''Captain Boycott'' is a 1947

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Frank Launder Frank Launder (28 January 1906 – 23 February 1997) was a British writer, film director and producer, who made more than 40 films, many of them in collaboration with Sidney Gilliat. Early life and career He was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, ...

and starring Stewart Granger, Kathleen Ryan,

Mervyn Johns David Mervyn Johns (18 February 18996 September 1992) was a Welsh stage, film and television actor who became a fixture of British films during the Second World War. Johns appeared extensively on screen and stage with over 100 credits between 1 ...

, Alastair Sim and

Cecil Parker Cecil Parker (born Cecil Schwabe; 3 September 1897 – 20 April 1971) was an English actor with a distinctively husky voice, who usually played supporting roles, often characters with a supercilious demeanour, in his 91 films made between 1 ...

Robert Donat Friedrich Robert Donat ( ; 18 March 1905 – 9 June 1958) was an English actor. Making his breakthrough film role in Alexander Korda's ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' (1933), today he is best remembered for his roles in ''The Count of Monte C ...

makes a cameo appearance as the Irish nationalist leader

Charles Stewart Parnell Charles Stewart Parnell (27 June 1846 – 6 October 1891) was an Irish nationalist politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom from 1875 to 1891, Leader of the Home Rule Leag ...

. The film explains how the word

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...

appeared in the English language. Ironically, the titular character plays a secondary role in the film, as an anti-hero, and the hero of the film is Hugh Davin.

Plot

In 1880 in

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

, during the period of Irish history known as the

Land War The Land War () was a period of agrarian agitation in rural History of Ireland (1801–1923), Ireland (then wholly part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom) that began in 1879. It may refer specifically to the firs ...

, Irish tenant farmers agitated for reinstatement of their former lower rents and increased tenants' rights, especially from absentee English landlords. They particularly resented evictions. Some resorted to the gun to achieve justice, but others, inspired by the Irish statesman Charles Stewart Parnell (played in a brief cameo role by

), shunned violence and adopted a form of

passive resistance Nonviolent resistance, or nonviolent action, sometimes called civil resistance, is the practice of achieving goals such as social change through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, satyagraha, constr ...

. Parnell advocates the theory that potential new tenants should never bid for farms from which the old or current tenant has been evicted: this is the core of the "boycott" concept. The crowd, containing Davin and his friends, who had thought that Parnell was going to speak in favour of eviction, put their rotten eggs away and are instead impressed. The farmers are led by Hugh Davin (Stewart Granger) who, with the moral support of the local priest, Father McKeogh (Alastair Sim), encourages his fellow tenants to ostracize their land agent, the bombastic Captain Boycott (Cecil Parker). There is a love interest in the form of Ann Killain (Kathleen Ryan), whose father is also shunned for taking up a farm from which another farmer had been evicted. The resultant stand-off attracts international news coverage and will ultimately introduce a new word – to boycott – to the English language. Actions begin with Boycott's servants abandoning his house. One final servant, Bridget, is caught as last to leave. She tells him Davin asked them to leave. Everyone refuses to gather Boycott's crops. The situation persists and Boycott asks for the support of the British parliament. The story reaches every newspaper and becomes the subject of music hall jokes. The British press go to the Boycott estate, followed by a squad of troopers to support him. Things start to get out of hand when the authorities, at the word of Boycott, demolish Davin's farm. Captain Boycott risks his survival, having lost all other income, on his horse racing at the

Curragh The Curragh ( ; ) is a flat open plain in County Kildare, Ireland. This area is well known for horse breeding and training. The Irish National Stud is on the edge of Kildare town, beside the Japanese Gardens. Pollardstown Fen, the larges ...

. The Captain acts as his own jockey on a horse bought from Davin. However, the crowd will not tolerate it, and despite the number of mounted troopers they block the Captain on his horse as he approaches the finishing line and mob him. Michael Fagan steals Davin's revolver and tries to kill Killain, who has been signing the eviction notices. A fight ensues and Fagan falls in a river. It is reported that he has been murdered. Davin tries to stop the mob from lynching Killain because he loves his daughter. Davin rushes to the Killain cottage and finds the priest giving Killain the

last rites The last rites, also known as the Commendation of the Dying, are the last prayers and ministrations given to an individual of Christian faith, when possible, shortly before death. The Commendation of the Dying is practiced in liturgical Chri ...

having been shot by Fagan. When the mob arrive they are pointed to Boycott and the troops leaving: their cause lost. The priest says if anything like this happens again they will be able to "boycott" him.

Cast

* Stewart Granger as Hugh Davin * Kathleen Ryan as Anne Killain *

as Capt.

Charles Boycott Charles Cunningham Boycott (12 March 1832 – 19 June 1897) was an English land agent whose ostracism by his local community in Ireland gave the English language the term ''boycott''. He had served in the British Army 39th Foot, which br ...

as Watty Connell * Alastair Sim as Father McKeogh the local priest * Noel Purcell as Daniel McGinty *

Niall MacGinnis Patrick Niall MacGinnis (29 March 1913 – 6 January 1977) was an Irish actor and physician. On screen, he was well-known for his character roles with a "poetic timbre", though he occasionally played leading parts like the title character in ...

as Mark Killain * Maureen Delany as Mrs. Davin * Eddie Byrne as Sean Kerin * Liam Gaffney as Michael Fagan *

Liam Redmond Liam Redmond (27 July 1913 – 28 October 1989) was an Irish character actor known for his stage, film and television roles. Early life Redmond was one of four children born to cabinet-maker Thomas and Eileen Redmond. Educated at the Christi ...

as Martin Egan *

Edward Lexy Edward Lexy (18 February 1897, in London – 31 January 1970, in Dublin) was a British actor. He was born Edward Little. Career He made his London stage début in 1936, and his first film the following year. His film roles were a mixture of s ...

as Sgt. Dempsey *

* Bernadette O'Farrell as Mrs. Fagan * Harry Webster as Robert Hogan *

Reginald Purdell Reginald Purdell (4 November 1896 – 22 April 1953) was an English actor and screenwriter who appeared in over 40 films between 1930 and 1951. During the same period, he also contributed to the screenplays of 15 feature films, such as '' The Da ...

as Reporter * Cavan Malone as Billy Killain

Production

During shooting of this film in 1946, Bernard Cardinal Griffin, the then Archbishop of Westminster, paid an official visit to the set, during which he met the film's two stars Kathleen Ryan and Stewart Granger. The event was filmed for newsreel.

Box office

According to trade papers, the film was a "notable box office attraction" at British cinemas in 1947.

Critical reception

Overall, the reception of the movie was positive. In an original review published in 1947, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though some ...

enthused that "a generous assortment of rich and pungent Irish characters contributes not only to the action but to the spirit, humor and charm of the film ... with the added virtues of beautiful vistas across the Irish countryside Launder have given us a picture which should thrill, amuse—and counsel well."

Screenonline Screenonline is a website about the history of British film, television and social history as documented by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and tele ...

described ''Captain Boycott'' as "expertly constructed, wittily scripted, impeccably cast and enormously entertaining". Film 4 reviews, while describing the movie as "by turns enlightening and inspiring" felt that it had missed the point somewhat, and that "its characters are a little too quaint and good to convince ... while the script remains curiously unfocused."

References

External links

*
Review of film
at ''Variety'' {{Launder and Gilliat 1947 films Films directed by Frank Launder Films set in the 1880s Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films scored by William Alwyn British historical drama films 1940s historical drama films 1947 drama films 1940s English-language films 1940s British films English-language historical drama films