's a distortion
of what I told you.

My version is
the exact truth.

You deny the
proposal to erase the logs
and hush up the story?

I deny it completely.
That's the part
he made up.

The weeping
and the pleading.

That's fantastic!

You're accusing
Lieutenant Maryk
of perjury?

I'm not accusing him.

He's accused of
enough as it stands.

You're likely to hear
a lot of strange things

about me from Mr. Maryk,
that's all.

Isn't one of you obviously
not telling the truth
about that interview?

It appears so.

Can you prove
it isn't you?

Only by citing
a clean record
of over 14 years

as a Navy officer against
the word of a man on trial
for a mutinous act.

Commander,

did you ever receive
$110 from Lieutenant
Junior Grade Keith?

I don't recall
offhand that I did.

-He testified that you did.
-I did?

I did?
On what occasion?

On the occasion of
a loss of a crate of
yours in San Francisco Bay.

Yes, I remember. Uh...

It was over a year ago.
December or thereabouts.

He was responsible for
the loss and insisted
on paying, and so he did.

What was in
the crate that cost
$110, Commander?

Uh, uniforms, books,
navigating instruments.
The usual.

How was Keith
responsible for
the loss?

Well, he was boat officer
and in charge of the loading.

He issued foolish and
contradictory orders.

The men got rattled
and the crate fell into
the water and sank.

A wooden crate full
of clothing sank?

Well, there were other
things in it, I guess.

I had some souvenir
coral rocks.

Commander, wasn't the crate
entirely full of bottles
of intoxicating liquor?

Certainly not!

Keith has testified that
you charged him for
a crate full of liquor.

You'll hear plenty of
strange distortions about
me from Keith and Maryk.

They are the two
culprits here and
they're apt to make

all kinds of
strange statements!

Did you make
this crate yourself?

No. My carpenter's mate did.

What's his name?

I don't recall. It'll be
on the personnel records.

He's been gone from
the ship a long time.

Was your carpenter's
mate Second Class
Otis F. Langhorne?

Lang, Langhorne.
Sounds right.

There's a carpenter's
mate, First Class
Otis F. Langhorne,

at present in damage control
school at Treasure Island
right here in the bay.

Defense has arranged
to subpoena him,
if necessary.

You're sure it's
the same one?

His service
record shows 21 months
aboard the Caine.

Your signature is in it.
Would it be useful to have
him subpoenaed, sir?

Objection to this entire
irrelevancy about the crate.

And request it be
stricken from the
record, sir.

The credibility of
the witness is being
established.

I submit to the court
that nothing could be
more relevant to this trial.

Overruled.

"Would it be
useful to have him
subpoenaed, sir?"

Well, it's a question
of which crate Langhorne
nailed up.

I had two crates,
as I recall now.

Well, this is a new
angle, not mentioned
by Keith. Uh...

Did Langhorne make
both crates, sir?

I don't recall whether
I had both crates on
that occasion

or two crates on two
different occasions.

It's all very trivial
and happened a long time ago

and I've had a year of
combat steaming in between

and that typhoon and all
this hospital business,
I'm not too clear.

Commander, there are
many points in this trial

that turn on the issue of
credibility between yourself
and other officers.

Now if you wish,
I will request
a five minute recess

while you clear your mind,
as best you can on the
issue of these crates.

That won't be necessary.
Just let me think for
a moment, please.

Okay. I have it
straight now.

I made a misstatement.

I lost a crate
in San Diego Harbor
back in '38 or '39,

I think it was,
under similar
circumstances.

That was the one
containing clothes.

The crate Keith lost
did contain liquor.

How did you obtain
a crate full of whiskey
during wartime, Commander?

Bought up the
rations of my officers
at the wine mess in Pearl.

You transported this liquor
from Pearl to the States
in your ship?

Do you know the
regulations regarding
the transporting...

I'm aware of regulations!
The crate was sealed prior
to getting under way.

I gave it the same
locked stowage I gave
the medicinal brandy.

Liquor was damned scarce
and expensive in the States.

