Captain Boycott

"Captain Boycott" is a film that caught me by surprise. I thought it would be a nice adventure story starring Stewart Granger...period. However, there was less adventure than I'd expected AND I ended up learning some cool history. As a retired history teacher, this was mega-cool (I cannot believe I just said 'mega-cool'....that is so unlike me). What I didn't realize is that the film is about the origination of the term 'boycott'...and that boycotts are named after someone...a very jerky someone at that!

The story is set in Ireland in the 19th century. Considering the potato blight had decimated the population (many migrating abroad and many simply dying of starvation), it's no wonder that the story is very pro-Irish--the 19th century was certainly bad for them. What made it worse were jerk-face (I cannot believe I just said 'jerk-face') landlords who responded to this poverty by evicting the tenant farmers--thus increasing the misery. Fed up with one particularly nasty landlord, Captain Boycott (that was his real-life name!), the Irish set about stopping these excesses through the use of boycotts! Watch the film to see what all this is about and if you like history lessons, you'll probably enjoy this surprisingly interesting and well made film. Worth a look.

Captain Boycott is directed by Frank Launder and adapted to screenplay by Wolfgang Wilhelm from the novel written by Philip Rooney. It stars Stewart Granger, Kathleen Ryan, Cecil Parker, Mervyn Johns and Alastair Sim. Music is by William Alwyn and cinematography by Wilkie Cooper.

Ever wondered where the term to "boycott" something comes from? The answer lies within this enjoyable historical drama. Story is set in County Mayo circa 1880 and finds Parker as Captain Charles Boycott, a tyrannical British land owner who demands inflated rent charges from the local Irish farmers. With next to nobody able to pay such charges, this allows Boycott to evict the families from the premises. Finally having enough, the farmers, fronted by Hugh Davin (Granger), take their lead from a stirring speech by political reform agitator Charles Stewart Parnell (Robert Donat) and form the Irish Land League. Instead of using violence, they ostracise Boycott to the point where he has to seek outside military help to harvest his crop or face financial ruin...

In the mix is a love story, naturally, as Davin falls for the sultry charms of Ryan's Anne Killain. A problem since Anne and her father (Niall MacGinnis) have been housed in the farm of recent evictees, thus incurring death threats and ostracisation themselves. Launder moves it along without fuss and filler, neatly guiding a fine ensemble cast to produce quality drama decked with politico intrigue, while the actual location photography in Southern Ireland is ripe with realism and countryside delights. There's a small irritant with British actors doing iffy Irish accents, and some back screen projection work briefly cheapens the otherwise impressive efforts of the makers, but this is a well constructed and enjoyable film with some substantial historical worth. 7.5/10

The sight of two directorial chairs with the names Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder on their back amounts to a guarantee - to me - that I am about to watch something worthwhile. CAPTAIN BOYCOTT keeps to that parameter, even if I do not rate it one of that famous duo's finest efforts.

Cecil Parker plays Captain Boycott, a callous and dictatorial British land owner stripping local Irish farmers of their homes and all property with the backing of British police. Parker is convincing enough in his malice until he decides to act as jockey in a race in which he uses the horse he forcibly removed from Stewart Granger, a local lad who does not want to turn violent but can see that the whole situation in Ireland rests on a powder keg. Kathleen Ryan, who would soon have her finest hour in ODD MAN OUT, does not appear very much here, other than playing the part of Granger's love interest.

Parker is just too plump and un-athletic to pass off as jockey - he provides an unintentionally ludicrous image in the process, that somehow detracts from the seriousness of impending rebellion without providing any actual comic relief.

Pretty boy Granger is simply not a good enough actor for his part.

Mervyn Johns credibly plays the part of informant and stirrer for the British, Noel Purcell that of Irish crowd stirrer, Alastais Sim as the Catholic priest with a thick Irish brogue who finds a new meaning for the name Boycott and helps restore social and emotional balance as man of God, but the show really is stolen by the great Robert Donat in a very short part, indeed a brief speech, on how to use shunning to enact passive resistance and isolate perceived offenders.

Solid cinematography by Wilkie Cooper and engaging script by Launder and Wilhelm.

Definitely worth a watch. 7/10.

I was surprised to see only 5 reviews of this outstanding historical feature with so many excellent actors in a story well up to the top standard of contemporary adventure and action films. This is an epic explaining the Boycott problem how it occurred and was invented by a series of curious events, starting with a patron's opprsssion of his farmers (Captain Boycott, Cecil Parker perfectly convincing in all his stupid cruelty of narrow-mindedness) and their reactions, led by opposing parties, one for peace and one for action, while Stewart Granger is in the middle, his horse also playing a prominent part in the drama. The main characters leading to action though are Alastair Sim as the vicar. the only one who actually knows and understands his turbulent Irish parishioners, and Robert Donat as the historical Irish leader Charles Stewart Parnell, appearing only in one scene which however determines the whole drama. There are some terrific scenes when the Irish get started in to action for real, and all the pub scenes are a feast to enjoy. There are many characters making up this drama, the Killains, the British soldiers (with Maurice Denham) and all the other agitated Irishmen, Stewart Granger is at his best with horse and all, - and all the others match him perfectly, including the scoundrels. This film deserves better attention as a lasting epic classic for all time.

A year earlier Frank Launder directed the excellent 'I see a dark stranger' which concerns an Irish woman with a visceral loathing of the English. His next film, although sympathetic towards the downtrodden Catholic peasantry, does not go so far as to point the finger at the complacent English establishment or the curse of Anglo-Irish 'absent landlords' but lays the blame solely at the door of one unscrupulous land agent, Captain Boycott. He is played by the superlative Cecil Parker. The character is arrogant, bigoted and blinkered, as were so many of his ilk but this actor's persona makes him far more of a buffoon than an outright villian whilst the character of land-leaguer McGinty played by Noel Purcell is nothing less than a blood-lusting rabble rouser.

The voice of reason is supplied by the character of charismatic leading man Stewart Granger as Hugh Davin, whose name is perhaps suggested by that of Michael Davitt, noted land-leaguer and republican. He is inspired by a speech of Charles Stuart Parnell, a strong 'cameo' from Robert Donat who has the beard but not a trace of an Irish accent(!) who preaches the effectiveness of non-violent resistance. Davin is assisted in this by the wily Father McKeogh, played with his customary eccentricity by scene-stealer Alistair Sim. The obligatory love interest is supplied by Kathleen Ryan but it is lacklustre and inclined to get in the way, especially as the chemistry between her and Granger is non-existent. The eviction scenes are visceral and the sub-plot of Davin's racehorse is a delightful and much-needed diversion.

All-in all Launder has struck a good balance here and has avoided Gaelic 'quaintness'. The film is aided by full-blooded performances, the sweeping Irish landscape and a splendid score by William Alwyn.

Were this film to be made now there would be a lot of axe-grinding recriminations but we hardly need reminding of the terrible injustices committed and the lasting hatreds they created.