H.M.S. Defiant (1962)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Lewis Gilbert

Writers:

Frank Tilsley (novel)
Nigel Kneale (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 April 1962 (UK)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | History

Tagline:

The cry was MUTINY... and the decks ran red!...

Plot:

Defiant's crew is part of a fleet-wide movement to present a petition of grievances to the Admiralty...

Plot Keywords:

Mutiny | Napoleonic Wars | British Navy | Naval Battle | Spanking

Cast

Alec Guinness	...	Captain Crawford
Dirk Bogarde	...	Lieut. Scott-Padget
Maurice Denham	...	Mr. Goss (Ship's Surgeon)
Nigel Stock	...	Senior Midshipman Kilpatrick
Richard Carpenter	...	Lieut. Ponsonby
Peter Gill	...	Lieut. D'Arblay
David Robinson	...	Midshipman Harvey Crawford
Robin Stewart	...	Midshipman Pardoe
Ray Brooks	...	Hayes
Peter Greenspan	...	Johnson
Anthony Quayle	...	Vizard
Tom Bell	...	Evans
Murray Melvin	...	Percival Wagstaffe
Victor Maddern	...	Bosun Dawlish
Bryan Pringle	...	Marine Sgt. Kneebone

Also Known As:

Damn the Defiant! (USA)
Mutiny (UK) (working title)
The Mutineers (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Portugal:M/12 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (2002) | USA:Approved | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Last film role of Joy Shelton.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: As the second sailor is buried at sea you can see a rope tied to the body leading back along the ship. Obviously so they can haul the dummy back on board after the scene ends.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "War of 1812" (1999)

An offbeat sea adventure

Few films have tried to capture the era of Horatio Hornblower, and even fewer do it as well as this one. It's an extremely well-made movie, though a bit difficult to classify. Traditionally, in a sea adventure, the dashing, sexy leader is the hero; in this case, he's the villain (brilliantly played by Dirk Bogarde, who normally plays more sensitive chaps). The good guy turns out to be a very UNdashing and flawed, but compassionate Captain.

I think Alec Guinness is the only actor who can portray a character who is colorless yet also make him sympathetic. Perhaps the World War II era (with its emphasis on teamwork, its glorification of the average G.I., and its near-worship of able, but dull, leaders like Omar Bradley) may have influenced it, because the movie strongly emphasizes the worth of the common man, especially as personified by Anthony Quayle's character.

It's an offbeat movie: part sea adventure, part character drama, part historical epic. Critics might say it's not satisfactory in any of these areas, but those of us who love it recognize how special and even unique it is. Now that Columbia has finally released on DVD a letter-boxed version one can fully appreciate its worth, not only for the sea battle scenes, but also the many two-shots of Guinness and Bogarde interacting (or, more often, snarling) at each other.