Les mutinés du Téméraire

Few films have tried to capture the era of Horatio Hornblower, and even fewer do it as well as this one. It's an extremely well-made movie, though a bit difficult to classify. Traditionally, in a sea adventure, the dashing, sexy leader is the hero; in this case, he's the villain (brilliantly played by Dirk Bogarde, who normally plays more sensitive chaps). The good guy turns out to be a very UNdashing and flawed, but compassionate Captain.

I think Alec Guinness is the only actor who can portray a character who is colorless yet also make him sympathetic. Perhaps the World War II era (with its emphasis on teamwork, its glorification of the average G.I., and its near-worship of able, but dull, leaders like Omar Bradley) may have influenced it, because the movie strongly emphasizes the worth of the common man, especially as personified by Anthony Quayle's character.

It's an offbeat movie: part sea adventure, part character drama, part historical epic. Critics might say it's not satisfactory in any of these areas, but those of us who love it recognize how special and even unique it is. Now that Columbia has finally released on DVD a letter-boxed version one can fully appreciate its worth, not only for the sea battle scenes, but also the many two-shots of Guinness and Bogarde interacting (or, more often, snarling) at each other.

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".

In April 1789 Captain William Bligh was set adrift off the Friendly Islands by Fletcher Christian and the crew of H.M.S. Bounty, tired of Bligh's bad temper and harsh tongue. Bligh and the loyal crew members (except two killed by cannibals on one island they stopped at) managed to sail the open boat 2,100 miles despite lack of supplies and dangerous seas and weather to safety. Bligh returned to England, and eventually made a second trip to Tahiti to complete his original mission. Christian and most of the Bounty mutineers fled on the Bounty and reached Pitcairn Island, where their descendants live to this day.

The mutiny on the Bounty is the one that most people think of whenever they hear the word "mutiny". Otherwise they think of THE CAINE MUTINY. Actually there have been many mutinies. In 1905 a mutiny on the Russian battleship Potemkin occurred at Odessa on the Black Sea. It was immortalized by Serge Eisenstein in his film of the name POTEMKIN.

It surprises many people outside of England that the Bounty was peanuts compared to the Great Mutiny of 1797 at the Nore and Spithead of the entire British fleet (also the 1931 Invergordon Mutiny of the British fleet during the depression, which was a total surprise). The Great Mutiny is supreme because it occurred just when England was facing revolutionary France in the French Revolutionary Wars. A force being planned by Wolfe Tone and the French General Lazare Hoche was to invade Ireland. By sheer chance the French were unable to take advantage of the moment of England's peril to invade.

The 1797 Mutiny at Spithead was actually successful - various gains in pay and food were made by the sailors. Then came the Nore Mutiny, which was led by a seaman of some leadership qualities named Richard Parker. Parker's demands were impossible, and he apparently toyed with leading the fleet to France. Instead the British Admiralty got tough, and crushed the mutiny. Ironically one of the last ships to give up was H.M.S. Director, which was commanded by William Bligh. It was the second mutiny (of three!) that Bligh would face in his career. Parker was tried for mutiny and executed, as were dozens of other sailors.

It would be nice if some enterprising producer would make an accurate film of the 1797 Mutiny - but until that day comes we are left with two films that roughly approximate the story. There is Peter Ustinov's BILLY BUDD, which is set in the period of the Great Mutiny, and this one. BILLY BUDD has much going for it regarding it's source material (Herman Melville's brilliant study of good and evil, and how they are impossible to separate). Then there is DAMN THE DEFIANT / H.M.S. DEFIANT, which tells the story from the point of view of a single vessel and the evils that permeated all the crew from the Captain to the tars.

Alec Guinness is a well meaning but weak leader who is the Captain of Defiant, and has been stuck with Dirk Bogarde as his new second in command, a socially well-connected sadist. Bogarde is determined to be the real commander of the ship, and is willing to do what is needed to bring Guinness and everyone in sight under heal. Guinness's son is a midshipman on the DEFIANT, and Bogarde keeps finding ways of punishing the young man that Guinness (because of fears of favoritism) will not interfere with. On top of this, during one battle, Guinness loses an arm (a salute to Lord Nelson who was similarly was crippled).

However, the men led by Anthony Quayle, decide to join the mutiny. And then it is Bogarde's turn to sweat.

What were the gripes of the mutineers? Low pay (the government spent money on bribes for votes, but not decent pay). Nothing like pensions for the men - frequently kidnapped by press gangs in the major cities - and left cripples after serving in the naval battles. Food was crap - the quartermasters and the people who sold supplies were in cahoots and sold rotten food to the ships. It was a "lovely life". The wonder is that there weren't more bloodbath mutinies. One (in 1798) on board H.M.S. Hermoine led to the murder of a dozen officers, including the Captain (one Hugh Pigott). Reading of it makes one realize how lucky Bligh and the Admirals were that they did not face the real wrath that was just under the surface.

I remember seeing H.M.S. Defiant in the theater when it came out back in 1962. It's too bad my VHS copy is formatted. One really needs the wide screen to appreciate the vast sweep of this wonderful sea adventure.

The Defiant sets sail from the naval harbor at Spithead just before the ships of the Channel Fleet are ready to start an organized mutiny. So with no contact between them and the ships at Spithead or in the Mediterranean, the men of the Defiant have to work out their own course of action. That action is the basis for what happens.

They've got an unwitting ally in the ship's executive officer, Scott- Padget played by Dirk Bogarde. A future Drake or Hawkins with influence and a taste for sadism. He looks to usurp the authority of Captain Crawford who is played by Alec Guinness. The conflict between them plays into the hands of the mutineers.

In that other famous story of the sea, Mutiny on the Bounty, Fletcher Christian points out to Captain Bligh that the men drafted into the Royal Navy from the press gangs aren't king and country volunteers. Neither are these people in the foc'sle of the Defiant.

Bogarde plays against type and does it well. He's usually not a villain in film although he had essayed villainous roles before in his career. But Guinness is a wonder. His Captain Crawford, calm, detached, and inspiring in his own way in his patriotism was a role Alec Guinness could be proud of. Totally different than the characters he played in those Ealing studio comedies. This falls more in line with Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai or Colonel Sinclair in Tunes of Glory without the bad character features the other two had.

Great Britain eventually stopped using press gangs, but at the time it was the way the Royal Navy got a crew together. In fact later on during the Napoleonic Wars, the British took to stopping American ships and impressing members of those crews in the Royal Navy. It was one of the causes of the War of 1812.

Two other performances in H.M.S. Defiant are worthy of note. Anthony Quayle as the mutiny leader on the Defiant and Tom Bell one of the mutineers whose rashness nearly blows it all for the seamen and their cause.

Hovering over all of this is the French and to me the highlight of the film is Alec Guinness reminding the men of their duty to prevent a French invasion of their island home. It's a superb piece of drama.

A little Mutiny on the Bounty, a little Horatio Hornblower go into the plot of H.M.S. Defiant. It's a good mix with a superb group of players serving it up for the audience.

I had a chance to catch this well-known film for the first time on the "Action" cable channel and was very impressed all around - script, acting, direction, authenticity, pacing, the whole nine yards. This is a really engrossing story rooted in history with bold characters and lots of naval action; just a rip-snorting good adventure story of a very high calabre. The scenes of 18th century naval action are some of the most impressive I have seen (a letterbox release would be of great benefit in this regard). Guinness is up to his usual high standard, abetted by fine work from Bogarde and Quayle. The tension of the dramatic line never lets up until the heroic conclusion. The movie inspired to do some reading into the story of the Spithead Mutiny, on which the movie is based. Highly recommended.