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Billy Budd
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Billy Budd

film by Ustinov [1962]
Written by
Lee Pfeiffer
Author/co-author of numerous books about the cinema and is regarded as one of the foremost James Bond scholars. His book The Essential Bond: An Authorized Guide to the World of 007 (written with...
Lee Pfeiffer
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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History

Billy Budd, British adventure film, released in 1962, that was an adaptation of a play based on Herman Melvilleā€™s unfinished novel Billy Budd, Foretopman. Billy Budd (played by Terence Stamp) is a young seaman impressed into service on the HMS Avenger of the British navy in 1797 during the war between England and France. The captain of the Avenger, Edwin Fairfax Vere (Peter Ustinov), relies on his cruel and sadistic master-at-arms, John Claggart (Robert Ryan)....

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