The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial

💡 Did You Know?

Much publicity attached to the fact that a Hollywood star, Paul Douglas, was coming to London to star in this production, repeating a role he had played successfully on stage. During the rehearsal period, Douglas was officially "taken ill" - in fact, director Alvin Rakoff relates in his memoir that Douglas was suffering severe alcoholism and was unable or unwilling to attend any rehearsals, remaining in his hotel bed; when he appeared at the TV studio on the final day for recording he drank again in his dressing room and was incapable of performing - and was replaced at short notice by the unknown Canadian actor Cec Linder, who had been learning the script as a "quick study" at the desperate behest of the director, refusing an "idiot monitor" prompt screen, and who won rave reviews.