{{distinguish|HMS Defiance|USS Defiant}} {{Use British English|date=September 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}} {{Infobox film | name = H.M.S. Defiant | image = H.M.S. Defiant FilmPoster.jpeg | caption = Original UK film poster | director = [[Lewis Gilbert]] | producer = [[John Brabourne]] | screenplay = {{ubl|[[Nigel Kneale]]|[[Edmund H. North]]}} | based_on = {{based on|''Mutiny''<br>1958 novel|[[Frank Tilsley]]}} | starring = {{ubl|[[Alec Guinness]]|[[Dirk Bogarde]]|[[Anthony Quayle]]|[[Maurice Denham]]|[[Nigel Stock (actor)|Nigel Stock]]}} | music = [[Clifton Parker]] | studio = G.W. Films Ltd | cinematography = [[Christopher Challis]] | editing = [[Peter R. Hunt]] | distributor = [[Columbia Pictures]] | released = {{Film date|1962|2|22|Premiere|ref1=<ref>''The Times'' online archive 22 February 1962 page 2</ref>|1962|4|15|df=y}} | runtime = 101 minutes | country = United Kingdom | language = English | budget = $2 million<ref name="deal">{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/variety-1962-01/page/n486/mode/1up?q=%22loss+of+innocence%22+%22lewis+gilbert%22+%22kenneth+more%22|magazine=Variety|title=Nat Cohen's Many Deal with Yanks|date=31 January 1962|page=4}}</ref> }}
'''''H.M.S. Defiant''''' (released as '''''Damn the Defiant!''''' in the United States<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055884/releaseinfo IMDb: Release dates for ''H.M.S. Defiant''] Retrieved 16 April 2013</ref>) is a 1962 British naval [[war film]] directed by [[Lewis Gilbert]] with a screenplay by [[Nigel Kneale]] from [[Frank Tilsley]]'s 1958 novel ''Mutiny'',<ref>{{cite book|publisher=Reynal| author=Tilsley, Frank| title= Mutiny|date=1958| url= https://www.amazon.com/Mutiny-Frank-Tilsley/dp/B000CZ48L0#mediaMatrix_secondary_view_div_1419683104950}}</ref> and starring [[Alec Guinness]], [[Dirk Bogarde]], [[Anthony Quayle]], [[Maurice Denham]], and [[Nigel Stock (actor)|Nigel Stock]]. Shot in both [[CinemaScope]] and [[Technicolor]], the plot concerns a mutiny aboard the fictitious title ship at around the time of the [[Spithead mutiny|Spithead mutiny in 1797]].
==Plot == In 1797, the humane [[Captain (Royal Navy)|Captain]] Crawford is in command of the [[Frigate#Classic design|frigate]] HMS ''Defiant'' during the [[French Revolutionary Wars]]. He soon finds himself in a battle of wills with his [[Executive officer|first officer]], the sadistic and supercilious first lieutenant, Mr. Scott-Padget. The lieutenant believes that Crawford is too soft on his crew, and also disagrees with the captain's decision to follow his orders to sail to [[Corsica]] despite word that [[Napoleon]]'s army has [[Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars|overrun]] much of Italy. Scott-Padget has powerful family connections, which he has used in the past to "beach" two previous commanding officers with whom he disagreed. Knowing that Crawford is helpless to intervene, Scott-Padget subjects the Captain's son, [[Midshipman]] Harvey Crawford, to excessive daily punishments so as to gain leverage over the captain.
Meanwhile, some of the crew, led by seaman Vizard, are preparing a written petition for better conditions, in conjunction with similar efforts throughout the British fleet. They eventually pledge nearly the entire crew.
In the Mediterranean, the ''Defiant'' encounters a French frigate escorting a merchant ship. After a sharp engagement, a boarding party from the ''Defiant'' captures the French frigate, and the merchantman surrenders. Crawford dispatches his son as part of the prize crew tasked to sail the captured merchantman to a British port, thereby placing him out of Scott-Padget's reach. Crawford tells Scott-Padget that bringing his son with him was a mistake, but now he's "put it right!" He further vows to take actions that will "astound" his second-in-command. Before long, Scott-Padget is confined to quarters as punishment for insubordination. His humiliation is compounded by the requirement that he appear on deck every two hours in full dress uniform, a punishment usually reserved for young midshipmen.
Soon, ''Defiant'' fights and captures a [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] frigate, taking on many prisoners. Crawford is severely wounded in the action and eventually loses his arm. Discovered among the prisoners is a key aide to Napoleon, from whom the British learn important information about a [[Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom|planned invasion of Britain]].
With Crawford incapacitated, Scott-Padget takes command, but his brutality goads the crew into a premature mutiny. Appealing to their patriotism, Crawford convinces Vizard and the other mutineers to sail for the main British fleet blockading [[Rochefort, Charente-Maritime|Rochefort]] to warn them of the impending invasion. Crawford promises to intercede for the crew as best he can, on the condition that none of the officers are harmed.
