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The Bedford Incident

171 statements
32 feature instances
4 referencing feature instances

The Bedford Incident	type	TVTItem
The Bedford Incident	label	The Bedford Incident
The Bedford Incident	page	TheBedfordIncident
The Bedford Incident	comment	The Bedford Incident is a 1965 film directed by James B. Harris.It's a Cold War thriller set on the high seas. The USS Bedford, a Navy destroyer, is patrolling in the strait between Greenland and Iceland. The Bedford detects a Russian submarine lurking in the strait, in Greenland's territorial waters. Captain Eric Finlander (Richard Widmark), a devout anti-communist and Cold Warrior, is determined to force the Russian sub to surface and leave the strait. So determined that, when the Russian sub leaves Greenland's waters for the open sea, thus depriving Finlander of any justification for following it, Finlander follows it anyway.Capt. Finlander is contrasted by two new arrivals on the Bedford. Ben Munceford (Sidney Poitier) is a newspaper journalist, ostensibly on the Bedford to write a story about anti-submarine warfare, but really there to profile Finlander. Munceford thinks little of Finlander's fanaticism. Also joining the ship is LCDR Chester Potter (Martin Balsam), a 20-year reservist who has come back to active duty and been assigned to the Bedford as the ship's doctor. Potter has ideas like improving the health and nutrition of the sailors, ideas that Finlander holds in contempt because he is not interested in anything other than intimidating the Russians.James MacArthur plays Ensign Ralston, a newbie whom Finlander rides relentlessly. Donald Sutherland appears briefly in one of his first roles, as one of the lab techs specializing in analysis of Russian garbage.
The Bedford Incident	fetched	2023-09-07T14:58:48Z
The Bedford Incident	parsed	2023-09-07T14:58:48Z
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The Bedford Incident	isPartOf	DBTropes
The Bedford Incident / int_1282bf4f	type	No Celebrities Were Harmed
The Bedford Incident / int_1282bf4f	comment	No Celebrities Were Harmed: Finlander is symbolic of Barry Goldwater, the bellicose Senator who ran for president on 1964 on a platform of confronting the Soviets, and was seen by many as being dangerously aggressive. This is underlined in one scene where Finlander, who sort of looks like Goldwater to begin with, puts on reading glasses that are identical to the thick-framed glasses Goldwater always wore.
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The Bedford Incident / int_1ba17583	type	The Ghost
The Bedford Incident / int_1ba17583	comment	The Ghost: Not only are there no scenes on the Russian sub, Finlander and the Bedford never even get a good look at it, other than its snorkel poking out above the waves.
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The Bedford Incident / int_1df37537	type	Mutual Kill
The Bedford Incident / int_1df37537	comment	Mutual Kill: The Bedford and the Russian sub destroy each other in an exchange of torpedoes.
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The Bedford Incident / int_27a42ebc	type	Spiritual Successor
The Bedford Incident / int_27a42ebc	comment	Spiritual Successor: This film would be the closest thing to a spiritual sequel to 49th Parallel which also featured Portman playing a Kreigsmarine U-boat officer, but was a typical Those Wacky Nazis type named Ernst Hirth who tried to Run for the Border out of Canada only to fail at the end and gets arrested, while this film set during the Cold War, with Portman's character Schrepke to be a former Kreigsmarine officer-turned-NATO adviser. It is as though Portman's character in this film can be perceived as Hirth, after getting captured and imprisoned by the Allies at the end of previous film, gets pardoned after the war, only to be Demoted to Extra in contrast to his leading Nazi Protagonist role in the last movie, but pulled a Heel–Face Turn (which can double as Redemption Demotion) following the fall of the Third Reich, helping the government that was once his enemy and having become Older and Wiser unlike before when he was rash and blindly fanatical.
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The Bedford Incident / int_2f30a078	type	Binocular Shot
The Bedford Incident / int_2f30a078	comment	Binocular Shot: Seen every time Finlander looks through his binoculars, trying to see the enemy sub.
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The Bedford Incident / int_392372f9	type	Actor Allusion
The Bedford Incident / int_392372f9	comment	Actor Allusion: Eric Portman is once again a Kreigsmarine U-boat officer.
