After his Oscar winning role in David Lean's The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Alec Guinness had finally become an international star without leaving Great Britain. The 1960s would be the decade where he capitalized on this success in big budget historical epics that would be some of the most popular films of his career. Just months before the release of his triumphant collaboration with Lean in Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Guinness would make his most unfairly overlooked costume picture. H.M.S. Defiant or Damn The Defiant! (in North America) was made during the 15 month shoot of Lawrence when Guinness had a two month hiatus. Set during the Napoleonic wars, his role as the humane Captain Crawford is a rare example of Guinness not relying upon heavy make-up or eccentricities to create a character. Guinness's own naval experience during WWII helped him to portray a totally believable and stalwart leader of his crew whose authority is challenged by sadistic first lieutenant Mr Scott-Padgett, played with effete self loathing by Dirk Bogarde. Their clash and the resultant effect this has upon Crawford's own son who is serving as midshipman under him is the stuff of great melodrama. Director Lewis Gilbert (Alfie, You Only Live Twice) is that unique British breed of craftsman at home with both intimate drama and comedy as well as spectacular action. Here he demonstrates his talents by balancing the on-board tensions amongst the crew with rousing battle scenes of ships at sea,. Featuring breathtaking miniatures courtesy of special effects magician Howard Lyedecker (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea TV Series), these startlingly beautiful tableaux of naval warfare, as photographed in Cinemascope by Christopher Challis (Battle of the River Plate, Sink the Bismark), are like watching a painting by Turner come to life on screen. So successful are these sequences that a later film Bequest to the Nation aka The Nelson Affair (1973) recycled them in place of an inferior re-staging. Following this unpretentious endeavour, Guinness would have both his biggest failure of the decade in The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) and his biggest success to date in David Lean's Doctor Zhivago (1966), ironically in roles whose quality are inversely proportional to their fame. The 1970s would see his triumphs in a variety of different genres but the great film performances would continue to be in the box office disappointments rather than the blockbusters. (Blu-ray)
