Remember that terrific movie, The Caine Mutiny, where Humphrey Bogart went raving about strawberries and his “disloyal officers” who were all out to get him? The “paranoid breakdown scene” as it’s called in movie lore is at the end of this blog, to refresh your recollection and also to give you a comparison with Donald Trump, who gave a similar performance on Newsmax this evening.

How disloyal. Here the jury was sitting in the presence of a living god and they couldn’t even smile at him? Why they should have been beaming at him, the men all saying (with tears in their eyes, naturally) “Sir, I want to be just like you,” and the women tearing their clothes off and screaming, “Take me, Donald, take me!” But no, not even a smile. You believe some people? And then Trump went over this old ground again.

You would think that two trials and $91 million in judgments would have taught him a lesson. Evidently not. He’s still claiming that the substance of the trial, all the evidence, all the testimony, the verdict, the damages, isn’t real. It’s all part of a plot. Then it gets stranger still.

This is especially Bizarro World. Trump keeps identifying Hillary Clinton as “the president’s wife.” Yes, she was a president’s wife, nobody is disputing that. But she met Donald Trump on the field of political combat as the Democratic nominee for president of the United States, not in her capacity as former First Lady, former senator or former secretary of state. And so what is Trump saying here, in reality? That he’s going to see if he can get somebody to “Lock Her Up!” after all? And that’s a slam at Bill Clinton or the Democrats or what? Because that’s how he’s making it sound, that he’s simply going to have to make “them” walk in his shoes. And it goes on.

As promised, here’s the Paranoid Breakdown Scene from the Caine Mutiny. This is Trump these days with two differences: 1. Bogart’s genius was that you could always empathize with the worst of his characters because he let you see the pain that the inner man was in; and 2. Bogart’s character has a moment of clarity here where he realizes he’s nuts. Good luck seeing that in Trump.

The other parallel that you’ll see here is that the other officers, including Captain Queeg’s lawyers know that he’s nuts. But whereas these people were perfectly willing to remove the lunatic from power, for his and everybody else’s good, the Republican party is not. They’re perfectly fine if Trump destroys democracy in his last ditch effort to get back into power.

Take a look at this last clip of the Newsmax host trying to wrap up and Trump whining, just like Captain Queeg.

You saw it before folks, 70 years ago in a movie, and now you see it in real life.

 

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6 COMMENTS

  2. No! No! No! I am the biggest fan of “The Caine Mutiny” and I never let anyone go unchallenged when they believe it is Bogart’s Queeg unraveling on the stand that defines that movie. It is Jose Ferrer’s speech at the post-trial celebration that humanizes Queeg and proves that Queeg’s officers were disloyal with conduct that was unbecoming! And, in the Trump case, also proves that Trump doesn’t deserve a comparison with a basically good man like Queeg. Ferrer was the defense attorney for Van Johnson (Lt. Maryk) but hated that he had to harm Queeg. His speech reminded Queeg’s officers of all that Queeg went through in war while they were all pampered little men who never faced those same horrors. And he reminded them that Queeg came to them for help and they laughed at him. This is also why Trump doesn’t deserve the comparison. He is the pampered man who hasn’t been tested (until now) and doesn’t have the humility to ask for help! Sorry, but “Caine” is often a trigger for me! 🤨

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    • Cleora…agree…which is why I love that scene where he calls out Fred McMurray, playing a villain, throws a drink in his face, and says if you want to do anything about it, I’ll be outside…then the greatest line about how he’s more inebriated so it should be a fair fight. Great movie. Great scene. Time for ALL of us to get into fighting mode…like the 156,000 soliders that landed in Normandy to stop the nazis. Otherwise nice people…practice being victims…you’ll deserve it by pissing on the heroes who died to stop fascism. FACT.

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    • Much of that is already there in the scene when the camera turns to the faces of the other nen in the courtroom ans show a row of a=faces all in serious pain. Pain because they are watching the disintegration of someone who was once a fine officer. It’s palpable. Ferrer’s speech adds detail but nothing can be more soulchurning than those faces.

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    • I worked for a boss like Queeg. Every. Single. Librarian, including her 2d in command was in therapy. The officers were completely right about Queeg. He was mad as a batter and a danger to everyone on the ship.
      My husband was Career Navy,,23 years. He served on a carrier under one like Queeg A guy I dated did too. The norm is to support the highest ranking O no matter how egregious their offense, though that seems to be changing.
      The CO of the base in Japan where we spent 7 years was a dry drunk evangelical Christian. He banned anything above PG movies from the base channel and had the liquor store remove most of the alcohol while doubling the amount of non-alcoholic “wines” and “beer”. The barracks for Ex was directly across from the E club. He stationed security to hand out tickets for guys crossing the street. He lost his job and was brought to heel.by a young man who worked for my husband D’s father was a Captain and his grandfather was,an admiral. They went to the Secretary if the Navy who brought it to Clinton.Turned out the entire 7th Fleet had been taken over by a bunch if senior Is who were Christian Nationalists. Clinton broke up their merry band.

      My boss waa,so horrible we considered buying balk.bearings and strawberries. Maybe we need to start doing that to Trump.

  3. Scott…ain’t it amazing how before McMurray invented flubber and had “My Three Sons,” he played a lot of asshats?! 🤣

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