Mutiny on the Bounty

11/8/19623h 5m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ The mightiest excitement that ever swept across the sea or the screen! ~

Overview:

The Bounty leaves Portsmouth in 1787. Its destination: to sail to Tahiti and load bread-fruit. Captain Bligh will do anything to get there as fast as possible, using any means to keep up a strict discipline. When they arrive at Tahiti, it is like a paradise for the crew, something completely different than the living hell aboard the ship. On the way back to England, officer Fletcher Christian becomes the leader of a mutiny.

Director:

Lewis Milestone

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$19,000,000.00

Revenue:

$13,680,000.00

Key words:

exotic island
mutiny
captain
heart-throb
tahiti
import
18th century
high seas
mutiny on the bounty

Cast

Marlon Brando

~ as ~

First Lieutnant Fletcher Christian

Trevor Howard

~ as ~

Capt. William Bligh

Richard Harris

~ as ~

Seaman John Mills

Hugh Griffith

~ as ~

Alexander Smith

Richard Haydn

~ as ~

William Brown

Percy Herbert

~ as ~

Matthew Quintal

Gordon Jackson

~ as ~

Seaman Edward Birkett

Chips Rafferty

~ as ~

Michael Byrne

Noel Purcell

~ as ~

Seaman William McCoy

Eddie Byrne

~ as ~

John Fryer

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 11 month(s) ago
7
For me, this was never going to be better than the Laughton/Gable version from 1935, but despite the rather hammily over-cooked effort from Marlon Brando, it does make for a decent enough version of the story of HMS "Bounty". It's a small ship with a big task. Sail round the world to Tahiti and procure some breadfruit trees then take them to the Caribbean for use a fodder for the slaves. Right from the outset, we realise that Captain Bligh (Trevor Howard) is not a man to mess with. He is a brutal authoritarian who punishes the slightest of misdemeanours from his crew mercilessly. As the voyage proceeds, fresh water runs short and the food starts to move about the plate by itself, the men turn to Lt. Christian (Brando) for some sort of relief. The two officers are pretty much at odds from the start with the flamboyant subordinate quite a contrast to the ship's more hardened master. It's their arrival on the island that finally causes the men to reach breaking point and for Christian to execute the unthinkable in maritime law. The story is history, so we now what happens as Howard turns in a remarkably convincing effort - his deep and gravelly voice helps too - as the commander who would rather water the trees than his men. Richard Harris, Hugh Griffith and a face of recognisable Britons pad out the crew effectively and the aesthetics of the production, especially at sea, are powerfully illustrative of the dangers to the sailors of the sea and their taskmaster. It does fall away a little towards the Pitcairn aspects of the story, and I just didn't love Brando's accent/overly theatrical effort - but is still well worth a watch.