On Blu-ray: Billy Budd (1962) and The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)

While Billy Budd (1962) and The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972) take widely different approaches to a period milieu, they are both at their best when they spotlight their charismatic performers. The literary-sourced Budd and life-based Bean were recently released on Blu-ray from Warner Archive.

I’m generally not fond of the dudes on a ship genre, but Billy Budd has its own rhythm and transcends any genre trappings. I’ve found that my enjoyment of high seas drama depends dramatically on which dudes are aboard and that is one of the strong points of this film based on a stage play drawn from Herman Melville’s final, and posthumously published, work.

Set in 1797, all of the action takes place on a naval vessel where naïve crewman Billy Budd (Terence Stamp) has been taken from a merchant ship to serve. With dreamy eyes and dandelion fluff hair, the crew is baffled by the gentle, optimistic Budd, though they eventually admire his positive perspective. The sadistic master-at-arms John Claggart (Robert Ryan) feels threatened by Billy’s comfort with and desire to befriend him. He attempts to frame the young man for attempted mutiny, which ends up being deadly on multiple counts.

In his film debut, Stamp makes Billy an almost otherworldly character. He always seems a step removed from the pain and fear that plagues the rest of the crew members. This frightens Claggart, who is perturbed that he can't control him with fear and perhaps a bit disturbed by his attraction to Budd. He is the sort of man who gets an intense thrill from whippings and drawing blood, that this joyful boy should exist in his orbit dampens that erotic charge.

The captain of the ship (Peter Ustinov, who also directs) knows how destructive Claggart is for his men, but he fears Billy more; he could lead the crew to a more lusty mutiny than the master-at-arms. As a disillusioned elderly sailmaker, Melvyn Douglas, wearily watches Budd move towards his doom, though even he can’t see where it all is leading.

Billy Budd hits its stride when it begins to focus on one-on-one conversations. The tension between Ryan and Ustinov, and especially Stamp and Ryan is presented with menacing intimacy. These private moments form the dark core of a story the crew cannot begin to understand, increasing the overall tension. What is expressed stands equal to the repressed fears and desires of all aboard but the innocent Billy.

Special features include an interesting commentary in which director Steven Soderbergh talks with Terence Stamp about his experiences making the film. Perhaps because the pair worked together on The Limey (1999), they have a good rapport and their conversation has a nice flow.

The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean is a more comic enterprise. Its humorous success varies, depending on who has the spotlight in this loosely history-based western full of cameos. Director John Huston pulls together some good tall tales, but never weaves them into a cohesive whole.

As the frontier-based Bean, Paul Newman moves from the bad side of the law to impose his own morally-flexible definition of justice. He lusts after the distant star of the stage Lily Langtry (Ava Gardner), falls for a young Mexican girl (Victoria Principal), and tangles with an unruly cast of characters.

Newman is the weakest part of Roy Bean. He doesn’t have the ornery toughness or the comic juice to make his crusty character pop. While the actor could be funny in the right circumstances, he had a bad habit of seeming more amused by himself than the audience. That quality is at its worse here.

A diverse cast of characters take up the slack, in a series of amusing vignettes. Anthony Perkins sets aside his jittery persona in favor of a wry restraint as traveling man of the cloth. Leaning into his gravelly voice, Tab Hunter works against his pretty boy looks as a shifty, but oddly sympathetic outlaw. Most amusing is Stacy Keach as the bandit Bad Bob. No one relishes an over-the-top role like this actor; he looks like he is having the time of the life, which adds to the humor. Roddy McDowall and Ava Gardner also demonstrate reliable ensemble chops as a hapless lawyer and Langtry respectively.

In the end, the mess of stories, punctuated by a scene-stealing black bear, becomes a bit exhausting, but the cameos help to renew interest when the action flags.


Many thanks to Warner Archive for providing copies of the films for review. To order, visit The Warner Archive Collection.

On DVD: Roddy McDowall Produces and Stars In Black Midnight (1949)

As a twenty-year-old maturing child star in 1949, Roddy McDowall must have wondered about his fate. So many actors struggle to successfully make the transition to adult careers. He was at that awkward age when Monogram Studios signed him to a contract, where he would star in and coproduce six films. One of these, the western Black Midnight (1949) is now available on DVD from Warner Archive.

Perhaps with McDowall's successes in animal pictures like Lassie Come Home (1943), and My Friend Flicka (1943) in mind, Monogram continued the theme with this story of a boy who tames a high-spirited horse. This isn't just about a boy and his horse though; crime, violence and emerging sexuality all play a role and save the movie from becoming overly sentimental.

McDowell is Scott, the ward of his Uncle Bill, a farmer who lives in the wide open spaces of Lone Pine. Both men are delighted when two women they adore: the widow Martha Baxter (Fay Baker) and her daughter Cindy (Lyn Thomas) who have been long absent return to the area to put down roots for good. While they and the townspeople celebrate at the widow's rousing Fourth of July hoedown, Bill's long lost, rebellious son Daniel returns home. He is accompanied by a herd of horses with mysterious brands and a shifty looking cowhand.

The hoedown before the drama

One of the horses is a wild, dark stallion, who causes so much trouble for Daniel that he's ready to shoot him. Scott intervenes and buys the horse, names him Black Midnight and becomes determined to tame him. And he does, neglecting Cindy in the process. This leaves her open to flirtation from the manly, and more worldly Daniel.

When he discovers Daniel has stolen the horses, Scott struggles to make him do the right thing, especially when Black Midnight gets caught in the middle of the drama. Cindy comes to his aid when she realizes she's gone for a bad boy that's a bit too bad.

Black Midnight is an unusual film. It's almost a family flick, with its wholesome laughs and sweetness, but there's also a strong dark streak and some fairly intense violence. It touches on multiple genres, while defying categorization. Overall, you could call this a coming-of-age tale though, because Scott grows up in many ways over the course of the movie.

At age twenty, McDowall was still often accompanied by his parents on the set, and he hadn't had many opportunities to live life on his own. You can sense his real life naiveté in his scenes with Cindy, where Scott is clearly feeling urges he doesn't fully understand. It makes you wonder if Uncle Bill has gotten around to having the sex talk with him. When Daniel comes into town and makes it clear he knows exactly what to do about his urges, it's easy to understand why Cindy is intrigued.

In a climactic scene, Scott and Daniel have a surprisingly brutal fight. As the blows fly, you can see the younger boy's childhood finally falling fully away. In one shocking moment Daniel plunges a knife through a chair and barely misses his cousin's face, and it seems McDowall's as well. That Scott perseveres, despite his inexperience and plunges into the battle--and consequently adulthood--without hesitation is a sign of his growing maturity.

As with The Hired Hand (1957), which I reviewed earlier this week, I was constantly in awe of the Lone Pine locations. The soft sensuous rock formations against imposing peaks and the sound of birds singing and wind blowing made the story feel much more real. I love that so many films were freed from the sound stage and set in this famous location.

The film was a pleasant way to pass an hour, and impressed me enough that I'd like to see more of McDowall's Monogram productions. Even when he was struggling to bridge the gap between childhood and adulthood, he was an appealing performer. With his non-cloying sweetness and decency, he always inspires you to root for him.

Many thanks to Warner Archive for providing a copy of the film for review. This is a Manufacture on Demand (MOD) DVD. To order, visit The Warner Archive Collection.