Billy Budd (1962)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Peter Ustinov

Writers:

Herman Melville (novel)
Louis O. Coxe (play) ...

Release Date:

12 November 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure

Tagline:

TERENCE STAMP A new face! A new talent! A great new star discovery!

Plot:

Billy is an innocent, naive seaman in the British Navy in 1797. When the ship's sadistic master-at-arms is murdered, Billy is accused and tried.

Plot Keywords:

Mutiny | Depravity | Discipline | Navy | Napoleonic Wars

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 7 nominations

Cast

Robert Ryan	...	John Claggart, Master d'Arms
Peter Ustinov	...	Edwin Fairfax Vere, Post Captain
Melvyn Douglas	...	The Dansker, sailmaker
Paul Rogers	...	Philip Seymour, 1st Lieutenant
John Neville	...	Julian Ratcliffe, 2nd Lieutenant
David McCallum	...	Steven Wyatt, Gunnery Officer
Ronald Lewis	...	Enoch Jenkins, maintopman
Lee Montague	...	Squeak, Mr. Claggart's assistant
Thomas Heathcote	...	Alan Payne, maintopman
Ray McAnally	...	William O'Daniel, maintopman
Robert Brown	...	Arnold Talbot, maintopman
John Meillon	...	Neil Kincaid, maintopman
Cyril Luckham	...	Hallam, Captain of Marines
Niall MacGinnis	...	Captain Nathaniel, Rights of Man
Victor Brooks	...	Amos Leonard, First Mate, Rights of Man

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Spain:7

Company:

Anglo Allied

Trivia:

Terence Stamp's film debut.

Quotes:

Master At Arms Claggert: I am what I am and what the world has made me.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)

Wonderful story of the sea, and a great companion to Melville's original

If you've read the Melville story, this film will be a delightful surprise, especially in contrast to what usually happens to film adaptations of literature. For those of you who've never heard of Herman Melville, it's no matter. This film can stand on its own without reference or support from its original source.

A cheerful, innocent young man with wide eyes and blonde hair is conscripted from his commercial schooner to serve aboard an English Royal Merchant ship, which is akin to being Shang-Hai'd, but without the knock to the head. Everyone on both his old and new ship loves Billy Budd, an affable, competent young seaman who can fathom no sinister purpose in man nor beast, until he meets the master-at-arms of his new vessel.

I don't want to give away any more of the story, so give this lovely film a try if the premise interests you.