I'd had three years of
steady combat duty and
I gave myself this leeway,

as captain of the Caine.

And it's a common practice
and I believe rank has its
privileges, as they say.

I had no intention
of concealing it
from the court.

And I'm not ashamed
of it. I simply mixed up
the two crates in my mind.

Keith testified that you

gave all the orders to
the boat crew which caused
the loss of the crate.

That's a lie.

And that
you refused to sign
his leave papers

until he paid
for the loss.

That's another lie.

Seems to be the issue
of credibility again, sir,

this time your word
against Keith's.
Correct?

You'll hear nothing but lies
about me from Keith.

He has an insane
hatred of me.

Do you
-know why, sir?
-I can't say.

Unless it's his resentment
against fancied injuries

to his crony,
the sailor, Stilwell.

Those two were
mighty affectionate.

Affectionate, sir?

Well, it just
seemed to me that

every time Keith
thought I looked
cross-eyed at Stilwell,

there was all kinds of
screeching and hollering
from Keith,

as though I were picking
on his wife or something.

Well, those two sure ganged
up mighty fast to back Maryk
when he relieved me.

Are you suggesting
there were abnormal
relations between

Lieutenant Keith and
the sailor, Stilwell?

I'm not suggesting a thing.

I'm stating plain facts
that everybody knew who
had eyes to see.

Does the court desire
to caution the witness

on the gravity of
the insinuated charge?

I'm not
insinuating a thing, sir!

I don't know of
anything improper
between those two men

and I deny
insinuating anything.

All I said was Keith
was always taking
Stilwell's part

and it's the easiest
thing in the world
to prove

and that's all
I said or meant.

Are you gonna
pursue this topic?

-No, sir.
-Very well. Go ahead.

Commander, during the period
when the Cainewas towing
targets at Pearl Harbor,

did you ever steam over
your own tow line?

Objection! This tow line
business is the last straw.

The tactics of the defense
are an outrage on the dignity
of these proceedings.

He's systematically
turning this trial
into a court-martial

of Commander Queeg.

Sir, the judge advocate
has made it perfectly clear

that he thinks that he
has a prima facie case

on the report of the
two psychiatrists.

But I say that it is
still up to the court

not to shore-bound doctors,
however brilliant,

to decide whether the
Captain of the Caine
was mentally well enough

to retain his self-control

and his post
during a typhoon.

Objection is overruled.
Witness will answer
the question.

"Commander, during the period
when the Cainewas towing
targets at Pearl Harbor,

"did you ever steam
over your own tow line
and cut it?"

Okay. Now, here's the story
on that particular slander.

I started to make a turn
when I noticed some
anti-aircraft bursts

close aboard to starboard.

I was gravely concerned
that my ship was in...

Was within range of
somebody's firing.

We were in a gunnery area.

I was watching the bursts.

The same sailor, Stilwell,
a very dreamy and unreliable
man, was at the helm.

He failed to warn me
that we were coming around

the full 360 degrees.

I saw what was happening,
finally, and instantly
reversed course.

And I avoided passing
over the tow line
to my best knowledge.

However, the line
parted during the turn.

You say you were distracted
by AA bursts? Did anything
else distract you?

Not that I recall.

Were you engaged
in reprimanding
a signalman named

Urban, at length,
for having a shirt tail out

while the ship was
turning 360 degrees?

Who said that?
Keith again?

Will you answer the
question, Commander?

It's a malicious lie,
of course.

Was Urban on the
bridge at that time?

-Yes.
-Was his shirt tail out?

Yes. And I reprimanded
him. That took me
about two seconds.

I'm not in the
habit on dwelling
on those things.

And then there were those
AA bursts and that was
what distracted me.

Did you point out these
AA bursts to the officer
of the deck or the exec?

I may have.
I don't recall.

I didn't run
weeping to my OOD
on every occasion.

I may very well have
kept my own council.

And since this shirt tail
thing has been brought up,

I would just like to say

that Ensign Keith as morale
officer was in charge of
enforcing uniform regulations

and completely
soldiered on the job.

