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Billy Budd (1962) -- Trailer for this film based on the novel by Herman Melville
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Overview

User Rating:
7.8/10   1,230 votes
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Director:
Peter Ustinov
Writers:
Herman Melville (novel)
Louis O. Coxe (play) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Billy Budd on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
12 November 1962 (USA) more
Genre:
Adventure | Drama | History | War more
Tagline:
TERENCE STAMP A new face! A new talent! A great new star discovery! more
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. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 7 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(3 articles)
"Come and Kneel Before Zod!"
 (From FilmExperience. 22 July 2009, 3:53 PM, PDT)
Terence Stamp: Recognizing The General
 (From Hollywood Outbreak. 16 December 2008, 10:30 AM, PST)
User Comments:
Admirable stab at Melville fable (warning: reveals plot points) more (37 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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 Graveling, Rights of Man
Victor Brooks ... Amos Leonard, First Mate, Rights of Man
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents
Runtime:
119 min
Country:
UK
Language:
English
Color:
Black and White
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound Recording)
Certification:
Finland:K-16 | Spain:7
Company:
Anglo Allied more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Favorite film of actor Jeff Bridges. more
Quotes:
Captain Vere: You know Seymour, there are some men who cannot stand too much perfection. They see it as a disease, which must be stamped out at it's first rash showing. more
Movie Connections:
Version of Beau travail (1999) more

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
24 out of 25 people found the following comment useful.
Admirable stab at Melville fable (warning: reveals plot points), 8 October 1999
Author: Lexo-2 from Dublin, Ireland

Peter Ustinov is generally a lot better at being a raconteur, chat-show guest and portly, engaging presenter of documentaries than film director, but this adaptation of Melville's short novel (note that the screenplay is based on a previous stage version) is surprisingly gripping. Terence Stamp, in his first movie role, is excellent as the benign life-force, Billy. Pressganged into service aboard a Royal Navy Man'o'War (clunky symbolism - the ship Billy leaves is called the "Rights of Man"), he soon wins over the crew with his guileless respect for justice and fair play. Robert Ryan is superb as Claggart, although perhaps this actor's tremendous capacity for sheer charmless evil overbalances the plot. When Claggart is struck down by the momentarily enraged Billy, he dies with a smile on his face, a detail which isn't in the book. It makes Claggart into a malevolent genius, when Melville wrote him as a preternaturally bitter and empty man. But that's showbiz for you.

There's a lovely scene between Stamp and Ryan, presumably missed by those who refuse to recognise the latter's genius, in which Billy almost manages to win Claggart over; you can see Ryan's eyes getting almost misty (he was a great eye actor) as he contemplates the spectacle of his own bleakness compared to Billy's warmth. But then, as he suddenly growls "You would charm me, too. Get away!" it's as if he suspected Billy if coming onto him. Remarkable touch.

John Neville and David McCallum are fine as the officers with tortured consciences; Ustinov has to carry off the difficult moral turnaround, kind of the opposite of what Fonda spends a whole film doing in "Twelve Angry Men", and has seldom acted so well. Perhaps in the book he's a less significant character, but for dramatic purposes the role obviously needed expanding, and it's done with taste and restraint. Supporting roles are all finely rendered, with Melvyn Douglas especially red-eyed and gravelly as the religious Dansker. Good stuff. And unusually for an adaptation, a sizable chunk of the dialogue is authentic Melville.

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The movie is so much better than the book! yyss6688
watching The Sopranos Series 4, episode 11 or 12 dtatroom
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