Very well executed

Powerful

Excellent but underrated film

Best movie ever!

"Captain Boycott" is a film that caught me by surprise. I thought it would be a nice adventure story starring Stewart Granger...period. However, there was less adventure than I'd expected AND I ended up learning some cool history. As a retired history teacher, this was mega-cool (I cannot believe I just said 'mega-cool'....that is so unlike me). What I didn't realize is that the film is about the origination of the term 'boycott'...and that boycotts are named after someone...a very jerky someone at that!The story is set in Ireland in the 19th century. Considering the potato blight had decimated the population (many migrating abroad and many simply dying of starvation), it's no wonder that the story is very pro-Irish--the 19th century was certainly bad for them. What made it worse were jerk-face (I cannot believe I just said 'jerk-face') landlords who responded to this poverty by evicting the tenant farmers--thus increasing the misery. Fed up with one particularly nasty landlord, Captain Boycott (that was his real-life name!), the Irish set about stopping these excesses through the use of boycotts! Watch the film to see what all this is about and if you like history lessons, you'll probably enjoy this surprisingly interesting and well made film. Worth a look.

Captain Boycott is directed by Frank Launder and adapted to screenplay by Wolfgang Wilhelm from the novel written by Philip Rooney. It stars Stewart Granger, Kathleen Ryan, Cecil Parker, Mervyn Johns and Alastair Sim. Music is by William Alwyn and cinematography by Wilkie Cooper.Ever wondered where the term to "boycott" something comes from? The answer lies within this enjoyable historical drama. Story is set in County Mayo circa 1880 and finds Parker as Captain Charles Boycott, a tyrannical British land owner who demands inflated rent charges from the local Irish farmers. With next to nobody able to pay such charges, this allows Boycott to evict the families from the premises. Finally having enough, the farmers, fronted by Hugh Davin (Granger), take their lead from a stirring speech by political reform agitator Charles Stewart Parnell (Robert Donat) and form the Irish Land League. Instead of using violence, they ostracise Boycott to the point where he has to seek outside military help to harvest his crop or face financial ruin... In the mix is a love story, naturally, as Davin falls for the sultry charms of Ryan's Anne Killain. A problem since Anne and her father (Niall MacGinnis) have been housed in the farm of recent evictees, thus incurring death threats and ostracisation themselves. Launder moves it along without fuss and filler, neatly guiding a fine ensemble cast to produce quality drama decked with politico intrigue, while the actual location photography in Southern Ireland is ripe with realism and countryside delights. There's a small irritant with British actors doing iffy Irish accents, and some back screen projection work briefly cheapens the otherwise impressive efforts of the makers, but this is a well constructed and enjoyable film with some substantial historical worth. 7.5/10

Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott is one of those figures in history who by their careers or actions actually contributed to our language - usually without thinking about it. Lord Cardigan, who led the charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War, wore a tight sweater which still bears his name. Lord Brougham, the great lawyer and Lord Chancelor, had a special carriage designed for him, which is named for him. William Burke (with his partner William Hare) suffocated a dozen people to sell their bodies to Dr. Robert Knox, the anatomist. The method of suffocation is still called "burking". Reverend Spooner's weird confusion of letters and syllables is still called a "spoonerism". The edited censorship of literary masterpieces is called bowdlerizing after Bowdler the originator of the censorship.Captain Boycott is remembered for not what he did or wore or said. He is recalled for what was done to him because of his behavior to others. In 1878 the lower classes in Ireland began a series of acts of violence against landlords, especially Protestant landlords. The reasons were connected with unfairly high rents and misuse of economic power to force people to do what their landlords wanted them to do. The worst incidents resulted in the murders of landlords (Lord Leitrim in 1878, Lord Mountmorres in 1880) and Mr. Walter Bourke (an agent for a landlord) in 1882. Boycott was a rather heavy handed landowner, who threw out tenants who did not do what he wanted (including voting for Tory candidates). He became targeted for punishment, but what happened turned out to be more effective and less bloody than what happened to Leitrim, Mountmorres, and Bourke.On the advice of cooler heads than armed terrorists, such as political leader Charles Stewart Parnell, it was advised to socially and emotionally ostracize Boycott. Instead of threatening his possession of his estate (which would allow him to call in British troops) the locals would not sell him needed food or supplies, nor do work on his estate, nor even talk to him and his staff. This ostracism (now called "boycotting") proved very effective - it led to Boycott, after nearly half a year's struggle, to give up his estate and leave Ireland forever.The movie basically tells the story, with Cecil Parker actually playing the central role of Captain Boycott. Parker plays one of his rare negative characters, but he has moments of typical befuddled Parker humor (when talking to a friend about the unwanted London reporters in his home following the ostracism campaign, he notes the reporter for the TIMES appears to be drunk under his dinner table - we see the man's legs).Since he is the villain actually (with Mervyn Johns as his sneaky estate agent ably assisting him), we look elsewhere for our hero. Here it is Stewart Granger, as an independent minded tenant of Boycott's, whose prize race horse excites the Captain's greed. But Granger is also a voice of reason. Although he doesn't care for Parnell (he mentions rumors about Parnell's sex life), he hears the great man give a speech advocating peaceful protest rather than violence. This is how the campaign against Boycott begins.Alistair Sim plays the local Catholic pastor, who also counsels peaceful protest. Noel Purcell plays an interesting semi-villain - the local schoolteacher who is an accomplished agitator (for violence). And playing Parnell for one scene only is Robert Donat, who gives the great man's speech his normal eloquence, and actually looks like Parnell (unlike Clark Gable in the 1939 biographical fiasco from Hollywood). A little stiff at times, it is (on the whole) a wonderful example of a good historical movie. As such I recommend catching it when you can.

This was the film that caught the eye of Hollywood. The Americans saw a tall, dark and fairly handsome man that could lead their movies.The best thing that happened to Granger in the 1940's was being teamed up with James Mason as his nemesis. Granger was the protagonist and Mason was the sinister antagonist whom we had sympathy for.