The three of us watched "The Caine Mutiny" yesterday and today (in two installments to accommodate my son's bedtime, and his attention span). Of course, my son enjoyed the details of Navy life, and the short battle, and the typhoon; he left to play a video game once the courtroom scenes got underway.
My only memory of the movie, which I watched as a young adult, was Humphrey Bogart cracking up in the courtroom, pulling out those little metal balls, putting his paranoia on full display...the most famous scene. I was surprised at how well-done the entire movie is from start to finish, how well-written and well-acted. Van Johnson is perhaps the biggest surprise; his character serves as the fulcrum of the entire drama, and he handles the role beautifully.
It deepened my appreciation of the armed forces to watch this again. They deal with a lot more besides the stress of battle. There's the stress of boredom, of strange environments, of superiors who are slightly (or more than slightly) cracked, in one way or another. Add to that a war, or bad weather, and it's one hell of a mess.
This has nothing to do with my son, my writing or my little exercising/dieting triumphs, but...I feel pretty bad, suddenly, that I've never donated to an armed services support group. Even if I don't agree with a fair number of the missions they undertake. They are putting their lives on the line, and often, living in horrible circumstances while doing so.
On this Thanksgiving Day--time to rectify this and find a good group that needs my support.
No comments:
Post a Comment