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I liked the Caine Mutiny, but couldn't include it on my list because of the silly Hollywood ending they tacked on. At the end of the movie, the original Captain returns, much to the chagrin of Willie. In the book, Keefer, who has the drink thrown in his face, becomes Captain. When the Caine is hit by a Kamikaze, Keefer panics and abandons ship. Keith asks for, and receives permission to try and save the ship. Keefer gives it, then jumps overboard. Keith and the crew who elected to stay behind, save the ship, and rescue Keefer and the sailers who abandoned ship. There is an important discussion between Keefer and Keith, where Keefer talks about the one moment, when you face the choice of bravery and cowardice, and how it only comes once, and how he'll live for the rest of his life with the knowledge of his choice. Keith becomes the last Captain of the Caine. He receives a commendation from the Navy for saving the ship. The same day, he receives a formal reprimand from the Navy. A review board overturned the findings of the original board of inquiry. Although no formal action was taken, the reprimand effectively ends Keith's military career, as the Navy will not allow an officer with a formal reprimand to re-enlist.

If the movie, the Caine Mutiny, had ended with the party scene, I would agree with you. There were, IMHO, two flaws that kept the movie from being great. The first was the hackneyed return of the original captain, which ruined the end of the movie. The second was the choice of Donna Lee Hickey as May Wynn. The actress adopted May Wynn as her stage name for the rest of her pathetic career. In the text, May Wynn was a beautiful, poor Catholic girl, who lived with her parents and worked in a shop, while trying to build a singing career. Donna Lee Hickey was supposedly selected for the part because she was dating one of the film's financers. Her May Wynn was a good ten years older than the actor playing Keith, and her poor acting and sad appearance made her as appropriate for the part as Joan Crawford would have been playing Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.

The scenes on board ship, and Bogart's destruction on the witness stand were brilliant, as was the scene with Jose Ferrar and Fred MacMurray.

By the way, in the movie, it was never really explained why Keefer hated Queeg so much. There are quite a few other incidents in the book that indicate Queeg is not only unbalanced, but cruel and dishonest. In the book, Keefer has a brother, who is stationed on another ship. When the ships are docked close to each other, Queeg refuses permission for Keefer to visit his brother. His brother was later killed in action, so Queeg made Keefer miss his last chance to see his brother.