Mutiny on the Bounty ***** (1935, Charles Laughton, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone, Movita Castaneda) – Classic Movie Review 2350

‘This is mutiny, Mr Christian. Clear the decks of this rabble!’ MGM’s 1935 classic sea-faring adventure film Mutiny on the Bounty triumphed by winning the Oscar for Best Film and was a huge box office success.

‘This is mutiny, Mr Christian. Clear the decks of this rabble!’

Director Frank Lloyd’s 1935 MGM classic sea-faring adventure Mutiny on the Bounty triumphed by winning the Oscar for Best Film and was a huge box office success. Clark Gable stars as the charismatic Fletcher Christian, who leads a band of mutineers in a plot to take over control of the British naval frigate HMS Bounty from its ruthless, sadistic Captain William Bligh. Upstaging Gable, Charles Laughton memorably plays Bligh in this definitive vintage swashbuckler.

The Bounty is on a scientific voyage from Tahiti to the West Indies in 1789. Bligh proves to be a brutal tyrant and, after six pleasant months on Tahiti, Fletcher Christian successfully leads the crew to revolt against Captain Bligh on the Bounty on the homeward voyage. But Bligh returns a year later, hell bent on avenging his captors.

The blustering, self-loathing commander Laughton and the handsome, dashing rebel Gable give memorable, career-peak contrasting performances in easily the best of the three versions of the tale. It was reworked in 1962 as Mutiny on the Bounty with Marlon Brando and again as The Bounty in 1985 with Mel Gibson.

Made with all of the talent, money and technical skill that the MGM studio could lavish on it, this Best Film Oscar-winner is an all-time great classic adventure movie and still easily one of Hollywood’s greatest examples of stirring film-making. Though naturally a little bit faded and old-fashioned-seeming nowadays, it remains the most gripping entertainment.

Franchot Tone also stars as Midshipman Roger Byam, who joins Bligh and Christian aboard the HMS Bounty for the voyage to Tahiti. Even though Byam takes no part in the mutiny, he eventually has to try to defend himself against charges that he supported Christian. 

James Cagney, David Niven and Dick Haymes appear as extras. Cagney was sailing his boat near the shoot by Catalina Island when his friend Frank Lloyd asked him if he would play a small part. Lloyd had Cagney dressed in a crewman’s clothes and put him in the background of a few scenes.

Fletcher Christian (Clark Gable).

The screenplay by Talbot Jennings, Jules Furthman and Carey Wilson is based on the books Mutiny on the Bounty (the 1932 novel) and Men Against the Sea by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall. It fictionalises the real events for entertainment value, so don’t look for historical accuracy.

It was the highest-grossing film of 1935 and one of MGM’s biggest hits of the 1930s. It received eight Oscar nominations at the 8th Academy Awards but only won Best Picture. It is the last Best Picture winner to win in no other category (after The Broadway Melody and Grand Hotel). It is the only film to have three Best Actor nominations, resulting in the Best Supporting Actor category at the next year’s Oscars.

Co-star Movita Castaneda, who plays Tehani, died on February 12 2015, aged 98. She was the second of Marlon Brando’s three wives, and also appeared as Guadalupe in Fort Apache in 1948 opposite John Wayne.

Also in the cast are Dudley Digges, Henry Stephenson, Donald Crisp, Herbert Mundin, Eddie Quillan, Spring Byington, Ian Wolfe, Francis Lister, Mamo Clark, Ivan Simpson, Wallis Clark, Vernon Downing, Percy Warram, John Harrington, DeWitt Jennings, Stanley Fields, David Torrence, Doris Lloyd, Mary Gordon, Eric Wilton and Lionel Belmore.

Captain Bligh (Charles Laughton) is set adrift by Fletcher Christian (Clark Gable).

In fact Captain Bligh was never on board HMS Pandora nor was he present at the trial of the mutineers who stayed on Tahiti. He was half way around the world on a second voyage for breadfruit plants.

If Captain Bligh is blustering, self-loathing, Charles Laughton was also suffering self-loathing over his weight and unattractive looks, and worrying about his masculinity.

Clark Gable reluctantly agreed to shave off his moustache because the sailors in the Royal Navy in the 18th century had to be clean-shaven. This was obviously done for historical accuracy, but what did it matter when the movie contains so many historical inaccuracies?

The fictional Midshipman Roger Byam is based on the real Midshipman Peter Heywood, who was pardoned for his part in the mutiny just as  Byam is at the end of the film.

Locations include French Polynesia, MGM Studios, 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California; Monterey Bay, Monterey, California; Monterey Harbor, Monterey, California; Sailing Ship Restaurant, Pier 42, The Embarcadero, San Francisco, California (ship “Ellen” as “The Bounty”); San Miguel Island, California; Santa Barbara Channel, Channel Islands, California; Santa Catalina Island, Channel Islands, California; South Beach Harbor, South Beach, San Francisco, California, USA (ship “Ellen” as “The Bounty”); South Pacific, Pacific Ocean; Tahiti, French Polynesia.

It cost $1,950,000, and earned $2,250,000 in the US and Canada and $2,210,000 elsewhere, for a profit of $909,000.

The cast are Charles Laughton as Captain Bligh, Clark Gable as Fletcher Christian, Franchot Tone as Midshipman Roger Byam, Herbert Mundin as Smith, Eddie Quillan as Ellison, Dudley Digges as Bacchus, Donald Crisp as Burkitt, Henry Stephenson as Sir Joseph Banks, Francis Lister as Captain Nelson, Spring Byington as Mrs. Byam, Movita Castaneda as Tehani, Mamo Clark as Maimiti, Byron Russell as Quintal, David Torrence as Lord Hood, John Harrington as Mr. Purcell, Douglas Walton as Stewart, Ian Wolfe as Maggs, DeWitt Jennings as Fryer, Ivan F. Simpson as Morgan, Vernon Downing as Hayward, Bill Bambridge as Hitihiti, Marion Clayton as Mary Ellison, Stanley Fields as Muspratt, Wallis Clark as Morrison, Crauford Kent as Lt. Edwards, Pat Flaherty as Churchill, Alec Craig as McCoy, Hal LeSueur as Millard, Harry Allen as Wherryman, Dick Winslow as Tinkler, and Charles Irwin as Thompson.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2350

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