Billy Budd (1962)

Director:

Peter Ustinov

Writers:

Louis O. Coxe (play) and
Robert H. Chapman (play) ...
(more)

Release Date:

12 November 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

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:

Ship | Captain | Flogging | Mutiny | French

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 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 Radcliffe - 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 (as Ray McAnnally)
Robert Brown	...	Talbot
John Meillon	...	Neil Kincaid, maintopman
Cyril Luckham	...	Alfred Hallam - Captain of Marines
Niall MacGinnis	...	Captain Nathaniel Graveling, Rights of Man (as Niall McGinnis)
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:
John Hewer	...	Dubbing
George Leech	...	Marine (uncredited)
Ian Whittaker	...	Young Rating (uncredited)

Directed by
Peter Ustinov

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

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	....	first assistant director
Claude Watson	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Stan Gale	....	construction manager (uncredited)
F. Pratt	....	chargehand prop (uncredited)

Sound Department
Charles Crafford	....	sound editor
Charles Poulton	....	sound recordist
Len Shilton	....	sound recordist
Tom Buchanan	....	boom operator (uncredited)
Gordon Hooton	....	sound camera operator (uncredited)

Special Effects by
George Blackwell	....	special effects (uncredited)
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)
George Higgins	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Kelvin Pike	....	focus puller (uncredited)
Simon Ransley	....	clapper loader (uncredited)
Wally Thompson	....	chargehand electrician (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)
D. Harrien	....	nautical rigger (uncredited)
Joan Parcell	....	production secretary (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Allied Artists Pictures

Distributors

• Allied Artists Pictures (1962) (USA) (theatrical)
• J. Arthur Rank Film (1962) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Parvisfilmi (1963) (France) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1962) (France) (theatrical)
• Allied Artists Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Oy Europa Vision AB (????) (Finland) (video)
• Showtime Networks (????) (Finland) (video)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Philharmonia Orchestra, The  music played by

Also Known As:

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved | Finland:K-3 (new rating: 2001) | Finland:S (new rating: 1989) | France:U | West Germany:12 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Spain:7

Company:

Allied Artists Pictures

Trivia:

Finnish censorship visa # 66146.

Quotes:

Master At Arms Claggert:Tell me in all ignorance do you dare understand me, then?
Billy Budd:I think so, sir.
Master At Arms Claggert:Why did Jenkins die?
Billy Budd:You did not wish his death.
Master At Arms Claggert:No, I did not.
Billy Budd:You didn't even hate him. I think that sometimes you hate yourself. I was thinking, sir, the nights are lonely. Perhaps I could talk with you between watches when you've nothing else to do.
Master At Arms Claggert:Lonely. What do you know of loneliness?
Billy Budd:Them's alone that want to be.
Master At Arms Claggert:Nights are long. Conversation helps pass the time.
Billy Budd:Can I talk to you again, then? It would mean a lot to me.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Sopranos: Eloise (#4.12)" (2002)

an almost Biblical like morality play

Most people remember Herman Melville as the author of Moby Dick. Its hard to believe that when Melville's novel came out that most critics gave it negative reviews and it basically ended Melville's career. He spent most of the rest of his life working as a customs inspector on the New York city docks and was forgotten when he died. It was only after his death that his greatness was realized. Melville died in 1891, but Billy Budd wasn't published until 1924. A man named Raymond Weaver found the manuscript. I first read BB as a student in high school and I read it again in college. It is a wonderful book with symbolism and a message like the film Saving Silverman (with its message about the power of friedship). Billy Budd is a sort of Christ like figure (in the book Melville says that sailors took pieces of the scaffold where he was hanged as they would a fragment of the Cross). John Claggart is evil incarnate, some people have said his initials JC mean he is an anti-Christ. Captain Vere was forced to make a terrible decision to hang the beloved young sailor after he accidentally killed Claggart. Claggart knew that Billy had a speech impediment when he was scared and accused him of treason and Billy fatally struck him. I hated what they did to him, but it was sort of like reading about the Crucifixtion. I don't know what Herman Melville's religious beliefs were, but he wrote a tale like a Biblical morality play that I will always remember. Peter Ustinov is a real giant among actors. He is a director a writer and a true man of the world (he has won two Academy Awards for his acting). He did such a wonderful job directing this film, its a shame he never directed another. He is wonderful as the Conscience stricken Captain Vere. Terence Stamp was just getting started in films and gives a fine performance as Billy Budd. He does a wonderful job portraying Billy naiveness and goodness. Robert Ryan is also excellent as the evil and sinister Claggart. Ryan was excellent at playing bad guys like Colonel Breed in The Dirty Dozen, but he was never better here. Claggart is evil with a human face. I remember one scene where he orders a sailor savagely whipped and you see by his facial expression that he is almost sexually aroused at the site. You think to yourself how sick this man really is. He even wears black throughout the film. What is interesting to me reading Melville's book is that it was written a century before the term "serial killer" "psychopath" and "sociopath" were even coined and yet yet, there is a part of the book where he describes the fiendish Claggart and it is one of the best defintions of the sociopathic mind ever written! Melville really was a genius. There is a man named Harold Schechter who has written a number of books on famous serial killers and he quoted Melville's book in one of them. I wrote to him and he said that Melville was such a genius that it didn't suprise him that he was able to define what a sociopath and a diabolical mind was a century before FBI profilers did. In fact, his defintion could fit Lieutenant Loren Singer on JAG. She was a diabolical mind as well.