Highlights Archives
Actor Fred MacMurray's Caine Mutiny Jacket
Fred MacMurray, the actor best known for his role as Steve Douglas in the television series My Three Sons, grew up a small-town boy from Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Historical Society is pleased to announce that it has recently acquired a memento from MacMurray's film career, a naval jacket he wore in the 1954 motion picture, The Caine Mutiny.
MacMurray's Early Life and Movie Career
As a youngster MacMurray enjoyed sports and music, but had no interest in acting. After spending a year at Waukesha's Carroll College, he left Wisconsin behind to make his living as a saxophone player in Chicago and later New York City. In 1933 MacMurray's life changed dramatically when Paramount's talent office discovered the handsome and tall 25-year-old musician in the stage band of the Broadway musical, Roberta, and sent him off to Hollywood. With affable and genial leading-man roles, he quickly became a major movie star and remained one throughout the 1930s and '40s. By the early '50s, however, his career had begun to fizzle.
MacMurray had married model and chorus girl Lillian Lamonte in 1936, and she was the one who read The Caine Mutiny script and suggested to her husband that he pursue the challenging role of Lt. Thomas Keefer, "a stinker" as MacMurray later described the duplicitous character. This was a dramatic break from the likable persona he had created and a considerable risk. MacMurray rose to the occasion to critical acclaim, portraying Keefer, a leader of the mutiny against Capt. Queeg (Humphrey Bogart) who later denies his involvement in a riveting courtroom drama.
The Jacket's Brief Appearance in the Movie
This costume, a "Class A" khaki naval jacket with insignia and epaulettes made by MacIntosh Studio Clothes, has a label with Fred MacMurray's name and the date "May 28, 1953." He wears the dress uniform jacket for less than 60 seconds about 45 minutes into the movie, when the crew of the USS Caine is welcoming Captain Queeg, their new leader, aboard. MacMurray, as Lt. Keefer, stands quietly behind Queeg during the introductions, taking the captain's measure. By the next scene Keefer has returned to his work clothes and he never wears this outfit again.
The Caine Mutiny revived MacMurray's career, but for the most part he returned to playing amiable characters in a host of Disney movies and as Steve Douglas in the television show My Three Sons (1960-1972). MacMurray ended his long and illustrious career with the 1978 movie, The Swarm. He died after a long illness at the age of 83 in 1991.
Learn More About the Fred MacMurray Jacket
:: Posted April 9, 2009
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