Director: Frank Lloyd
Production Company: Metro Golwyn Mayer
Leads: Clark Gable, Charles Laughton, Franchot Tone
Production Company: Metro Golwyn Mayer
Leads: Clark Gable, Charles Laughton, Franchot Tone
“Discipline is the thing. A seaman's a seaman. A captain's a captain. A midshipman...is the lowest form of animal life in the British Navy.” - Capt William Bligh
Setting
The Plot
We follow the crew of the HMS Bounty on its mission to collect Bread Fruit from Tahiti to plant in the West Indies. Commencing with the formation of the crew through to the mutiny itself and the subsequent events, we see it mainly from the point of view of the crew.
The Review
We’re introduced to the film the way it ends, with a rousing patriotic rendition of Rule Britannia. Under the regime of Captain Bligh (Laughton), the crew sustain abuse and cruel unprovoked punishment until enough of them stand up to him under the leadership of Fletcher Christian (Gable) and send him on his merry way. The film shows (with all my experience of life aboard 18th-century sailing ships) a genuine portrayal of life at sea at that time, and the ocean scenes were very convincingly shot. They chose to shoot the Tahitian scenes in Tahiti rather than a set so we got to see real scenery and experience some local flavour as well. This is based on a book that was based on a true story so naturally some facts were lost along the way in the name of entertainment rendering it quite inaccurate historically. This period was a turning point of “a new understanding between officers and men” no small thanks to Byam (Tone) for his courageous speech at the trial. The tagline "A Thousand Hours of Hell For One Moment of Love" was a confusing choice since the romantic aspect was such a small part of the storyline!
It took longer than I expected for the mutiny to commence, perhaps to really hammer home the reason for the mutiny without the audience labelling them as anarchists...but how much convincing did a 1930s crowd really need? Still, the film was engaging throughout and gave us a chance to really get to know the characters and sympathise with most of them. We did not get a chance to get inside the head of Captain Bligh, which made the film one-sided and most audiences would side with the oppressed on their own without being forced towards one point of view. It was a very enjoyable film, though it would have been nice to add what became of Christian and the other settlers after they began life on their new home. Despite winning the Best Picture Oscar® of 1936, someone thought they could do it better come 1962 with a remake starring Marlon Brando...they did come close with a nomination, which is not a bad result for a remake so I might have to check it out!
It took longer than I expected for the mutiny to commence, perhaps to really hammer home the reason for the mutiny without the audience labelling them as anarchists...but how much convincing did a 1930s crowd really need? Still, the film was engaging throughout and gave us a chance to really get to know the characters and sympathise with most of them. We did not get a chance to get inside the head of Captain Bligh, which made the film one-sided and most audiences would side with the oppressed on their own without being forced towards one point of view. It was a very enjoyable film, though it would have been nice to add what became of Christian and the other settlers after they began life on their new home. Despite winning the Best Picture Oscar® of 1936, someone thought they could do it better come 1962 with a remake starring Marlon Brando...they did come close with a nomination, which is not a bad result for a remake so I might have to check it out!
The Slap
This goes to Captain Bligh for his disgusting way of treating his crew, a very naughty man indeed.
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