As the ''Defiant'' reaches the fleet at Rochefort, they receive word that the main British fleet [[Spithead and Nore mutinies|has already mutinied]], with the [[Admiralty (United Kingdom)|Admiralty]] agreeing to all of the sailors' demands and granting an amnesty to those who took part. The crew's jubilation at the news is cut short when a hot-headed seaman, Evans, murders Scott-Padget. Realising that they are now all doomed to punishment as mutineers, an enraged Vizard kills Evans. Their only course now is to try to escape with the ship.
Just then, the French fleet sallies out from port, and a French [[fireship]] is sighted heading straight for the British flagship. As the only ship under sail, the ''Defiant'' has the unique opportunity to save the flagship. Once again, Crawford appeals to the crew's patriotism, making no promises but convincing them to intercept the fireship. Vizard is killed in the ensuing action, living just long enough to hear a message from the British admiral thanking ''Defiant'' for their honourable actions. The mutiny is over and HMS ''Defiant'' joins the fleet.
==Cast== {{div col}} * [[Alec Guinness]] as Captain Crawford * [[Dirk Bogarde]] as Lieutenant Scott-Padget * [[Anthony Quayle]] as Vizard * [[Maurice Denham]] as Mr. Goss (Ship's Surgeon) * [[Nigel Stock (actor)|Nigel Stock]] as Senior Midshipman Kilpatrick * [[Richard Carpenter (screenwriter)|Richard Carpenter]] as Lieutenant Ponsonby * [[Peter Gill (playwright)|Peter Gill]] as Lieutenant D'Arblay * David Robinson as Midshipman Harvey Crawford * [[Robin Stewart]] as Midshipman Pardoe * [[Ray Brooks (actor)|Ray Brooks]] as Hayes * Peter Greenspan as Johnson * [[Tom Bell (actor)|Tom Bell]] as Evans * [[Murray Melvin]] as Percival Wagstaffe * [[Victor Maddern]] as Bosun Dawlish * [[Bryan Pringle]] as Marine Sergeant Kneebone * [[Johnny Briggs (actor)|Johnny Briggs]] as Wheatley * [[Brian Phelan]] as Grimshaw * [[Toke Townley]] as Silly Billy * [[Declan Mulholland]] as Morrison * [[Walter Fitzgerald]] as Admiral Jackson * [[Joy Shelton]] as Mrs. Crawford * [[Anthony Oliver]] as Tavern Leader * [[Russell Napier]] as Flag Captain * [[Michael Coles (actor)|Michael Coles]] as Flag Lieutenant * [[André Maranne|Andre Maranne]] as Colonel Giraud * [[James Bolam]] as Midshipman Assisting in Operation {{div col end}}
==Reception== In a contemporary review for ''[[The New York Times]]'', critic [[Bosley Crowther]] wrote: "The perennially popular topic of wooden ships and iron men, of eighteenth-century square-riggers, naval martinets and mutineers is handled with the kind of graphic splendor that should set a million boyish hearts aflame ... [Y]ou will know that you've sat through a picture that does not make much psychological sense but has the rich and rosy luster of a blood-drenched seafaring romance. ... So, if you're for naval roistering, here is your cup of rum."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Crowther |first=Bosley |date=1962-09-20 |title=Screen: Guinness in 'Damn the Defiant' |page=29 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>
''[[Films and Filming]]'' ranked ''H.M.S. Defiant'' ninth among the most popular films in Britain for 1962.<ref>British films are tops at box office Author: Douglas Marlborough Date: Monday, 10 Dec. 1962 Publication: Daily Mail p 3</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb title|id=0055884|title=H.M.S. Defiant}} *{{rotten-tomatoes|damn_the_defiant}} * {{TCMDb title|id=72116|title=H.M.S. Defiant}} * {{AFI film|id=22912|title=H.M.S. Defiant}}
{{Nigel Kneale}} {{Lewis Gilbert}}
[[Category:1962 films]] [[Category:1962 drama films]] [[Category:1962 war films]] [[Category:1962 British films]] [[Category:1962 English-language films]] [[Category:1960s adventure drama films]] [[Category:1962 historical films]] [[Category:British war films]] [[Category:British historical films]] [[Category:Columbia Pictures films]] [[Category:Fictional ships of the Royal Navy|Defiant]] [[Category:Films about mutinies]] [[Category:Films based on British novels]] [[Category:Films based on historical novels]] [[Category:Films based on military novels]] [[Category:Films directed by Lewis Gilbert]] [[Category:Films produced by John Knatchbull, 7th Baron Brabourne]] [[Category:Films scored by Clifton Parker]] [[Category:Films set in 1797]] [[Category:Films set in the Mediterranean Sea]] [[Category:French Revolutionary Wars films]] [[Category:British seafaring films]] [[Category:British war adventure films]] [[Category:English-language war films]] [[Category:English-language historical films]] [[Category:English-language adventure drama films]]