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The Bedford Incident / int_4e3d253b	type	Downer Ending
The Bedford Incident / int_4e3d253b	comment	Downer Ending: Ralston, misunderstanding a comment by Finlander as an order to fire, shoots off a torpedo that sinks the Russian sub. Before it was destroyed, the Russian sub fired off four torpedoes that destroy the Bedford. Everyone dies.
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The Bedford Incident / int_55cd4012	type	"Everybody Dies" Ending
The Bedford Incident / int_55cd4012	comment	"Everybody Dies" Ending: The film ends with the Bedford being blown up by a Russian nuclear torpedo, killing everybody in the movie.
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The Bedford Incident / int_5f52cfcf	type	Intrepid Reporter
The Bedford Incident / int_5f52cfcf	comment	Intrepid Reporter: Munceford, who is helicoptered onto the deck of the Bedford at sea in pursuit of his story, and keeps pursuing it, surreptitiously recording conversations and infuriating Finlander by taking pictures on the bridge.
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The Bedford Incident / int_70e6a866	type	Inferred Holocaust
The Bedford Incident / int_70e6a866	comment	Inferred Holocaust: Given that the film takes place at the height of the Cold War, nothing good will come from an American and Soviet sub blowing each other up, especially since nuclear torpedoes were used.
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The Bedford Incident / int_79e07b47	type	Lecture as Exposition
The Bedford Incident / int_79e07b47	comment	Lecture as Exposition: Finlander uses a map to explain to Munceford, and the audience, where the Bedford is and what its mission is, namely, submarine hunting.
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The Bedford Incident / int_7b80226d	type	GoodCounterpart
The Bedford Incident / int_7b80226d	comment	Good Counterpart: Meta-wise, Eric Portman's Kreigsmarine U-boat officer character Schrepke can be seen as this to his previous Kreigsmarine U-boat officer character Hirth from Propaganda Machine flick 49th Parallel, who unlike Schrepke was a despicable and blinkered Those Wacky Nazis type Foil to Schrepke's sympathetic Older and Wiser ex-Punch-Clock Villain Old Soldier demeanor that averts All Germans Are Nazis. The irony of Portman's German naval roles is that while Hirth was a typical fanatical Nazi as a result of the Propaganda Machine, Schrepke was against Finlander's own fanaticism.
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The Bedford Incident / int_7febc23b	type	Establishing Character Moment
The Bedford Incident / int_7febc23b	comment	Establishing Character Moment: In his first appearance Finlander screams at Ralston for letting the helicopter circle around the Bedford, even though Ralston exclaims that the waters were rough and it was getting dark. Finlander is established as an abrasive Jerkass martinet.
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The Bedford Incident / int_8ace85ef	type	Audience Surrogate
The Bedford Incident / int_8ace85ef	comment	Audience Surrogate: Munceford represents the audience. He is the sane civilian shocked by Finlander's aggression and recklessness.
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The Bedford Incident / int_93deab19	type	Ominous Fog
The Bedford Incident / int_93deab19	comment	Ominous Fog: The dangerous, slow-speed chase through the iceberg field is made even more tense by the Ominous Fog impairing visibility.
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The Bedford Incident / int_95265081	type	Leeroy Jenkins
The Bedford Incident / int_95265081	comment	Leeroy Jenkins: Finlander decides to force the Russian sub to surface even after he's ordered by Washington merely to observe. Later, after he does get permission to force the sub to surface but at a time the sub has left for international waters, Finlander keeps up the chase.
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The Bedford Incident / int_957e5fc2	type	Villainous Breakdown
The Bedford Incident / int_957e5fc2	comment	Villainous Breakdown: Finlander gives the standard evasive orders ("Right full rudder!") after the report of incoming torpedoes, but after that walks off the bridge in a daze. Munceford chases after him and is still screaming at Finlander to do something to save them when the torpedoes hit and the Bedford is vaporized in a nuclear blast.
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The Bedford Incident / int_97fa0a10	type	Mass "Oh, Crap!"
The Bedford Incident / int_97fa0a10	comment	Mass "Oh, Crap!": We get a rapid montage of everyone's horrified reactions when Ralston accidentally launches a torpedo.
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The Bedford Incident / int_984ef9ef	type	"Not So Different" Remark
The Bedford Incident / int_984ef9ef	comment	"Not So Different" Remark: It's commented that Schrepke, a former U-Boat commander, has more sympathy with the Soviet submarine crew than the Americans he's working with. After Finlander gives a Rousing Speech, Munceford tries to suggest that he's A Nazi by Any Other Name, but Schrepke doesn't rise to the bait.
