The Valiant (1962 film)
| The Valiant | |
|---|---|
.jpg) British quad poster | |
| Directed by | Roy Ward Baker |
| Written by | Play L'Equipage au complet Robert Mallet (writer) Adaptation: Giorgio Capitani Franca Caprino Robert Mallet Willis Hall Keith Waterhouse |
| Produced by | Jon Penington |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Wilkie Cooper |
| Edited by |
|
| Music by | Christopher Whelen |
Production companies |
|
| Distributed by | United Artists Corporation (UK) |
Release date | 4 January 1962 |
Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £245,439[1][2] |
The Valiant is a 1962 British/Italian international co-production film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring John Mills, Ettore Manni, Roberto Risso, Robert Shaw, and Liam Redmond. It is based on the Italian manned torpedo attack which seriously damaged the two British battleships Valiant and Queen Elizabeth and the oil tanker Sagona at the port of Alexandria in December 1941.
The film had a Royal Gala Premiere on 4 January 1962 at the Odeon Leicester Square in the presence of Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent.[3]
Plot[edit]
Alexandria December, 1941. Two Italian frogmen are captured under suspicion of placing a mine under HMS Valiant. They are brought onto the ship for questioning.
Cast[edit]
- John Mills - Captain Robert Morgan
- Ettore Manni - Luigi Durand de la Penne
- Roberto Risso - Emilio Bianchi
- Robert Shaw - Lieutenant Field
- Liam Redmond - Surgeon Commander Reilly
- Laurence Naismith - The Admiral
- Ralph Michael - Commander Clark
- Colin Douglas - Chief Gunner's Mate
- John Meillon - Bedford
- Moray Watson - Turnbull
- Dinsdale Landen - Norris
- Patrick Barr - Reverend Ellis
- Charles Houston - Medical Orderly
- Gordon Rollings - 'Agony' Payne
- Brian Rawlinson - One Of The Tea Drinkers
- Angus Lennie - Sailor Saying 'Manners'
- Leonardo Cortese - Italian submarine commander
- Terence Knapp - Wilkinson
Production[edit]
Roy Ward Baker said he was approached by John Pennington with the script by Willis Hall and Keith Waterhouse. "It was a good script," says Baker. "The two sailors were given some sour wartime humour." The producers wanted John Mills to play the captain and asked Baker, "to contact him because we'd made so many pictures together. So, I did and with a certain amount of reluctance Johnny agreed to do it. From that point on we were more or less in business."[4]
Most of the finance came from Italy, where the movie was shot with a British-Italian crew.[4]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Chapman, L. (2021). “They wanted a bigger, more ambitious film”: Film Finances and the American “Runaways” That Ran Away. Journal of British Cinema and Television, 18(2), 176–197 p 179. https://doi.org/10.3366/jbctv.2021.0565
- ^ Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 360
- ^ The Times online archive 4/5 Jan 1962
- ^ a b Fowler, Roy (October–November 1989). "Roy Ward Baker Interview" (PDF). British Entertainment History Project. pp. 120–121.
External links[edit]
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- 1962 films
- 1962 drama films
- Italian drama films
- British drama films
- CinemaScope films
- 1960s English-language films
- Films directed by Roy Ward Baker
- Films set in 1941
- Films set in Alexandria
- British World War II films
- Underwater action films
- Films set in the Mediterranean Sea
- Royal Navy in World War II films
- English-language Italian films
- 1960s British films
- 1960s Italian films
- War drama film stubs