Few historical events have been as interesting to filmmakers as the 1787 Mutiny on the H.M.S. Bounty, which began 226 years ago this week. The story highlights the relationship between men and officers and how tenuous that can be. And even if it all involved British men at sea, it seems like an American idea of liberating oneself from oppressive authority.
That's probably why MGM pumped money into not one, but two different versions of the story. The two films, made nearly three decades apart, could not be more different from one another. Each act as windows into how Hollywood worked at the time. The first was made at the height of the Studio System, while the other was one of the reasons for its destruction.
Frank Lloyd's 1935 film Mutiny of the Bounty was made at a time when MGM was at the height of its success. Irving G. Thalberg already produced once Best Picture Oscar winner (The Broadway Melody of 1929) and continued to oversee the studio's stable of stars grow with Louis B. Mayer's approval. Thalberg was given the green light to make Bounty, which used Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall's novel as its foundation, with a then-astronomical $2 million budget. This allowed him to get Lloyd (who directed Fox's first Best Picture winner Cavalcade) to direct and Charles Laughton to star as the vile Captain Bligh. Franchot Tone was also brought over from Warner Bros. But the starring role of Fletcher Christian went to MGM's biggest star, Clark Gable.
Bounty is the first blockbuster adventure movie to win Best Picture. The story begins in 1787, with the Bounty leaving England for a two-year voyage to Tahiti for breadfruit, which would then be used as cheap food for slaves. But of course, that mission was never accomplished. And audiences knew that heading in. Not only does the title give it away, but MGM also included a text forward before the film that spoils the ending.
That makes it even more remarkable that the film was so beloved. All these years later, the film's incredible acting, breakneck pacing and on-location photography have made the '35 Bounty still an engrossing experience. We know Christian is going to break and call for the mutiny, but you can't get enough of the duel between Gable and Laughton. Here's two giants of the film world – for very different reasons – going head-to-head. Tone is also an excellent performer and one of the era's forgotten leading men.
While the 1935 should have been the final cinematic stamp on the H.M.S. Bounty story, it was not. In 1962, MGM and producer Aaron Rosenberg decided to make a roadshow version, lasting just over three hours. Marlon Brando was picked to play Christian, a move that would prove disastrous for the production. Carol Reed (The Third Man, Oliver!) was first hired to direct, but was then fired. Lewis Milestone, who made All Quiet On The Western Front 32 years earlier, was then picked as the replacement, but Brando effectively took control of the film. Production got delayed and the budget skyrocketed to $19 million.
The final product is an over-long mess. It lacks any stylistic flourishes from a director, who could have probably got a more fiery performance out of Trevor Howard, who plays Bligh with far more restrain than Laughton. Tone's part from the '35 film is nearly nonexistent, as the other officers on the ship are turned into nondescript background characters.
Brando is captured at the beginning of his rather strange '60s period, when his choices got stranger and stranger. Here, he actually tries a British accent as Christian, something Gable didn't even attempt. And he plays the “fop” aspect of the character to the hilt, almost stripping the character of the pure masculinity that Gable brought to the role. By the time the film has passed the two-hour mark, the audience is right with Richard Harris (who plays seaman John Mills). Come on, just lead the mutiny already!
By the end of the '62 film, it becomes more obvious that it is just a vanity project that serves no real purpose. The '35 film is the definitive take on the story, even if it has countless historical errors for dramatic purposes. However, the two films (and other adaptations) prove that the story, which did result in serious changes in ship regulations when it comes to the relationship between officers and their men, is more timeless than we think.
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