The Bedford Incident

The Bedford Incident
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	James B. Harris
Screenplay by	James Poe
Based on	The Bedford Incident by Mark Rascovich
Produced by	James B. Harris Richard Widmark
Starring	Richard Widmark Sidney Poitier James MacArthur Martin Balsam Wally Cox Eric Portman
Cinematography	Gilbert Taylor
Edited by	John Jympson
Music by	Gerard Schurmann
Color process	Black and white
Production company	Bedford Productions Ltd.
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	11 October 1965(1965-10-11)(Connecticut) 14 October 1965(1965-10-14)(London) 2 November 1965(1965-11-02)(New York City)
Running time	102 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom United States
Language	English

The Bedford Incidentis a 1965 British-AmericanCold Warfilm directed byJames B. Harris,starringRichard WidmarkandSidney Poitier,and produced by Harris and Widmark. The cast also featuresEric Portman,James MacArthur,Martin Balsam,andWally Cox,as well as early appearances byDonald SutherlandandEd Bishop.James Poeadapted Mark Rascovich's 1963 novel of the same name, which borrowed from the plot ofHerman Melville'sMoby-Dick;at one point in the film, the captain is advised he is "not chasing whales now".

At the timeThe Bedford Incidentwas produced, Harris was best known as the producer of three ofStanley Kubrick's films. The two parted ways when Kubrick decided to makeDr. Strangeloveas asatiricalblack comedy,rather than a dramaticthriller,but Harris remained focused on developing a serious nuclear confrontation film, andThe Bedford Incidentwas released less than two years afterDr. Strangelove.

Plot

TheUnited States NavydestroyerUSSBedford,under the strict command of Captain Eric Finlander, is sailing in theGreenland, Iceland, and United Kingdom gap.Aboard are Ben Munceford, a civilianphotojournalist;Commodore Wolfgang Schrepke, aBundesmarineNATOnaval advisor; Ensign Ralston, an inexperienced young officer who is constantly criticized by Finlander for small errors; and Lieutenant Commander Chester Potter, the ship's new doctor.

When theBedforddetects aSovietsubmarine just off the coast ofGreenland,Finlander mercilessly stalks his prey intointernational watersand plays a waiting game after losingsonarcontact in a field of icebergs, knowing the diesel-powered sub will have to surface within 24 hours to replenish its air and recharge its batteries. The crew never complains, but Potter is concerned that maintaining this level of vigilance is dangerous and suggests modifications, all of which Finlander dismisses out of hand.

Munceford is aboard to photograph life on a Navy destroyer, but his real interest is Finlander, who was one of only a few military officials to publicly state that the United States should have used greater force during theCuban Missile Crisis.When Munceford asks Finlander if this is why, though he gets results, he was recently passed over for promotion to admiral, Finlander becomes hostile and accuses Munceford of misinterpreting the facts. He says he would go "all the way" to save his country, but, after calming down, insists his current action is just a deterrent.

The Soviet submarine is spotted by theBedford'sradarwhen it finally pokes itssnorkelabove the surface. It was not seen first by the sonarman because he is having exhaustion-induced delusions. Schrepke reminds Finlander that his orders are just to escort the sub out of Greenland's waters, but Finlander sends a message ordering the sub to fully surface and identify itself. When the order is ignored, Finlander runs over the snorkel. Munceford and Schrepke protest that Finlander is forcing the sub to fight, and Finlander orders Ralston to arm ananti-submarine rocket.He reassures Munceford and Schrepke that he will not fire first, but when he says that "if he fires one, I'll fire one", the fatigued Ralston just hears "fire one" and launches the rocket.

Before it is destroyed, the Soviet submarine launches fournuclear torpedoes.Although Finlander orders evasive maneuvers and countermeasures, the torpedoes continue to home-in on theBedford.Finlander silently leaves the bridge, followed by Munceford, who frantically pleads for him to do something. The captain looks away sheepishly, and theBedfordand her crew are vaporized in an atomic blast, resulting in amushroom cloud.

