Frank Lloyd's Mutiny of the Bounty (1935) has stood the test of time. Despite two remakes - a ponderous 1962 epic with Trevor Howard and Marlon Brando, and The Bounty (1984), a restrained adaptation with Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson - it remains the definitive telling of the HMS Bounty, Captain Bligh, Fletcher Christian, and their travails. As a rollicking period adventure film, it has few equals, and has held up remarkably well over the past seventy-four years.
1787. HMS Bounty has been ordered by the Crown to travel to Tahiti and pick up a shipment of breadfruit, which will provide cheap fodder for the slaves in England's Caribbean colonies. The ship is captained by Captain William Bligh (Charles Laughton), a cruel, tyrannical martinet who rules his ship with an iron fist. His first mate is Fletcher Christian (Clark Gable), the noble, humanist, who almost immediately clashes with Bligh. Caught in between the two is Lieutenant Byam (Franchot Tone), who likes Christian and dislikes Bligh, but is reluctant. Things come to a head with the ship reaches Tahiti, whose sun-splashed treasures - and willing women - provide an immediate falling out between Bligh and his crew. On the return voyage, Christian leads the crew in a mutiny, leaving Bligh and his loyal officers adrift in a small dinghy - and themselves stranded on Tahiti.
If there's any major criticism to be made of Mutiny, it is the simplification of the story and conflicts involved. Historians and biographers have shown that the reasons for the mutiny are more complex, that Bligh wasn't that bad (at least by standards of the time), and Christian was far from a saint. But Hollywood has never let facts get in the way of a good story (heck, even a bad one), and although the film's noble, humanist Christian and tyrannical Bligh may be lacking in depth or complexity, they are certainly well-portrayed as elemental forces of good and evil squaring off.
Like Billy Budd, the film serves as a condemnation of the Royal Navy's cruel 18th Century life. Early on we see sailors being gang-pressed into service; the ship's company, predictably, is filled with criminals and thieves, along with some fairly ordinary fellows - all cannon fodder for His Majesty's Navy. The humanist Christian finds this disgusting, as any forward-thinking modern gentleman would. The movie doesn't extend even a tiny bit of sympathy or understanding towards Bligh; even though the Admiralty Court at film's end expresses disgust with him, he's the clearest embodiment of a cruel, wretched system. Is it any wonder that these likeable, wrongly-impressed and brutally-treated chaps are turned on by the allure of tropical Tahiti? A few months under the lash of Captain Bligh would clearly turn anyone into a mutineer.
Still, the film is primarily a rip-roaring adventure movie, and in this aspect. Director Frank Lloyd shows a flair for spectacle and action scenes; the shots of the replica Bounty at sea are constantly gorgeous, as is the location shooting in Tahiti - beautiful even in black-and-white. That the film has hardly dated int his respect is a remarkable achievement in and of itself; there's rarely a dull moment and the film is consistently entertaining, moving at a perfect clip. Margaret Booth's editing is quite striking, particularly in the montage of the mutiny itself. Herbert Stothart contributes a wonderfully rousing score that fits the film perfectly.
Charles Laughton (Spartacus, Hobson's Choice) gives an excellent performance, in his most iconic role, making Bligh a blustering, cruel force of nature. Clark Gable is at his dashing, swashbuckling best; his Christian is a compelling force righteousness that we don't mind a lack of complexity and motivation. Franchot Tone gives perhaps the best performance, however; his Byam is a well-rounded and believable character, a well-meaning officer who falls squarely, and Tone invests him with passion and humanity. All three leads were nominated for Best Actor, an achievement not matched since (for obvious reasons), and it's certainly well-earned.
Mutiny on the Bounty remains an excellent piece of old-school Hollywood filmmaking. After all, no film that's being watched seventy-four years after its production can be bad, can it?
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