MUTINY (1952)

Hollywood’s Communist Witch Hunt and subsequent Black List brought political expedience for movie moguls, even as they denied the List's existence; camouflaged writing credits for proscribed scribes; career lacunae from talent above and  below the line, even personal tragedy.  But also opportunity for one particular industry group, two-bit producers; here the King Brothers, able to hire top-tier/A-list names they otherwise couldn’t afford.  For this on-the-cheap War of 1812 wannabe epic, signing formerly rising director Edward Dmytryk for a flat fee of $5000.  Who else was going to take a chance on a ‘Hollywood Ten’ jailbird, off the screen for nearly three years, back in biz after ‘naming names’ against former fellow Communists.  Would his film be boycotted?  If so . . . by whom?  Dmytryk had ticked off every side of the current political equation.  In the event, no one took much note and this demi-epic got only the attention it deserved as a technically clever bit of modest moviemaking, hiding a slim budget behind fancy TechniColor & model ships, a decent cast, and a Philip Yordan script.  (If it was Yordan, he may have been a ‘front’ for some BlackList scripter.)  Circumnavigating British war ships to bring French funds back to America, Captain Mark Stevens has hired one time mentor Patrick Knowles to pick a crew.  Knowles has his own ideas: pick up beloved Angela Lansbury on the way and use his scurvy crew of cutthroats to mutiny and steal those French millions.  To their credit, the King Brothers ponied up for top lenser Ernest Laszio (a boost in your brightness level will help most editions) and a Dimitri Tiomkin score.  And if the film is by and large skimpy doings, severely held back by budget limitations, two nifty wild cards help: an early wooden submersible to attack the Brits (not entirely made up/totally terrifying) and Lansbury, neither heroine nor damsel in distress, but evil agent out for herself.  And wicked fun!

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK:  Films on The War of 1812 not exactly thick on the ground. But C. B. De Mille’s first shot at THE BUCCANEER (the 1938 version with Fredric March) is something of an unsung gem, hidden by the unhappy remake he only produced in ‘58.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-buccaneer-1938.html