MovieChat Forums > The Caine Mutiny (1954) Discussion > dr. dickson

dr. dickson

posted 13 years ago by the-spy
7 replies | jump to latest

in the courtroom scene, dr. dickson (played by whit bissell) is questioned by lt. greenwald regarding capt. queeg's personality.

having just watched the film again for the first time in awhile, i noticed how extremely defensive dr. dickson gets when lt. greenwald starts going into more deatil him about queeg - and, this occurs even before greenwald states that dickson's lack of naval experience could mean he's all wrong about his diagnosis of queeg.

any ideas as to why dr. dickson gets so annoyed that he feels he has to object to those questions?

[–] BullSchmidt 13 years ago

Greenwald's tactics are part fair, part unfair.

The fair part -- Greenwald's manner at first, fumbling, almost apologetic as he asked the doctor about several technical points of psychiatry, was meant to cause the doctor to let his guard down and make some statements he might otherwise not have made. By doing so, he forces the doctor to eventually put the label "paranoid personality" onto Queeg.

The unfair part (and I can't remember how much of this is book vs. movie) -- Greenwald switches back and forth rapidly between words like "sick," "disturbed," et cetera, including words which mean one thing in specific, technical, medical language but mean another to non-medical people (including the court martial board), leaving a falsely exaggerated impression of how bad the doctor's opinion of Queeg really is.

So, the doc got defensive because Greenwald (a) tricked him into saying some things he'd have rather not said; and (b) made it sound like the doctor was saying some things he didn't mean to say at all.

[–] the-spy 13 years ago

thanks for your response, BullSchmidt. i can't recall if the terms "sick" or "disturbed" were in that scene in the movie, maybe they were.

i see your point about greenwald using some underhanded tactics to get dickson to open up, such as forcing him to say the word "paranoid" twice. that would have left a strong impression on the court martial board. greenwald really went after dickson when he got him to admit that he was in the navy only five months, but then the prosecutor (e.g. marshall) was able to dodge that bullet by asking dickson about the high-level management patients he had previously treated.

i guess if i were in dickson's shoes i might not have reacted that way, since i wasn't on trial, but now i can see why he did.

[–] cross-9 13 years ago

In the novel Barney Greenwald questions two psychiatrists who examined Queeg. He fails to rattle the first one, but destroys the second one. He late admits his tactics were most unfair.

[–] Picasner 12 years ago

I think that Dr Dickson was testifying on behalf of the prosecution, and therefore slanted his diagnosis in his favor. In reality, paranoid people aren't usually raving maniacs but have severe personality "quirks." I think Dickson got angry when Barney forced him to indicate that Queeg DID display those symptoms, and quite possibly was suffering from a disorder. This may have shown that the defense did have a case and that the doctor was testifying improperly by slanting his testimony. He was lucky. A lawyer who cross-examined with more aggressiveness, would have forced him to admit that there was a problem with Queeg...and there goes his career.
I actually felt the doctor was the most despicable character in the story.

[–] hisgrandmogulhighness 12 years ago

A good lawyer . . .

[–] the-spy 12 years ago

I actually felt the doctor was the most despicable character in the story.

i agree the dr. was a bad guy, but not as bad as keefer. dr. dickson knowingly gave biased testimony, and then was angry when called on it.

[–] mandrake62 12 years ago

I think Dr Dickson gets very defensive when Greenwald asks about his/length of service. Dickson knows he is on weak ground because he has virtually no military experience. He regains his confidence on redirect by the prosecutor in which he shows his civilian experience with business executives is relevant because they too are men with command responsibility and under stress as was Queeg.