Patric Knowles-Angela Lansbury in Mutiny

''Mutiny'' is a 1952 American

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

directed by

Edward Dmytryk Edward Dmytryk (September 4, 1908 – July 1, 1999) was a Canadian-born American film director and editor. He was known for his 1940s films noir, noir films and received an Academy Award for Best Director, Oscar nomination for Best Director for ...

and starring Mark Stevens,

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American actress, producer, and singer. In a career spanning 80 years, she played various roles on stage and screen. Among her numerous accolades wer ...

and

Patric Knowles Patric Knowles (born Reginald Lawrence Knowles; 11 November 1911 – 23 December 1995) was an English film actor. Born in Horsforth, West Riding of Yorkshire, he later changed his name to reflect his Irish heritage. He made his film debut ...

. The picture was produced by the King Brothers Productions and based on a story by Hollister Noble; the two parties had previously collaborated on ''

Drums in the Deep South The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a sh ...

''.

Plot

As the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

breaks out between the United States and Britain, Captain James Marshall is asked to undertake a mission of running the

blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which are ...

of the US coast being operated by the British, for to collect a war loan in gold obtained from private citizens in France. The purpose of the loan is to assist a build up the fledgling US fleet against the British Navy. Marshall asks Ben Waldridge, a former

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

captain who was

cashiered Cashiering (or degradation ceremony), generally within military forces, is a ritual dismissal of an individual from some position of responsibility for a breach of discipline. Etymology From the Flemish (to dismiss from service; to discard ...

by the Navy, to be his First Officer on board the ''Concord'' which is purported to be fastest ship the United States has. Waldridge helps Marshall by pulling a crew together that consists mostly of his loyal former gun crew and is led by two men: Hook (has a hook for one of his hands), and Redlegs. They both make the assumption that Waldridge will be their captain and are a bit surprised and suspicious to learn that he won't be. The crew is not made aware of the true purpose of the mission. However, early on the journey to France, Redlegs lowers Hook over the side of the ship in order to eavesdrop outside the window of the Captain's quarters. He overhears Marshall and Waldridge talking details of the $10 million in gold they are to bring back to the US. Realizing that there will be gold coming on board, Hook and Redlegs immediately plot mutiny and count on Waldridge to go along with them to captain the ship just like the old days. They privately reveal to Waldridge that they know the purpose of the mission to France is to bring back gold. Surprised at what they know, he swears them to secrecy. But they immediately betray by telling their crew mates who then all begin to try and figure out what their individual shares will be. After arriving off the coast of France at

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

, Leslie, Waldridge's former sweetheart, is brought on board after Marshall and Waldridge make an excursion into the town in a small boat. Hook and Redlegs immediately assume the gold is hidden in her luggage and when Waldridge leaves the room search it right in front of her. They are flummoxed at not finding it. Instead of being angry or crying for help, Leslie's response to their bold and callous search of her things reveals her to be just as gold-loving and mutinous as they are. As additional motivation, she arrived on board assuming Waldridge was Captain of the ship and is indignant to learn that he is merely serving as Marshall's First Officer expressing that such lower status is unbecoming of him and of her own ambitions. Leslie suggests to Hook and Redlegs that the gold might have been brought on board in the form of a large anchor. They sneak to the front of the ship and secretly scratch the surface of the anchor which reveals the gold. With the discovery of the actual gold, mutinous plot is back on, but first the ship has to escape the English Channel and make it back to the United States. After evading one British Man-o-war (during which Waldridge's life is saved by Marshall after having been dragged overboard by a rope attached to a cannon) it's smooth sailing toward the Bahamas. Until just before turning north toward

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem was one ...

, when the plot is sprung.

Cast

* Mark Stevens as Capt. James Marshall *

as Leslie *

as Capt. Ben Waldridge *

Gene Evans Eugene Barton Evans (July 11, 1922 – April 1, 1998) was an American actor who appeared in numerous television series, television films, and feature films between 1947 and 1989. Early life Evans was born in Holbrook, Arizona and raised i ...

as Hook * Rhys Williams as Redlegs *

Robert Osterloh Robert Osterloh (May 31, 1918 – April 16, 2001) was an American actor. In a career spanning 20 years, he appeared in films such as '' The Dark Past'' (1948), '' The Wild One'' (1953), ''I Bury the Living'' (1958) and '' Young Dillinger'' (1965 ...

as Feversham, gunner *

Peter Brocco Carl Peter Brocco (January 16, 1903 – December 20, 1992) was an American screen and stage actor. He appeared in over 300 credits, notably ''Spartacus'' (1960) and '' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' (1975), during his career spanning over 60 ...

as Sykes, gunner *

Emerson Treacy Emerson Treacy (September 17, 1900 – January 10, 1967) was an American film, Broadway, and radio actor. Early years Treacy graduated from St. Joseph College in Philadelphia. When his father died in an automobile accident, Treacy became ...

as Council Speaker *

Morris Ankrum Morris Ankrum (August 28, 1897 – September 2, 1964) was an American radio, television, and film character actor. Early life Ankrum was born in Danville in Vermilion County in eastern Illinois, and pursued a career in law. After graduating ...

as Capt. Radford *

Todd Karns Roscoe Todd Karns (January 15, 1921 – February 5, 2000) was an American actor. He is perhaps best remembered for playing George Bailey's younger brother, Harry Bailey, in the 1946 film '' It's a Wonderful Life''. Early life Karns was the ...

as Andrews *

Harry Antrim Harry Antrim (August 27, 1884 – January 18, 1967) was an American stage, film and television actor. Biography Antrim was born on August 27, 1884, in Chicago, Illinois. By 1906, he was working in vaudeville. During the early 1930s, he mov ...

as Caleb Parsons

Production

The film was the first made by Edward Dmytryk after he gave testimony to the

HUAC The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloyalty an ...

. The King Brothers signed him in May 1951 (he gave testimony in April). Dmytryk was the first member of the ten to give testimony and it was the first time a member of the

Hollywood Ten The Hollywood blacklist was the mid-20th century banning of suspected Communists from working in the United States entertainment industry. The blacklisting, blacklist began at the onset of the Cold War and Red Scare#Second Red Scare (1947–1957 ...

had been signed to make a film in Hollywood since the blacklist. Congressman John Wood supported the signing, saying that it encouraged testimony. Filming started on June 20, 1951.

Soundtrack

* "A-Rovin'" (traditional

sea shanty A sea shanty, shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional Folk music, folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large Merchant vessel, merchant Sailing ship, sailing vessels. The term ...

) * "Sailor's Holiday" (traditional sea shanty)

Reception

The ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' review called it "a routine ox officegrosser. ... Unfortunately, after building so elaborately to stress the patriotic yen of Stevens and his daring in setting out with a lightly-armed boat to get the French gold, the story falls to pieces." The film opened in March 1952 had a domestic box office take of $1.2 million (equivalent to $ million in ).

Comic book adaptation

Eastern Color The Eastern Color Printing Company was a company that published comic books, beginning in 1933. At first, it was only newspaper comic strip reprints, but later on, original material was published. Eastern Color Printing was incorporated in 1928 ...

Movie Love #16 (August 1952)

References

External links

* * * 1952 films 1952 adventure films American adventure films Seafaring films War of 1812 films Films about mutinies 1950s English-language films Films about the United States Navy Films scored by Dimitri Tiomkin Films directed by Edward Dmytryk United Artists films Films adapted into comics 1950s American films English-language adventure films {{1950s-adventure-film-stub