Billy Budd - DaaVeeDee

Billy Budd (DVD) (*)

~~$20.99~~ $14.97

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Spanish ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
Spanish ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Spain ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
118 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (2.35:1)

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Photo Gallery
Production Notes
Black & White

Movie filmed in 1962 and produced in:
United Kingdom ( Great Britain, Ireland )

Directed By:
Peter Ustinov

Written By:
Louis O. Coxe
Robert H. Chapman

Actors:
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
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
Victor Brooks ..... Amos Leonard - First Mate, Rights of Man

Synopsis:

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. He relies on his cruel and often sadistic Master-at-Arms John Claggert to maintain what he believes to be tenuous order and discipline aboard the ship. When a new seaman, Billy Budd, is pressed into service from a passing merchantman, his innocent, happy-go-lucky attitude quickly endears him to both 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.

It's 1797. Billy Budd is a crew member of the British merchant ship the Rights of Man sailing off the coast of Spain, when the ship is briefly commandeered by the British Naval Ship, the HMS Avenger. The officers of the Avenger decide to impress Budd into their service as is their right under British marine law. The young, somewhat innocent Budd, to who honesty is the most noble trait, is quick to make friends with his new crewmen, but learns quickly that life aboard a naval ship, this naval ship in particular, is different than aboard a merchant ship when he sees one of his fellow crewmen being flogged. The reason for the flogging is unknown, and could be, as the elder Dansker, a fellow crew member, states, solely because it was his time. The instigator of the flogging and of seemingly other unprovoked brutality is the ship's Master at Arms, John Claggart. The ship's captain, Edwin Fairfax Vere, knows the type of man that Claggart is and does not condone his actions. Budd, in turn, does not hate Claggart as do most of the other crewmen, but tries to understand him. When Vere is the sole witness in an incident between Claggart and Budd, Vere, with the help of his officers, has to decide what is just, what is the best for the Avenger and what is best for the British admiralty, especially in this time of war.

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.

This product was added to our catalog on Saturday 24 May, 2014.