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Some captains were big on stern discipline, others - like
Admiral Horatio Nelson - took a more enlightened approach
to their men's welfare.
In Damn the Defiant, Alec Guinness plays Captain Crawford,
a humane and fine officer who respects his crew and knows
that harsh discipline will affect the good performance of
his vessel HMS Defiant.
Unfortunately for him and the crew they take aboard a brilliant,
but brutal, first officer Lieutenant Scott-Padget (Dirk Bogarde)
who is determined to break the will of the men.
Neither of the senior men on board the Defiant know that
a mutiny is brewing in the Royal Navy and their ship is only
one of the entire British fleet that is ready to explode.
Sent away on a mission into the Mediterranean the Defiant
is almost ripped apart by the conflict between the well-connected
Scott-Padget and the captain.
Throw into the story some excellent action scenes involving
exciting sea battles and you have an excellent evening's entertainment.
Guinness is smoothly confident as Crawford, but even he is
tested by the energy and viciousness of Bogarde's Scott-Padget.
Considering it is very much out of the usual character played
by Bogarde he is exceptionally believable and quite the action
anti-hero.
Anthony Quayle plays the leader of the mutineers and there
are some nice smaller roles taken by excellent British actors,
including Tom Bell as the headstrong and violent Evans.
This is an older movie and the video transfer is a bit up
and down. Generally sharp, it does have rich colour, although
there doesn't seem to have been a lot of cleaning up of the
original negative done as there are a large number of specks
and dots appearing.
There are also a number of historical inaccuracies including
naming Napoleon Bonaparte, who had yet to take power when
this was set, and a British ship being ordered to fire at
the rigging of a French frigate when the key aim of Royal
Navy captains was to blow the bellies out of their foes' vessels.
However, those little bits of pickiness aside, Damn the
Defiant is an excellent naval drama and will certainly
be a welcome addition to my home library.
Conclusion: Movie 80%, Extras 45%
Continued: DVD
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