Main Cast: Richard Widmark, Sidney Poitier, James MacArthur, Martin Balsam, Wally Cox, Donald Sutherland
Release Year: 1965
Country: US/UK
Run Time: 102 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
The Bedford Incident was an attempt by Columbia Pictures -- which had previously made Dr. Strangelove and released Fail-Safe -- to tap the well of public anxiety surrounding nuclear weapons and the Cold War one more time. Reporter Ben Munceford (Sidney Poitier) is allowed aboard a navy ship on patrol near the Arctic Circle, under the command of Captain Eric Finlander (Richard Widmark). His job is to observe the ship in action and do an article on Finlander, a hard-as-nails sailor and a dedicated anti-Communist with a patriotic zeal that's extraordinary even in a man of his rank and position. Finlander's main problem, however -- when he's not sparring with the reporter -- is tracking and hunting a Soviet sub that he knows is patroling the same waters. What alarms Munceford (and the audience) is that Finlander acts like there is an actual "hot" war going on; he drives his men mercilessly, up to and past the breaking point, trying to hunt down the submarine and force it to surface, and nothing -- not the questions of the reporter, the angry protests of the newly-arrived medical officer (Martin Balsam), or the quietly voiced concerns of retired U-Boat commander Commodore Shrepke (Eric Portman), aboard as an observer, can get him to relent. Then, when it looks like Finlander has been proved right and has gotten away with his provocation of the "enemy," a mistake by one over-tired young officer (James MacArthur) suddenly unleashes all of the destructive power with which Finlander has been flirting. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
Review
Columbia Pictures would seem to have had the patent on doomsday thrillers during the mid-1960's, between Dr. Strangelove, Fail-Safe, and this movie. The Bedford Incident is, alas, the most dry, humorless, and inaccessible of the three, which damages its attempt at creating suspense. Based on Mark Rascovich's novel, it tells of a nuclear confrontation between an American naval vessel and a Soviet submarine near the Arctic Circle -- the mere setting of the story aboard the confines of the ship ought to create dramatic tension. Additionally, it sets up a situation that is sort of "Moby Dick meets Fail-Safe" -- the character of Richard Widmark's Captain Finlander is this story's Ahab, consumed by a passion for the hunt of the elusive submarine that causes him to exceed the bounds of his mission or his orders, to the doom of all. And Widmark is so good in the role, that he's almost scary to watch, intense yet never to over-the-top in his portrayal as to break the willing suspension of disbelief. The problem is that there is no other character in the script that can convincingly balance his -- there's no "Starbuck" to his Ahab, or even an Ishmael through whose eyes we can view the story. Sidney Poitier's Ben Munceford, the reporter sent aboard the ship, never gets far from being annoying and shrill, while the other characters, from Eric Portman's unapologetic retired U-Boat commander and Martin Balsam's well-meaning but ineffectual medical officer on down, never approach the degree of substance or depth that we find in Finlander. Further, with the exception of a very few lighter moments that are supposed to show the human foibles of the characters we're watching, the movie suffers from a very dry script. Perhaps the problem was insoluble -- the plot is presented in as realistic manner as possible (though in real life, no ship's captain would ever sit still for the kind of badgering that Munceford gives Finlander), so much so that Fail-Safe almost seems like light viewing. Fine as its points are made and its plot is drawn, however, The Bedford Incident just doesn't happen to be a very accessible or emotionally involving drama. On the positive side of the production, Gilbert Taylor's stark black-and-white photography, bound within the confines of the ship and the actic surroundings, stays with you long after the memories of the partly realized characters have faded, and Leslie Hammond's work on the sound -- dominated by the pulsing of the ship's equipment and the ominous sonar in operation (which, by the end of the movie, seems as unrelenting as Finlander's lust to catch the sub) -- is absolutely chilling, if not quite as memorable as Sidney Lumet's use of the freeze-frame at the end of Fail-Safe. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
