When is the overthrow of authority justified, what is the responsibility of the individual to blow the whistle, and who profits -- always, who profits? Herman Wouk posed those questions in 1950 within the microcosm of a court-martial trial for a mutiny aboard an American warship. The 1954 movie version drowned any possible controversy in a flood of spectacle and sentimentality, but director Wilson Milam and an all-star ensemble or intensely committed actors delve into the ambiguities of the original material. They forge a gripping tale, at once laudatory and critical of the military establishment, where the good men and the bad are not readily apparent. Any audience member, no matter the point of view, can leave the theater with beliefs reaffirmed.
The times are right for moral discussion (note the recent popularity of "American Classics") and for a courtroom play involving Men In Uniform -- a can't-fail formula for box office success these days.
