Billy Budd (1962) DVD B&W Shown in original widescreen aspect ratio, Approx. 123 min. Playable in North America (the US, Canada, Mexico, etc.) Starring: Robert Ryan, Peter Ustinov, Terence Stamp, Melvyn Douglas, David McCallum, John Neville, Lee Montague, Paul Rogers, Ray McAnally, Robert Brown, Ronald Lewis, Thomas Heathcote. Written by Peter Ustinov, Robert Rossen and DeWitt Bodeen, based on the play “BILLY BUDD” by Louis O. Coxe and Robert H. Chapman and the novella “BILLY BUDD, FORETOPMAN” by Herman Melville. Produced and directed by Peter Ustinov In this film, based on the 1924 novella by Herman Melville (and subsequent 1949 play), handsome, young Billy Budd (Terence Stamp) is made to join an English vessel at war in 1797, where his skills quickly make him a trusted crew member. However, sinister master-at-arms Claggart (Robert Ryan), secretly jealous of Billy, accuses him of treason. Billy strikes Claggart in anger, causing him to fall and die. Capt. Vere (Peter Ustinov) feels pity for Billy, but believes that maritime law requires that Billy be executed for killing an officer.
