Billy Budd (1962)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Peter Ustinov

Writers:

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

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
Barry Keegan	...	Charles Mathews, merchant seaman, Rights of Man
Terence Stamp	...	Billy Budd - Merchant seaman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
George Leech	...	Marine (uncredited)
Ian Whittaker	...	Young Rating (uncredited)

Directed by
Peter Ustinov

Writing credits
Herman Melville		(novel "Billy Budd, Foretopman")
Louis O. Coxe		(play) and
Robert H. Chapman		(play)
Peter Ustinov		(writer) and
DeWitt Bodeen		(writer)

Produced by
A. Ronald Lubin	....	executive producer
Peter Ustinov	....	producer

Original Music by
Antony Hopkins

Cinematography by
Robert Krasker		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Jack Harris

Casting by
Robert Lennard		(as Robert S. Lennard)

Production Design by
Donald M. Ashton		(as Don Ashton)

Art Direction by
Peter Murton

Costume Design by
Anthony Mendleson

Makeup Department
Bob Lawrance	....	makeup artist (as Bob Lawrence)
Henry Montsash	....	hair stylist (as Harry Montsash)
Patricia McDermott	....	assistant hair stylist (uncredited)

Production Management
Albert Jaeger	....	production supervisor
Victor Peck	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael Birkett	....	assistant director
Claude Watson	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Keith Batten	....	sound assistant
Charles Crafford	....	sound editor
Charles Poulton	....	sound recordist
Len Shilton	....	sound recordist

Special Effects by
George Blackwell	....	special effects
Fred Heather	....	special effects (uncredited)
Garth Inns	....	special effects (uncredited)
Curly Nelhams	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Ken Buckle	....	stunts (uncredited)
Joe Powell	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
John Harris	....	camera operator (as John S. Harris)
Bernard Ford	....	focus puller (uncredited)
Kelvin Pike	....	focus puller (uncredited)
Simon Ransley	....	clapper loader (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ron Beck	....	wardrobe
Laura Nightingale	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Antony Hopkins	....	conductor

Transportation Department
Eddie Frewin	....	unit driver (uncredited)

Other crew
June Faithfull	....	continuity
Arthur Ferriman	....	production associate (as Arthur S. Ferriman)
A.J. Villiers	....	technical advisor (as Capt. Alan Villiers)

Production Companies

• Anglo Allied
• Harvest Films

Distributors

• Allied Artists Pictures
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Trading Post

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: We must serve the law, sir, or give up the right and privilege of service. It is only within that law that we may use our discretions according to our rank.
Captain Vere: You're so intelligent and so lucid for the rank you hold, Master At Arms.
Master At Arms Claggert: I thank you, sir.
Captain Vere: Yes, that's no flattery, Mr. Claggart. It's a melancholy fact. It's sad to see such qualities of mind bent to such a sorry purpose. What's the reason for it?
Master At Arms Claggert: I am what I am, sir. And what the world has made me.
Captain Vere: The world? The world demands that behind every peacemaker there be the gun, the gallows, the jail. Do you think it will always be so?
Master At Arms Claggert: I have no reason not to, sir.
Captain Vere: You live without hope?
Master At Arms Claggert: I live.
Captain Vere: But remember, Mr. Claggart, that even the man who wields the whip cannot defy the code we must obey and not be broken by it. That will be all.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)

Admirable stab at Melville fable (warning: reveals plot points)

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.