Eric Portman - Cmdr. Wolfgang Schrepke; Mike Kane - Commander Allison, Executive Officer; Gary Cockrell - Lt. Bascombe; Phil Brown - Chief Pharmacist Mate McKinley; Brian Davies - Lt. Beckman; Ed Bishop - Lieutenant Hacker; George Roubicek - Lieutenant Berger, USN; Michael Graham - Lieutenant Krindlemeyer, USN; Bill Edwards - Lieutenant Hazelwood, USN; Laurence Herder - Petty Officer; Warren Stanhope - Pharmacist's Mate Strauss; Colin Maitland - Seaman Jones; Paul Tamarin - Seaman 2nd Class; Burnell Tucker - Seaman 1st Class; Roy Stephens - Seaman 2nd Class; Shane Rimmer - Seaman 1st Class
Credit
Lionel Couch - Art Director, Arthur Lawson - Art Director, Denis O'Dell - Associate Producer, Clive Reed - First Assistant Director, James B. Harris - Director, John Jympson - Editor, Gerard Schurmann - Composer (Music Score), Eric Allwright - Makeup, Derek Brown - Camera Operator, Gilbert Taylor - Cinematographer, Richard Widmark - Producer, James B. Harris - Producer, Leslie Hammond - Sound/Sound Designer, James Poe - Screenwriter, Mark Rascovich - Book Author
The screenplay was written by James Poe. It was directed by James B. Harris, who up to that point was best known as Stanley Kubrick's producer. Harris had recently split from a nine-year partnership with Kubrick. Just after the split, Kubrick would make Dr. Strangelove (1963), which raises similar issues to The Bedford Incident.
The American destroyer USS Bedford detects a Sovietsubmarine in the GIUK gap near the Greenland coast. Though they are not at war, Captain Eric Finlander (Widmark) harries his prey mercilessly, while civilian reporter Ben Munceford (Poitier) and NATO naval advisor, Commodore (and ex-World War IIU-boat captain) Wolfgang Schrepke (Portman), look on with mounting alarm. The film also features James MacArthur as Ensign Ralston, an inexperienced young officer who is constantly being criticized by his captain for small errors.
Munceford is on board in order to write an article of life on a navy destroyer, but his real interest is Captain Finlander who was recently passed over for promotion to admiral. Munceford is curious as to why. He is treated with mounting hostility by the captain because he is seen as a civilian putting his nose where it does not belong and because he disagrees with Finlander's decision to continue with an unnecessary and dangerous confrontation.
The crew becomes increasingly fatigued by the unrelenting pursuit. The conflict escalates into a collision between the Bedford and the Soviet Submarine. Captain Finlander orders the Bedford to withdraw to a safe distance. Ensign Ralston mishears a casual conversation ("If he fires one, I'll fire one") and launches a conventional warhead Anti-Submarine ROCket, ASROC ("Fire one, aye!") that will sink the quarry, but not before it detects the attack and launches four torpedoes at the destroyer. The replacement sonar operator detects the underwater explosion and reacts in pain, and perhaps anguish at the realization of what is about to follow. Finlander initially continues his fight by deploying countermeasures and attempting to evade the Soviet counterattack. Realization dawns, for everyone except Munceford, that the approaching torpedoes will be nuclear. Finlander surrenders to the inevitable, leaves his post, and displays regret in his last few seconds of life. The movie ends with still shots of various crewmen "melting" as if the celluloid film were burning as the Bedford and her crew are vaporized. The last image of the film is an iconic, towering mushroom cloud from the torpedo detonations.
Production
The Bedford Incident was mostly filmed at Shepperton Studios in England, although some shots at sea were used, including a vessel portraying a Russian intelligence ship (with English, and not Cyrillic lettering along the side), and a Royal Navy frigate (HMS Wakeful) portraying Bedford in one scene. Some of the scenes were also shot on another Royal Navy Frigate HMS Troubridge.