When I took over that ship,
it was like the Chinese Navy

and I bore down on Keith
to watch those shirt tails.

As far as I know,
that's another reason
he hated me

and circulated all this
about my cutting the
tow line.

Did you drop a yellow
dye marker off Jacob Island

on the first morning of
the invasion of Kwajalein?

I may have.
I don't recall.

Do you recall
what your first mission was
during the invasion?

To lead the group of attack
boats to the line of departure
for Jacob Island.

Did you
fulfill your mission?

Yes.
Why did you
drop a dye marker?

I don't know for sure
that I did drop one.

Maybe I dropped one
to mark the line of
departure plainly.

How far was the line
of departure from
the beach?

As I recall, 1,000 yards.

Commander,
didn't you run a mile
ahead of the attack boats,

drop your dye marker
more than a half
a mile short,

then retire at high speed
leaving the boats
to grope their way

to the line of departure
as best they could?

The question is abusive
and flagrantly leading.

I'm willing to withdraw
my question,

in view of the Captain's
dim memory and proceed to
more recent events.

Court desires
to question the witness.

Commander Queeg, in view
of the implications involved
in this line of testimony,

I urge you to search your
memory for correct answers.

I'm certainly
trying to do that, sir,

but these are
very small points.

I've been through several
campaigns since Kwajalein

and the typhoon and
now all this business.

I appreciate that.
It will facilitate justice

if you can remember enough
to give a few answers
on points of fact.

First of all,

were those boats on the
line of departure when you
turned away from the beach?

As near as
I could calculate, yes.

If that's the case, Commander,
and they were all on the line,

what purpose did
the dye marker serve?

Well, you might
say a safety factor.

Just another added mark.

Now maybe I erred in
being overcautious

and making sure they
knew where they were.

But then again, sir,
I've always believed

you can't err
on the side of safety.

Did you have the con?

As I recall now,
Lieutenant Maryk
had the con.

And I now recall
I had to caution him for
opening the gap too wide,

between us
-and the boats.
How wide?

I can't say,
but at one point
there was definitely

too much open water.
And I called him aside
and I admonished him,

not to run away
from the boats.

Did you direct him
to slow down when you saw
the gap widening?

Well, but it was all
happening very fast, sir.

I may have been watching
the beach for a few seconds,

and then I saw
we were running away.

And so, that's why
I dropped the marker,

to compensate for Maryk's
running away from the boats.

These are your factual
recollections, Commander?

Those are the facts, sir.

Resume your examination.

Commander Queeg,
did you make it a practice
during invasions

to station yourself
on the side of the bridge

that was sheltered
from the beach?

That's an insulting
question,

and the answer is no.

I had to be on all sides
of the bridge at once,

constantly moving
from one side to the other
because Maryk was navigator

and Keith was my OOD
at general quarters...

And both of them were
invariably scurrying to
the safe side of the bridge,

so I was captain and navigator
and OOD all rolled into
one and that's the truth!

That's why I had to move
constantly from one side
of the bridge to the other,

and that's the truth,
whatever lies may have been
said about me in this court!

Court will question
the witness.

Sir, the witness is obviously
and understandably agitated
by this ordeal,

and I request a recess
to give him a breathing space.

I'm not in
the least agitated

and I'm glad to answer
any and all questions here.

In fact, I demand
a chance to set
the record straight on

anything derogatory to me
in the testimony
that's gone before.

I didn't make a single mistake
in 15 months aboard the Caine
and I can prove it.

My record has been
spotless until now

and I don't want it smirched
by a whole lot of lies
and distortions

by disloyal officers.

Would you like
a recess, Commander?

Definitely not, sir.
I request there be no
recess, if it's up to me.

Very well.
I simply want to ask,

if the performance of
these two officers
was so unspeakably bad,

why did you tolerate it?

Why didn't you beach them?

Or at least rotate them
to less responsible
battle stations?

Well, strange
as it may seem,

the fact is I'm a very
soft-hearted guy.
Not many people know that.

I never despaired of
training those two men up

and making Navy
officers of them.

I kept them under my eye
just because I wanted
to train them up.

