Word: sailors
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Billy Budd, a handsome and guileless young sailor, steps on deck of H.M.S. Avenger one day in 1797, impressed into naval service at a time when the French threatened the British navy on one hand and the spirit of mutiny sapped it on the other. His shipmates are a sorry, ragtag lot, full of hate and fear for the sadistic master-at-arms, Mister Claggart. They find in Billy Budd's artless warmth a hope that somehow he can save them from Claggart's bullying; even the Avenger's aloof Captain Vere takes a liking...
Billy's almost allegorical Goodness is incomprehensible to Claggart; the boy seems ignorant of the possibility of evil in anyone. One night, coming off watch and seeing Claggart brooding by the rail, Billy asks permission to stay on deck and look at the sea. "I suppose the Handsome Sailor may do many things forbidden to his messmates," says Claggart. "You have a pleasant way with you, Billy. Tell me, what do you think of me?" And Billy replies, "I never met a man like you. sir. The nights are lonely. Perhaps I could talk to you between watches...
Falsely, Claggart accuses the sailor of plotting mutiny. Vere knows that Claggart is lying and, seeing a chance to trap him, he sends for Billy Budd to deny the charge. Billy, facing Claggart in Vere's cabin, struggles to speak, but can only make the terrible sounds of stammering. Suddenly, he gives action to his horror with a lunging, double-fisted blow that sends Claggart to the deck, dead with a broken skull...
...reveals Vere's humanity subtly, and when Billy's wonderful and cruel farewell rings out, Vere stands destroyed by what he has had to do. Robert Ryan is the terrible Mister Claggart who presides so zealously at floggings: once, after counting out ten lashes while a sailor is whipped, his mouth frames a silent "eleven." Then, standing alone at the rail, he continues to strike his own flank with his rattan crop, privately counting out lash after lash in seething frustration. Ustinov, who produced and directed the film and helped write the script, has the good taste...
...radio call of Admiral George W. Anderson Jr. when he was commander of the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. It is also appropriate to the man who, as Chief of Naval Operations, holds responsibility for forging and operating the Cuba blockade. For he is an aggressive blue-water sailor of unfaltering competence and uncommon flair...