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The Bedford Incident / int_aaece264	type	Rousing Speech
The Bedford Incident / int_aaece264	comment	After Finlander gives a Rousing Speech, Munceford tries to suggest that he's A Nazi by Any Other Name, but Schrepke doesn't rise to the bait.
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The Bedford Incident / int_af4d6174	type	Setting Update
The Bedford Incident / int_af4d6174	comment	Setting Update: It's a loose adaptation of Moby-Dick, except that instead of chasing a whale, Finlander is chasing a Russian submarine.
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The Bedford Incident / int_bca381d8	type	Off the Record
The Bedford Incident / int_bca381d8	comment	Off the Record: Munceford uses this exact phrase when trying to get Schrepke to say what he really thinks about Finlander. It doesn't work.
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The Bedford Incident / int_bf609406	type	New Meat
The Bedford Incident / int_bf609406	comment	New Meat: Ensign Ralston. Finlander takes an irrational dislike to Ralston, and decides he needs to take the handsome young officer straight out of the Naval Academy down a few pegs. He goes way overboard, rendering Ralston into something like a whipped dog, which leads to total destruction.
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The Bedford Incident / int_c621dd28	type	Silent Running Mode
The Bedford Incident / int_c621dd28	comment	Silent Running Mode: Finlander gives the "Rig for silent ship" order when chasing the submarine into the iceberg field, after the submarine itself has gone quiet.
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The Bedford Incident / int_d99d9918	type	The Captain
The Bedford Incident / int_d99d9918	comment	The Captain: A negative example. Finlander is definitely the man in charge. He has molded a crew so devoted to him that Lt. Commander Potter has nothing to do in sickbay because no one ever reports sick. But his relentless fanaticism pushes the men past their limits. Seaman Queffle, the sonar man, is worked so hard at his post that he has a physical breakdown. And Finlander's relentless bullying of Ensign Ralston leads to catastrophe when Ralston, broken down by Finlander's bullying, mistakes a comment for an order.
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The Bedford Incident / int_e567510d	type	Determinator
The Bedford Incident / int_e567510d	comment	Determinator: Finlander will not let that Russian sub get away. He will pursue it into international waters. He'll even cruise so close to it that the Bedford bumps into the sub's snorkel. This fanaticism leads to disaster.
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The Bedford Incident / int_ed05cfee	type	NaÃ¯ve Newcomer
The Bedford Incident / int_ed05cfee	comment	Naïve Newcomer: Munceford the civilian reporter, who as the Audience Surrogate asks a lot of questions about what's going on.
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The Bedford Incident / int_ef85d7e5	type	Repeat to Confirm
The Bedford Incident / int_ef85d7e5	comment	Repeat to Confirm: Finlander, who is arguing with Schrepke in a super-tense moment, says he won't back down even if the Russian shoots, screaming "If he fires one, then I'll fire one!". A jittery Ensign Ralston, by this point terrified of questioning Finlander in any way, mishears "Fire one!" as an order. He repeats "Fire one!" and fires off a torpedo. This results in both ships being destroyed and everybody being killed.
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The Bedford Incident / int_f97ab6a5	type	Suicidal Overconfidence
The Bedford Incident / int_f97ab6a5	comment	Suicidal Overconfidence: Finlander doesn't take his Russian opponent seriously, chasing it through the iceberg field, sideswiping its snorkel, backing the Russian captain into a corner even as Schrepke warns that a cornered animal will fight back. It leads to the destruction of his ship.
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The Bedford Incident / int_fa2f60f1	type	Vehicle Title
The Bedford Incident / int_fa2f60f1	comment	Vehicle Title: The Bedford Incident
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The Bedford Incident / int_ff7f34c5	type	Pet the Dog
The Bedford Incident / int_ff7f34c5	comment	Pet the Dog: Finlander is a pretty nuanced character, even if he's ultimately a fanatical bully who gets his ship destroyed. He earnestly likes Queffle the radarman and Commander Allison, even if the latter doesn't reciprocate. He also backs down somewhat during the final confrontation, assuring Munceford that he won't attack the Russian sub unless it attacks first.
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The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

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The Bedford Incident	hasFeature	Mad Lib Thriller Title / int_b18f25f7
The Bedford Incident	hasFeature	Moby Schtick / int_b18f25f7
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