The last thing
I wanted to do was
wreck their careers,

not that they had any
similar concern for me,
either of them.

Resume your examination.

Commander, on the morning
of 18 December when you
were relieved,

was the Cainein
the last extremity?

It certainly was not!

Was it in grave danger
at that moment?

Absolutely not! I had that
ship under complete control.

Did you ever indicate
to your other officers

that it had been
your intention
to change course

and come north
at 10 o'clock

or 15 minutes
after Maryk did?

Yes, I did make that
statement, and such
had been my intention.

Why did you
intend to abandon fleet
course, Commander,

if the ship
wasn't in danger?

I don't see any
inconsistency there.

I've repeatedly stated in
my testimony that my rule
is safety first.

As I say, the ship
wasn't in danger,

but a typhoon is
still a typhoon

and I'd just about decided
that we'd do as well
coming around to north.

I might have executed
my intention at 10 o'clock,

and then again
I might not have.

Then Maryk's decision to
come north was not a panicky
irrational blunder.

His panicky blunder
was relieving me.

I kept him from making
any disastrous
mistakes thereafter.

I didn't intend to vindicate
myself at the cost of
all the lives on the Caine!

Commander Queeg, have you
read Lieutenant Maryk's
medical log?

Oh, yes, I have read that
interesting document,
yes, sir, I have.

It is the biggest
conglomeration of lies
and distortions

and half-truths
I've ever seen,

and I'm extremely
glad you asked me

because I want to get my side
of it all on the record.

Please state your version,
or any factual comments on
the episodes in the log, sir.

Okay.

Now...

Well, starting right with
that strawberry business.

The real truth is that
I was betrayed and thrown
and double-crossed

by my executive officer
and this precious
gentleman, Mr. Keith,

who between them
corrupted my wardrooms

so that I was one man against
a whole ship without
any support from my officers.

Okay. Now you take that
strawberry business.

Why, if that wasn't a case of
outright conspiracy to protect
a malefactor from justice.

Maryk carefully leaves
out the little fact

that I had conclusively
proved, by a process
of elimination,

that somebody had
a key to the icebox.

He says it was the
steward's mates
who ate the strawberries.

But if I wanted
to take the trouble,

I could prove to this court,
geometrically, that they
couldn't have.

No, it was the water
business all over again,

like when the crew
was taking baths
seven times a day

and our evaps were
definitely on the
fritz half the time,

and I was trying to inculcate
the simplest principles
of water conservation.

But, no. Mr. Maryk,
the hero of the crew,

wanted to go right on
molly-coddling them

and, well, you take
that coffee business.

No! The strawberry
thing first.

It all hinged on
a thorough search
for the key

and that was where
Mr. Maryk, as usual,

with the help of
Mr. Keith, fudged it!

Just went through
a lot of phony motions
that proved nothing.

And like thinking
the incessant burning
out of Silexes

which were government
property was a joke.

No sense of responsibility.

Which was the attitude of
everybody from Maryk down.

No sense of responsibility,
though I emphasized
over and over

that the war
wouldn't last forever,

that all these things
would have to be
accounted for.

Oh, it was a constant battle.
Always the same thing.

Maryk and Keith
undermining my authority.

Always arguments.

Though I personally liked
Keith and kept trying to
train him up,

only to get stabbed
in the back when...

Okay. I think
I've covered the
strawberry business.

And, oh, yes, this
mess account business.

I had to watch
them like a hawk.

And believe me, I did.

They didn't sneak
any fast one by, but it
wasn't for not trying.

Instead of paying
some attention
to their accounts

and their inventories,
which I had to check,
over and over.

Always a few pennies short
or a few dollars over.

What did it matter to them,
keeping accurate records?

Let the Captain
worry about it.

And I did, by God!

I defy anyone to look
over a single wardroom
mess statement

or ship service inventory
filed aboard the USS Caine
while I was captain

and find a mistake of
one single solitary cent.

I defy a certified
public accountant
to do it.

Okay, what else?

There's so much tripe
in that precious log
of Mr. Maryk's.

