H.M.S. Defiant
Defiant's crew is part of a fleet-wide movement to present a petition of grievances to the Admiralty. Violence must be no part of it. The continual sadism of Defiant's first officer makes this difficult, and when the captain is disabled, the chance for violence increases.
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- Cast:
- Alec Guinness , Dirk Bogarde , Anthony Quayle , Maurice Denham , Nigel Stock , Tom Bell , Richard Carpenter
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Reviews
Sorry, this movie sucks
I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.
Good start, but then it gets ruined
A Disappointing Continuation
DAMN THE DEFIANT!I was not expecting to like this, but I did. I thought it was really good.The movie is about a British ship on it's way to meet a convoy, but on the way runs into a couple of French ships. What doesn't help is there is mutiny on the Defiant.The movie stars Alec Guinness, Dirk Bogarde & Anthony Quale. Everyone was brilliant... there was not much bad acting. Everyone was convincing and I felt for some of the characters. My favourite character was played by Alec. He seemed to be such a good captain, but he runs into trouble when his second in command decides to take his position.The story was average, but the cast and the action made the movie very good. There was some great fighting scenes between ships and even fighting scenes on the ships between people. The film was very subtle too. There were people being punished etc, but you didn't see anything which made this film family friendly.I will give this film a 7 out of 10.Another Alec classic... I am really growing into quite a fan.For more reviews, please like my Facebook page:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ordinary-Person-Movie- Reviews/456572047728204?ref=hl
This sea saga is set during the Napoleonic Wars , Captain Crawford (Alec Guinness) takes command of the HMS Defiant and is ordered to rendezvous with the British fleet in island of Corsica . With his son aboard as a new midshipman , Captain Crawford takes an even friendship with his crew . Defiant's crew is part of a fleet-wide movement to present a petition of grievances to the Admiralty . The continual sadism of Defiant's first officer pits a battle of wits against the captain in this stalwart story set in Napoleonic period . As it pits the first commanding and a hated second-in-command officer and when the captain is wounded , the chance for violence enhances . Scott-Paget (Dick Bogarde) uses Crawford's son (David Robinson as Midshipman Harvey) in an attempt to get the Captain to lash out against him . Meanwhile, some of the crew (Tom Bell) , led by seaman Vizard (Anthony Quayle), are organising to strike for better conditions , in conjunction with similar efforts throughout the British fleet . The men on the verge of mutiny and tension increases when they must also take on the French ships . They eventually pledge virtually the entire crew , then there ensues the mutiny .Dramatic film with impressive battle of wills between humane Captain Crawford in command of the warship HMS Defiant perfectly performed by Alec Guinness against his first officer, the sadistic and supercilious first lieutenant , splendidly interpreted by Dick Bogarde . Authenticity is the hallmark of this breathtaking adventure along with awesome acting , spectacular warships and overwhelming sea battles . Production design , gowns and ambient show great attention to period detail . The support cast performances by all concerned are superb as Maurice Denham as Mr. Goss , Nigel Stock as Senior Midshipman Kilpatrick , Richard Carpenter as Lieutenant Ponsonby ,Peter Gill as Lieutenant D'Arblay ,David Robinson as Midshipman Harvey Crawford , Robin Stewart as Midshipman Pardoe , Ray Brooks as Hayes , and specially Anthony Quayle as Vizard . Very good cinematography in Cinemascope by Christopher Challis and evocative score by Clifton Parker . The motion picture was well directed by Lewis Gilbert .The flick was inspired on actual events as ¨The mutiny at Spithead¨ in 1797. Sailors on 16 ships in the Channel Fleet, commanded by Admiral Lord Bridport, protested against the living conditions aboard Royal Navy vessels and demanded a pay raise. Seamen's pay rates had been established in 1658, and because of the stability of wages and prices, they were still reasonable as recently as the 1756–1763 Seven Years' War . The Royal Navy had not made adjustments for any of these changes, and was slow to understand their effects on its crews. Finally, the new wartime quota system meant that crews had many landsmen from inshore, who did not mix well with the career seamen , leading to discontented ships' companies. The mutineers were led by elected delegates and tried to negotiate with the Admiralty for two weeks, focusing their demands on better pay , and the removal of a handful of unpopular officers; neither flogging nor impressment was mentioned in the mutineers' demands. The mutineers maintained regular naval routine and discipline aboard their ships , allowed some ships to leave for convoy escort duty or patrols, and promised to suspend the mutiny and go to sea immediately if French ships were spotted heading for English shores.Because of mistrust, especially over pardons for the mutineers, the negotiations broke down, and minor incidents broke out, with several unpopular officers sent to shore and others treated with signs of deliberate disrespect. When the situation calmed, Admiral Lord Howe intervened to negotiate an agreement that saw a Royal pardon for all crews, reassignment of some of the unpopular officers and a pay raise . Afterward, the mutiny was to become nicknamed "breeze at Spithead".
Enjoyed the great acting by Alex Guiness, (Captain Crawford) and Dick Bogarde, (Lt. Scott Padget) who both sailed together on a ship where they practiced shanghiling when they were in port and just plain grabbed all civilian men and brought them aboard their ship and made sailors of them. All these men had to do very undesirable jobs on the ships and many of them rebelled against the military officers in charge of the ship. Captain Crawford just so happened to have his son aboard the ship who was being mistreated by his officers and other men who were forced to serve aboard the ship were whipped and beaten regularly for rebelling and refusing to take orders Captain Crawford was not aware of the cruelty that was inflicted on his men and then there started to become rumors about a mutiny aboard the ship. Great story about the old Navy days on British ships that sailed the ocean.
Dirk Bogarde is a villain in this movie just like in "Libel" and The Singer not the Song" and he is good at it as the cruel executive officer of the Defiant blithely dispensing floggings at the yardarm at the slightest or even imagined infractions. Nothing gets my goat as much as handsome evildoers in positions of power. What's their excuse? Alec Guiness does well as the kindly captain who nevertheless must deal with the impressed (meaning forcibly recruited) sailors according to the rules and customs of the day.Both actors were already well known to us in the Philippines so the one who really caught our attention was Anthony Quayle as the leader of the mutineers out to petition the Crown for more humane treatment of His Majesty's rank-and-file sailing men.I remember these scenes very well: A sailor harassed to the limit by Padget (Bogarde) gestures as if to strike him or tried to strike him but missed. In those days, that called for capital punishment. But when called to account for it, the sailor replied: "Impulse of anger, Sir. Instantly regretted." So he got a severe flogging to an inch of his life instead, thank you. That made the Captain realize that the recruits had been drilled and that they were up to something.The crew did take over the ship but gave up the mutiny and conformed to their officers' orders when they sighted French enemy ships. Sea battle ensues between the two forces and in a dramatic moment, the Captain (Guiness) whispers in the ear of the dying Vizard (Quayle), the commendations of the admiralty to the Defiant and its crew "for swift and effective action."If there are any errors in my recollection of these scenes, it is because I saw it precisely on its initial release when I was in Grade 6.