If ever there was a historical movie that bears little to no historical fact, it is Mutiny on the Bounty, a film based on several sources including two novels, historical records, testimonials from the living descendants of those involved, and the memoirs of the infamous Captain Bligh himself. Yet with all of this, much of the truth has been expunged and replaced with a very one-sided narration that does a great disservice to the reputation of Captain Bligh and any descendants he may have had. While there is no doubt he was a stern disciplinarian, there is no evidence that he was any worse than his contemporaries. Many of the atrocities depicted in the film simply did not happen. Yet this depiction of him as a tyrant exists to the present day in large part due to this film and the many remakes that followed. In fact, while this is the most famous version of the story it is the third telling of it. While historians may take offense to this, moviegoers in general did not and Mutiny on the Bounty became a huge hit when it released in theaters in 1935 and cemented its status as one of the great films of the time when it received a whopping 8 Academy Award nominations, winning just the one for Best Picture.
The bulk of the story comes from two novels co-written by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall. The first of these novels, Mutiny on the Bounty, tells the story of the actual mutiny as well as the aftermath of several of the sailors who didn’t participate in it but remained on board the Bounty after the captain and his loyal followers were sent off. The second novel, Men Against the Sea, deals primarily with Captain Bligh and the eighteen men who were set adrift by the mutineers. It focuses on their journey as well as a lengthy flashback. The third novel tells the tale of where the Bounty ended up and the fates of the mutineers many years later. This story, interesting as it is, didn’t fit into the narrative of a feature film and was best left out of it, with the events of it only hinted at in the final moments of the film. The final film uses the plot points of the first two novels and blends them together chronologically making it into a single plot that actually works better than being divided the way the books are. This structure would continue to be used in the subsequent remakes. Bits from the third novel were utilized for a planned sequel entitled Christian of the Bounty but that film never materialized.
The year is 1787 and William Bligh (Charles Laughton) commands the Royal Naval vessel HMS Bounty. As the ship is preparing to set sail men are rounded up and pressed into service, many of whom are prisoners given the choice of jail or service on board. Others are press ganged out of a local pub, conscripted to service for a two year voyage across the Pacific to transport breadfruit from the Polynesian islands to Jamaica. Fletcher Christian (Clark Gable), the ship’s executive officer, is a strong presence on board the Bounty but is also a compassionate man, something Bligh lacks. He disapproves of Bligh’s excessive punishment of the men, especially after certain punishments lead to death amongst the crew. Tensions mount between the two men when Christian openly challenges Bligh for his unjust practices on board the ship. As punishment, Bligh refuses to allow Christian to leave the ship while stopped at Tahiti to acquire the breadfruit plants.
Eventually the sheer brutality of Bligh’s actions prove to be too much and Christian leads an outright mutiny against the captain and any of his loyal officers. Roger Byam (Franchot Tone), a midshipman and friend of Christians, is torn between his friendship and his loyalty to Bligh based on his family’s long naval tradition. He refuses to participate in the mutiny but also stays onboard the Bounty when the captain and his followers are put off the ship. Their disagreement over the mutiny effectively ends their friendship. The Bounty returns to Tahiti where Christian and Byam eventually marry two of the native women. Later, Bligh, having survived and made his way back to land, returns to Tahiti in search of the mutineers. Byam refuses to flee with the others and turns himself in, counting on his innocence of the charge of mutiny to protect himself from prison or the noose. Meanwhile, Christian and most of the other mutineers set sail away from the island, their wives in tow, with the intent on disappearing from the Royal Navy and starting a new life undisturbed.
It is really quite impressive looking at the production work done on this film. Director Frank Lloyd wanted to film this movie on location in Tahiti, going so far as to insist on it in his demands when he took the rights to MGM. He also wanted to star in it but MGM chief Irving Thalberg only agreed to allow him directorial duties. The final results incorporated some second unit photography in Tahiti but most everything else was filmed around San Miguel and Santa Catalina Islands off the coast of California. Doing so allowed the production to save money and still provide the film a believable Pacific Island setting. It also allowed the studios to keep a closer eye on the production than they otherwise would have had the crew actually been in Tahiti. Few, at the time of the film’s release, would be able to tell the difference between the real Tahiti and the one portrayed in the movie and thus money could be better utilized elsewhere, such as realistically portraying a naval ship in the open waters.