Oh, yes, the
movie business.

Okay.

No respect for command

was the whole trouble
with that ship.

The movie operator,
who had a disrespect,
surly manner, anyway,

blithely started the movie
without waiting for

the arrival of the
commanding officer.

And out of that
whole ship's crew,
officers and men,

did one person call
a halt or even notice that
the Captain wasn't present?

I missed those movies
more than they did,
but I banned them,

and by God
I'd do it again.

What was I supposed to do,
issue letters of commendation
to all of them

for this gratuitous insult
to the commanding officer?

Not that I took
it personally.
It was the principle.

The principle of
respect for command.

That principle was dead
when I came aboard that ship,

but I brought it to life

and I nagged and I crabbed
and I bitched and I hollered,

but by God,
I made it stick while
I was the Captain!

And so I say,
like the Silexes.

It wasn't only the Silexes,
it was a matter of respect.

When I ask a sailor
a question, I want
a straight answer!

And nobody's gonna get
away with shifty evasions,

if I have to hold
a court of inquiry
for a week!

What do I care
for strawberries?

It was a question
of principle.

Pilfering is pilfering,
and on my ship...

Oh, not that we had
so many treats, either.

With those slow-motion
mess treasurers of ours.

Not like when I was an
ensign. Believe me, they
made me jump sure enough.

When did we get something
pleasant like strawberries?

Once in a blue moon, why,

it was an outrage not
to have another helping
if I felt like it.

And I wasn't gonna let them
get away with that,
and I didn't, by God,

there was no more of that
again on that ship.

And as I say...

Okay. How many of
these things have
I covered?

I can only do this roughly
from memory,

but you ask me specific
questions and I'll
tackle 'em one by one.

It was a very thorough
and complete answer,
Commander, thank you.

May I have Exhibit 12?

Commander, I show you
an authenticated copy
of a fitness report

you wrote on
Lieutenant Maryk,
dated 1 July, 1944.

Do you recognize
it as such?

Yes.

By that date, had the
following incidents
already occurred?

The water shortage,
the Silex investigation,

the suspension of movies,
among others?

Well, by then,
yes, I think.

Please read to the court
your comment of 1 July,
on Lieutenant Maryk.

Naturally, not being
vindictive, I...

I didn't write
every single thing down.

A service report goes
into a man's record.

I tried...
I tried to go easy.
I always have.

I always will.

I appreciate
that, sir. Please read
your comment.

"This officer has...

"This officer has,
if anything,

"improved in his performance
of duty since his last
fitness report.

"He is consistently loyal,
unflagging, thorough,

"courageous and efficient.

"He is considered at present
fully qualified for command
of a 1,200-ton DMS.

"His professional zeal and
integrity set him apart

"as an outstanding example
for other officers,

"reserve and regular alike.

"He cannot be too
highly recommended.

"He is recommended
for transfer to the
regular Navy."

Thank you, Commander.
No further questions.

No cross-examination.

You are
excused, Commander.

Defense rests.

Is the
judge advocate ready?

Commander?

You're excused.

Is the judge advocate
ready to present his
closing argument?

If it please the court...

I'm...

I'm at a loss to discuss
the case the defense
has presented.

I have nothing to refute.
It's no case at all.

It has nothing
to do with the charge
or specification.

The defense counsel's
very first question
in this trial was,

"Commander, have you ever
heard the expression
Old Yellow Stain?"

That was the key
to his entire strategy,

which was simply to twist
the proceedings around

so the accused would
become not Maryk but
Commander Queeg.

He's...
He's dragged out
every possible,

vicious and malicious
criticism of the commander
from the other witnesses.

He's forced Queeg to
defend himself against
them in an open court,

on the spur of the moment,
without advice of counsel,

without any of the normal
privileges and safeguards

of an accused man
under naval law.

Can this court possibly
endorse the precedent that

a captain who doesn't
please his underlings
can be deposed by them?

That this captain's
only recourse afterward

is to be placed on
the witness stand at
a general court-martial

to answer every petty gripe

and to justify all his
command decisions to
a hostile lawyer

taking the part of his
insubordinate inferiors?

