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Title: Billy Budd (1962)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Robert Ryan | ... | John Claggart - Master of Arms | |
| Peter Ustinov | ... | Edwin Fairfax Vere - Post Captain Royal Navy | |
| Melvyn Douglas | ... | The Dansker - Sailmaker | |
| Paul Rogers | ... | Philip Seymour - First Lieutenant | |
| John Neville | ... | Julian Radcliffe - Second Lieutenant | |
| David McCallum | ... | Steven Wyatt - Gunnery Officer | |
| Ronald Lewis | ... | Enoch Jenkins - Maintopman | |
| Lee Montague | ... | Squeak - Assistant to Mr. Claggart | |
| Thomas Heathcote | ... | Alan Payne - Maintopman | |
| Ray McAnally | ... | William O'Daniel - Maintopman (as Ray McAnnally) | |
| Robert Brown | ... | Arnold Talbot - Maintopman | |
| John Meillon | ... | Neil Kincaid - Maintopman | |
| Cyril Luckham | ... | Alfred Hallam - Captain of Marines | |
| Niall MacGinnis | ... | Nathaniel Graveling - Ship's Master, Rights of Man (as Niall McGinnis) | |
 |
Victor Brooks | ... | Amos Leonard - First Mate, Rights of Man |
H.M.S. Avenger is headed into battle against the French fleet during the Napoleonic Wars, and the dark shadow of two recent mutinies in the English fleet concern Captain Vere (Sir Peter Ustinov). He relies on his cruel and often sadistic Master-at-Arms John Claggert (Robert Ryan) to maintain what he believes to be tenuous order and discipline aboard the ship. When a new seaman, Billy Budd (Terence Stamp), is pressed into service from a passing merchantman, his innocent, happy-go-lucky attitude quickly endears him to his messmates as well as the ship's officers. However, his charismatic naivete seems to bother Claggert, whose perverse depravity makes him resent Billy's good-natured purity, especially after the teenager's promotion to fore-top Captain. The mean-spirited Claggert unfairly plots to put him on report and ultimately perjures himself when he accuses Billy of conspiring to mutiny. Written by Gabe Taverney (duke1029@aol.com)
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Billy Budd, a merchant sailor dragooned into service aboard a British warship, loves everyone around him and is loved by everyone around him. Everyone, that is, except the ship's master-at-arms, John Claggart, who sees human affection as a threat to him and his ability to do his duty as a maker of war. Billy seems to have only one flaw; he cannot speak coherently when in the grip of strong emotion, and Claggart mercilessly exploits this weakness with tragic results.
I've not read Melville's original story "Billy Budd, Foretopman" and cannot say how it compares with the great novelist's work. But this movie stands in its own right as one of the hardest-hitting dramas of its time. The conflict between law and justice, created and demanded by the circumstances of naval service in the age of sail, was never so well explored. Instead of taking the easy path of caricaturing all the ship's officers as brutal tyrants, director Peter Ustinov portrays them as men trapped into acting against their own desires. This helps lift BILLY BUDD head and shoulders above such solid but pedestrian shipboard historical dramas as DAMN THE DEFIANT! Lastly, BILLY BUDD shows that forgiveness can sometimes be harder to bear than scorn or hatred.
Outstanding performances are the order of the day. Terence Stamp's acting as Billy Budd seems natural, unforced, and human despite the nearly incredible innocence and naivete of his character. Robert Ryan is coldly malicious and calculating as the master-at-arms. Ustinov gives another great performance in a career of great performances as the conscience-tortured Captain Vere, sparking great chemistry with his fellow officers played by David McCallum and John Neville.
Many a movie since my childhood has brought a tear to my eye, but I have not *sobbed* at a movie in the past fifteen years, except once: at the end of BILLY BUDD. It is moving, passionate and poignant. Don't miss it.
Rating: **** out of ****.