Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)

I've now seen the three major films of Mutiny on the Bounty and like them all equally. Simple but powerful in its character conflicts, it's evidently hard to botch. Lewis Milestone's 1962 epic is more famous for its difficult production than its merits, but it's a solid take on this classic story.

Aristocratic sailor Fletcher Christian (Marlon Brando) signs on as first mate to the HMS Bounty, a vessel traveling to Tahiti for a shipment of breadfruit. He immediately butts heads with Captain William Bligh (Trevor Howard), a martinet unafraid to mete out harsh punishments for trivial offenses. An interlude in Tahiti is pleasurible for the crew but botanist William Brown (Richard Haydn) finds the breadfruits going dormant. The return voyage is a nightmare, with Bligh increasingly cruel as he struggles to keep the plants alive. Christian at first tries to restrain the crew, especially troublemaker John Mills (Richard Harris), but the deaths of several sailors pushes him over the edge.

All the Bounty films had nightmarish productions and this one's no different. Besides logstical problems with location shooting, the model ship and new Ultra Panavision 70 cameras, Bounty '62 had Marlon Brando, his legendary ego in full flower. Brando went berserk on set, constantly demanding rewrites, a then-unheard of $1,000,000 salary, bullying cast and crew and generally acting like Marlon Brando. Director Carol Reed was fired and replaced by journeyman Lewis Milestone (All Quiet on the Western Front). Bounty flopped big time, and Brando possibly regretted passing on Lawrence of Arabia.

Mutiny on the Bounty is very much an early '60s epic, mixing epic scope with character dilemmas. Charles Lederer's literate script recasts the Bligh-Christian struggle as a class conflict: proletariat Bligh resents the foppish Christian from the beginning. The film has a well-rounded cast but simplifies its drama: duty-obsessed Bligh is more than happy to sacrifice a few crewmen to deliver his cargo of breadfruit. Righteous Christian restrains his fury until Bligh goes too far. Unlike other versions, this Bounty dwells on the exiled crew's fate on Pitcarin, with Bligh's amazing voyage to Timor scarcely touched upon.

For spectacle Bounty '62 is easily the best telling. Robert L. Surtee's's Panavision photography is astonishing, with gorgeous Tahitian locations and stirring seagoing scenes. The story lacks conventional action but the tropical vistas and well-staged storm sequences are compelling enough; only the climactic fire seems a bit phony. There's also a brilliant score by Bronislau Kaper.

Marlon Brando's bizarre accent takes some adjustment but his performance is fine. Trevor Howard is even better, his Bligh low-key but oozing slow-burning fury that occasionally boils over. When Howard exits the air goes out of the film. Richard Harris gets a meaty part a year before hitting it big in This Sporting Life. Richard Haydn (Young Frankenstein), Hugh Griffith (How to Steal a Million) and Percy Herbert (Bridge on the River Kwai) have notable supporting roles. Love interest Tarita later became the 3rd Mrs. Brando; number two was Movita, star of the '35 Mutiny.

Mutiny on the Bounty is a solid reworking of a familiar tale. Hopefully I'll get to revisit The Bounty (1984) soon.