Such a precedent is
nothing but a blank
check for mutiny.

However, all this
doesn't worry me, sir.

I'm confident that this court
hasn't been impressed
by such shyster tactics.

I know this court will
reject this cynical play
on its emotions,

this insult
to its intelligence,

and find the specification
proven by the facts.

I've only this to say, sir.

Whatever the verdict
on the accused,

I formally recommend
that Defense Counsel
Greenwald be reprimanded

by this court for
conduct unbecoming
an officer of the Navy

and that this reprimand
be made part of his record.

Defense Counsel,
closing argument.

Please the court,

I undertook the defense
of the accused
very reluctantly,

and only at the urging
of the judge advocate

that no other defense
counsel was available.

I was reluctant because
I knew the only possible
defense was to show in court

the mental incompetence
of an officer of the Navy.

It has been the most
unpleasant duty I've
ever had to perform.

Having undertaken it,
I did what I could
to win an acquittal.

I thought that was my duty,
both as defense counsel
appointed by the Navy

and as a member of the Bar.

Let me make
one thing clear.

It is not, and never has been,
the contention of the defense

that Commander Queeg
is a coward.

The entire case of the defense
rests on the assumption that

no man who rises
to the command of
a United States Naval ship

could possibly be a coward.

And that therefore,
if he commits...

If he commits
questionable acts under fire,

the explanation
must lie elsewhere.

The court saw the bearing
of Captain Queeg on the stand.

The court can picture
what his bearing
must have been

at the height of a typhoon.

On that basis,
the court will decide
the fate of the accused.

Lieutenant Greenwald.

Yes, sir.

Lieutenant, this has been
a strange and tragic trial.

You presented your case
with striking ingenuity.

The judge advocate's remark
about shyster tactics was an
unfortunate personal slur.

But your conduct has been
puzzling, and it does
raise questions.

With talent
comes responsibility.

Has your conduct here
been responsible,
Lieutenant Greenwald?

The reprimand,
if there's to be one,

must come from
your own conscience.

Counsel's words and
acts are privileged

under the broad limits
of contempt of court.

Court finds
the defense counsel
has not been in contempt.

Recommendation to
reprimand denied.

What happens now?
That's
the ball game.

When do we find out?

If it's an acquittal,
in an hour or so.

If it isn't, they may
take weeks before they
publish their findings.

Meanwhile,
would I be confined?

No, hardly.

What do you think?
Listen, you were terrific.

-Thanks.
-You murdered Queeg.

Yeah, I murdered him.

I'm grateful to you,
win or lose.

Okay.

What's the matter?
You bothered by what
Challee said? Or Blakely?

No. Why...
Why should I be?

I had a job to do.
I did it. That's all.

Yeah, well,
that's the spirit.

Look, Tom Keefer's
throwing a party over
at the Fairmont Hotel.

This morning he got
a check for 1,000 bucks.

Advance on his novel.

-Good for him.
-Yeah.

If he wins the Pulitzer
Prize, the Nobel Prize,

the Congressional
Medal of Honor,

gets his bust
in the Hall of Fame.

We're both
invited to the party.

♪ Bottom's up,
we've got to go

♪ The captain's gotten
loose, you know

♪ We'll have to tie
him to the tow ♪

Hey, Willy. Willy,
I want you to meet
someone.

Gentlemen, I'd like you
to meet somebody.

-A friend of mine.
This is, this is Huey.

How are you, fellas?
Nice to meet you.

That reminds me,
I need to call
Herman Melville.

Okay, gentlemen,
you're in the military?

I got one for you here.

Here you go.
Anyone here know
what this is?

I don't know.
What is it? What
is it? What is it?

I don't know, either,
but it got me out of the
Marine Corps

[ALL LAUGHING]three years early.

Yes, thank you.
Matinees at
2:00 and 3:30.

Hey.

Wait a second.
All right, quiet! Quiet!
You drunken bums of the Caine.

You made it!

Now quiet! Come on,
here he is, the man of the...
The man of the hour.