Cast

• Richard Widmarkas Captain Eric Finlander
• Sidney Poitieras Ben Munceford
• James MacArthuras Ensign Ralston
• Martin Balsamas Lieutenant Commander Chester Potter, M.D.
• Wally Coxas Seaman Merlin Queffle
• Eric PortmanasCommodoreWolfgang Schrepke,Bundesmarine
• Michael Kaneas Commander Allison, Executive Officer (Bridge)
• Gary Cockrell as Lieutenant Bascombe (C.I.C.)
• Phil Brownas Chief Hospitalman McKinley (Sick Bay)
• Brian Davies as Lieutenant Beckman (Communications)
• Paul Carson as Seaman 1st Class Williams (Communications), who translates Finlander's message to Big Red into Russian
• Edward Bishopas Lieutenant Hacker (Communications)
• Colin Maitlandas Seaman Jones (Bridge), who shows Potter to sickbay
• Roy Stephens as Seaman 2nd Class (C.I.C.), who takes over from Queffle at thesonar
• George Roubicekas Lieutenant Berger (C.I.C.)
• Donald Sutherlandas Hospitalman Nerney (Sick Bay)

Production

Writing

The story reflects several real Cold War incidents between theNATOandWarsaw Pactnavies, including one in 1957 when theUSSGudgeon,a submarine, was caught in Soviet waters and chased out to sea by Soviet warships. Although none of these real-life incidents ended as catastrophically as theBedfordincident, the story illustrated many of the fears of the time.

The screenplay byJames Poefollows the novel fairly closely, but Poe wrote a different ending. In the novel, the Soviet submarine does not fire back at theBedfordbefore being destroyed. The shocked Finlander receives word of his promotion to admiral. Commodore Schrepke, realising the incident will sparkWorld War III,sabotages one of the remainingASROCsand destroys the ship. Munceford, the sole survivor, is found byNovosibirsk,the submarine's mothership.

Filming

AFarragutclass destroyer, the model for USSBedford.

Although some shots in the film were recorded at sea,The Bedford Incidentwas mostly filmed atShepperton Studiosin the United Kingdom. The "USSBedford"is a fictitiousguided missile destroyer,and the role ofBedfordwas mostly played by a large model of aFarragut-class destroyer.Interior scenes were filmed in the BritishType 15 frigateHMSTroubridge;theTroubridge's novel, forward-sloping bridge windows can be seen in some shots, as can British military equipment, such as a rack ofLee-Enfieldrifles. Poitier and Balsam's initial flypast and landing from aWhirlwindhelicopter were filmed aboard another Type 15 frigate,HMSWakeful,whose pennant number of "F159" is clearly visible in the scene. The vessel portraying a Soviet intelligence ship has the name "Novo Sibursk",written on the hull at the bow in theLatin alphabet(rather than theRussian language'sCyrillic alphabet), though "Novosibirsk"would have been a more accurate rendering.

Reception

Bosley CrowtherofThe New York Timeswrote that "the whole thing transcends plausibility [...] because of its gross exaggeration of a highly improbable episode. [...] the blame for this climactic blooper must be lodged against James Poe, who wrote the script from a novel by Mark Rascovich."

Actual Cold War incident

In October 1962, at the height of theCuban Missile Crisis,theSoviet submarineB-59was pursued in theAtlantic Oceanby theU.S. Navy.When the Soviet vessel failed to surface, destroyers began droppingtraining depth charges.Unlike inThe Bedford Incident,the Americans were not aware that theB-59was armed with aT-5 nuclear torpedo.As theB-59had been out of contact with Moscow for several days and was running too deep to monitor civilian radio broadcasts, the Soviet captain thoughtWorld War IIImight have started and wanted to launch the weapon, but he was overruled by his flotilla commander,Vasili Arkhipov,who was using the sub as his command vessel. After an argument, it was agreed that the submarine would surface and await orders fromMoscow.It was not until after thefall of the Soviet Unionthat the existence of the T-5 torpedo and how close the world came to nuclear conflict became known.

See also

• On the Beach– a 1959 film about the last American submarine following a global nuclear war.
• Fail Safe– a 1964 film concerning the accidental launch of anuclear first strikeby theUSAF
• Dr Strangelove– a 1964 black comedy film satire about nuclear war.

Bibliography

• Whitfield, Stephen (1996).The Culture of the Cold War.Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.ISBN978-0-8018-5195-7.
• Maloney, Sean M (2020).Deconstructing Dr. Strangelove: The Secret History of Nuclear War Films.Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.ISBN978-1-64012-351-9.
• Strada, Michael; Troper, Harold (1997).Friend Or Foe?: Russians in American Film and Foreign Policy, 1933-1991.Lanham: Scarecrow Press.ISBN0-8108-3245-3.

External links

• The Bedford IncidentatIMDb
• The Bedford Incidentat theTCM Movie Database
• The Bedford IncidentatAllMovie
• The Bedford Incidentat theAFI Catalog of Feature Films
• The Bedford IncidentatRotten Tomatoes