Clark Gable, still a few years shy of arguably his most famous role as Rhett Butler, almost refused to appear in Mutiny on the Bounty for one very small reason. The role required him to shave off his trademark mustache. Gable, much like latin actor Caesar Romero, viewed his mustache as a major part of his personal persona and didn’t want to dispense with it. Frank Lloyd rightfully insisted, pointing out that Royal Navy officers at the time would have been prohibited from any facial hair, including that pencil thin mustache Gable always wore. Ultimately the role was just too good to turn down and he lost the mustache. As soon as filming wrapped he immediately grew it back for his following film, the romantic comedy Wife vs. Secretary co-starring Jean Harlow and Myrna Loy.
If Clark Gable worried that a clean shaven face would jeopardize his image or box-office appeal, he needn’t have bothered. He’s just as good without his mustache as he was with it. His portrayal of Fletcher Christian is excellent, slowly building up discontent with his superior officer over the course of the first eighty minutes of the film, finally culminating in a breaking point where he just cannot stand by any longer. It’s telling about his character that even when the crew are getting more and more upset with their commanders they never turn that frustration on Christian. He occasionally has to discipline the men, too, but his discipline is fair and comparable to the transgression. Captain Bligh, on the other hand, is seen to order harsh, sometimes deadly, punishment for even minor issues, keelhauling a man for stopping his work to ask for some water. When Bligh first boards the Bounty he orders a significant amount of lashings to a man who turns out to be dead already from his earlier beatings. Bligh insists the new lashings should be done, anyway, his way of trying to instill fear in his crew. Instead, it builds resentment and hatred.
Much has been written about Charles Laughton in this role, especially with regard to his own perceptions of himself. Charles was very self conscious of his physical appearance and that became a stress point for him when working side by side with Clark Gable. It forced him at times to be very aware of his own movements to avoid projecting these perceived inadequacies. One way he combatted this was to be very hands on with his wardrobe, utilizing original transaction records the actual Bligh had used to verify materials and sizes to replicate as best as possible the actual uniforms Bligh wore. By doing so it helped in his performance and gave him a bit of a confidence boost. It evidently helped because he ended up splitting the Best Actor nomination with both of his co-stars, Gable and Tone. It’s possible that by splitting the nomination like this it split the votes, too, insuring none of them would win it. Instead, Victor McLaglen would take home the statue for his role in The Informer. Without knowing the counts we will never know for sure how it would have turned out otherwise and by the following year a Best Supporting Actor award was added to the annual ceremony to help prevent this from ever happening again.
Mutiny on the Bounty is one of those films that has endured throughout the decades, in no small part due to the amazing production and acting. It’s shocking that it only won the one Oscar, especially when looking more closely at the films that beat it, many of which have mostly gone forgotten to the masses. Bounty has everything to keep it rousing and exciting even to modern audiences and the visuals are still stunning to watch even ninety years later. Everything just works in this picture and it stands out as a beacon to the best that the golden age of Hollywood has to offer.
Academy Award Nominations:
Best Picture: Irving Thalberg and Frank Lloyd (won)
Best Director: Frank Lloyd
Best Actor: Clark Gable
Best Actor: Charles Laughton
Best Actor: Franchot Tone
Best Writing, Screenplay: Jules Furthman, Talbot Jennings and Carey Wilson
Best Film Editing: Margaret Booth
Best Music, Scoring: Nat W. Finston and Herbert Stothart. (Walter Jurmann uncredited)
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Release Date: November 8, 1935
Running Time: 132 Minutes
Not Rated
Starring: Charles Laughton, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone, Movita Castaneda, Mamo Clark
Directed By: Frank Lloyd
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