Greenwald the Magnificent.

Now, this
is the man who won
the acquittal.

Come on, let's
hear it for him.

Yeah! A toast!

I'm a little drunk
to be doing Thomas,
the Rhymer tonight.

But to honor this
great man, I'll try my best.

"To Lieutenant
Barney Greenwald,

"who fought with
might and main.

"The terror of
judge advocates,

"the massive legal brain.

"Who hit the Navy
where it lived

"and made it
writhe with pain.

"Who wrought
the great deliverance

"for the galley slaves
of the Caine.

"And gave us all
the Fifth freedom.

"Freedom from
Old Yellow Stain!"

-Speech!

-No, no.
-Speech!

No, no, I'm drunker
than any of you guys.

I've been out drinking
with the judge advocate,

tryin' to get him
to take back some of those
dirty names he called me.

Finally got him
to shake hands on the
ninth whiskey sour...

That's good.
That is good.

You know, I played pretty
dirty pool in that court.
What's this?

It's a double
celebration.

"Multitudes, Multitudes,
by Thomas Keefer."

A thousand bucks
came in the mail today.

-Advance on my novel.
-Yeah.

A thousand bucks, huh?

Well, maybe I should return
the toast of our celebrated
novelist's little speech, huh?

That was very nice.

-Thank you.
-That was very nice.

Well, what is it,
a war novel?

What else?

Yeah. Well,
I bet you give the, give
the Navy a good pasting, huh?

Oh, yeah. I don't think
Public Relations
would clear it.

Somebody should
show up these stuffy,
stupid Prussians.

Who's the hero, you?

Well, any resemblance
is purely accidental.
I promise you.

Yeah. I'm drunk
and I'm warped,

but it certainly seems
to me that if I wrote
a war novel,

I'd make
Old Yellow Stain a hero.

I would. I would.
I tell you why.
I'm serious.

Tell you why.

I'm a Jew. I mean,
I guess you all
know that.

Jack Challee said I used
smart Jew lawyer tactics,

but, you know, anyway,

the reason why I'd make
Old Yellow Stain...

The reason why I'd make
Old Yellow Stain a hero

is on account of my mother,
a little gray-haired...

Little, little
gray-haired Jewish lady.

Fat, you know.
Of course, you guys
all have mothers,

but they wouldn't be
in the same bad shape
as mine would,

if we'd lost this war,
you know?

I mean, Germans
aren't kidding
about the Jews.

They're... They're cookin'
us down to soap over there.

You know, they think
we're all vermin,
should be exterminated

and our corpses turned
into something useful.

Granting the premise,
being warped.

I don't, but granting
the premise, soap is as
good as an idea as any.

I just... I just can't
cotton to the idea

of my mother being cooked
down to a bar of soap.

You see. I'm comin' to...
I'm comin' to Yellow Stain.

I'm comin' to him.
See, Mr. Keefer,
when I was in law school,

and you were writing
your short stories

for national magazines

and little Willie Keith here
was on the, on the playing
fields of Princeton.

What? Princeton?
Cheers to me.

All that
time these birds we
call regulars,

these stupid,
stuffy Prussians,

see, they were standing
guard on this fat, dumb,
happy country of ours.

Of course
they were doing it
for dough,

but same as everybody
does what they do.

But the question is,
the question is in
the last analysis...

-Hey, hey, hey, hey.
-Why do you do what
you do for dough?

See, you and me,
what we do for dough,

we're advancing our free
little non-Prussian careers.

So, when all hell
broke loose and the...

Germans started
running out of soap,

they figured time to
go get Miss Greenwald.
Who's gonna stop 'em?

Not her boy, Barney.
Can't stop a Nazi
with a law book.

So, I run to
learn how to fly.

In the meantime,
it's a year and half
before I was any good.

Who is keeping Mama
out of the soap dish?

Tom Keefer?
Communication school.

Willie Keith? Willie Keith?
Mid-shipmen school.

Old Yellow Stain, maybe?
Why, yes, even poor,
sad Queeg.

