Billy Budd (film)
| Billy Budd | |
|---|---|
Original film poster
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| Directed by | Peter Ustinov |
| Produced by | Peter Ustinov |
| Screenplay by | Peter Ustinov Robert Rossen DeWitt Bodeen |
| Based on |
Billy Budd by Herman Melville |
| Starring |
Robert Ryan Peter Ustinov Melvyn Douglas Terence Stamp |
| Music by | Antony Hopkins |
| Cinematography | Robert Krasker |
| Edited by | Jack Harris |
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Production
company |
Anglo Allied
Harvest Films |
| Distributed by | Allied Artists |
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Release date
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Running time
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123 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Billy Budd is a 1962 CinemaScope film produced, directed, and co-written by Peter Ustinov. Adapted from the stage play version of Herman Melville's short novel Billy Budd, it starred Terence Stamp as Billy Budd, Robert Ryan as John Claggart, and Ustinov as Captain Vere. In his film debut, Stamp was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and received a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Male Newcomer. The film was nominated for four BAFTAs.
In the year 1797, the British naval vessel HMS Avenger presses into service a crewman "according to the Rights of War" from the merchant ship The Rights of Man. The new crewman, Billy Budd (Terence Stamp), is considered naive by his shipmates, and they attempt to indoctrinate him in their cynicism. But Budd's steadfast optimism is impenetrable, as when he is asked to critique the horrible stew the crew must eat, he offers "It's hot. And there's a lot of it. I like everything about it except the flavor." The crew discovers Budd stammers in his speech when anxious.
Though Budd manages to enchant the crew, his attempts at befriending the brutal master-at-arms, John Claggart (Robert Ryan), are unsuccessful. Claggart is cruel and unrepentant, a man who believes he must control the crew through vicious flogging; savaging them before they can prey on him.
Claggart orders Squeak (Lee Montague) to find means of putting Budd on report and to implicate him in a planned mutiny. He then brings his charges to the Captain, Edwin Fairfax Vere (Peter Ustinov). Although Claggart has no reason to implicate Budd in the conspiracy, Budd becomes a target because Billy represents everything that Claggart despises: humility, innocence, and trust in humanity. Vere summons both Claggart and Budd to his cabin for a private confrontation. When Claggart makes his false charges that Budd is a conspirator, Budd stammers, unable to find the words to respond, and he strikes Claggart, killing him with a single blow.
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Wikipedia