Ep. 89 The Caine Mutiny

"A captain's job is a lonely one. He's easily misunderstood." On
this episode, we welcome back John Arminio and his father, Captain
Tom Arminio, USN, Retired, to tackle a double feature of classic
WWII-set Naval melodramas: 1954's The Caine Mutiny and 1955's
Mister Roberts. Both films deal with the tricky subject of bad
military leadership, how it trickles down the ranks and threatens
the effectiveness of an entire ship. Whose is the worst captain,
Humphrey Bogart's erratic and incompetent Queeg or James Cagney's
oppressive and oblivious Morton? When is the right time for
officers to take a stand against a potentially mad or tyrannical
leader? When is the right time to pitch the palm tree into the
ocean? Organizing movie screenings and discussions with his
geographically separated family during the height of the pandemic,
John Arminio has enjoyed regular movie talks with his father, whose
24 years of Naval experience give him a unique insight into these
depictions of faulty leadership on the decks of wartime ships.
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twitter.com/TheLastMachine Intro music: Unleash the Bastards / “Tea
for Two” Outro music: Marcus Pinn / “Vegas”