And most of them
not sad at all,

fellows, a lot of them
sharper than you and me.

Don't kid yourself.

You can't be good in
the Army or Navy unless
you're goddamn good.

Come on. Come on.

Unless you're up on
Finnegans Wakeand
Proust and all of that.

Barney, just forget it!
It's all over.

This set is a phony...

This is a dinner
-for Christ's sake.
-You're guilty!

Course, you're
only half guilty.

There's another guy
who stayed very neatly
out of the picture.

The one who thought
up the whole idea

that Queeg was
a dangerous paranoiac,

who argued you into
it for half a year,

invented the nickname
Old Yellow Stain,

had to drag it out
of Steve, Mr. Keefer.

Big, dumb fisherman,
trying to tell me it
was all his own idea.

Doesn't know the
difference between a
paranoid and an anthropoid.

But you knew.
You told him
his medical logs

were a clinical
picture of a paranoid.

Advised him to go to Halsey.
Offered to go with him.

Didn't get cold feet

till you were
standing outside Halsey's
cabin in the New Jersey.

Then you ducked,
you've been ducking
ever since.

Hey, I don't know where
you got all this, Barney.

The biggest favor
you could've done Steve

as far as winning an
acquittal, though
I doubt you realize it.

But if there's a guilty
party at this celebration,
Mr. Keefer, it's you.

If you hadn't
filled Steve Maryk's
thick head

full of paranoia
-and Article 184.
-I'm not a thick head!

...would've got Queeg
to come north or maybe
help the poor bastard

-pull through the south.
Hey!

That's your
contribution to good
old USA, Mr. Keefer.

Pulling a mine-sweeper
out of the south Pacific
when it was most needed.

That and
Multitudes, Multitudes!

That's it. I think, you're
a little drunk, Barney.
That's what I think!

Excuse me, excuse me,
Mr. Keefer. I'm all finished.
I'm up to the toast.

-Great.
-Here's to you!

You bowled a perfect score.
You went after Queeg
and you got him.

Kept your skirts
all white and starchy.

You'll publish your novel,
proving the Navy stinks

and you'll make
a million bucks and
you'll marry Hedy Lamarr.

So you won't mind
a little verbal reprimand
from me. What does it mean?

I defended Steve 'cause
I found out the wrong
guy was on trial.

Only way to defend him was
to murder Queeg for you.

I'm sorry I was
pushed into that spot.

I'm ashamed
of what I did.

That's why I'm drunk.

Queeg deserved better
at my hands. Don't you
see? I owed him a favor!

He stopped Hermann Goering
from washing his fat
behind with my mother!

Oh, come on.

So, no,
Mr. Keefer, I'm not
gonna eat your dinner

and I'm not gonna
drink your wine,

I'm simply gonna
say my toast and go.

Here's to you,
Mr. Caine's
favorite author,

and here's to your book.

Missed.

Why, for the rest of your
life, you'll never wipe
off that yellow stain.

Hey, Barney!

See you
in Tokyo, mutineer.

♪ Old Yellow Stain blues

Come on. Come on.

You'll get my
second chapter,
it's the second chapter.

♪ Look up, look up

♪ Look down, look down

♪ Give me that ugly crown

♪ Come on, take them down

♪ I got the Yellow,
I got the Yellow Stain blues

This is the romance,
this is the romance part.

♪ 'Cause I got some fancy
bootleg brew

♪ For all you fellows,
I got some news

♪ I've got the
Yellow Stain blues

♪ Look up, look up

♪ Look down, look down

♪ Throw me that
jacket overboard,
I'm going to drown

♪ Going under,
somebody help me

Chapter seven.

♪ I've got the Yellow,
I've got the
Yellow Stain blues

This is my bullet wound.

♪ And when danger comes
you've got no time to lose

♪ If you hear that gun,
baby, start to run

♪ You've got
the Yellow Stain blues

♪ Get up, get up

♪ Don't bend, don't bend

♪ What's that
running down my leg?

♪ It's all over my shoes

♪ It's Yellow

♪ It's the
Yellow Stain blues ♪