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.
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.