Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

Purely Joyful Movie!

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

I admit to not being that familiar with many of Clark Gable's movies except of course "Gone With The Wind". It was weird how I didn't even recognize him at first. That's actually probably a good thing seeing as how an actor should be used to different kinds of performances. With Oscar Month on TCM, they had to feature this. This is based on a true story which I had in fact heard of. I think the only bad thing about this movie is that it is a little too long. Of course, when telling a story based on true events you really do need all the time you can get. I was kind of turned off by the idea of a whole movie taking place on a ship.That's why I was rather pleasantly surprised to see that it also took place on an island. I really do love the atmosphere this creates. Everything comes off as so authentic and you really just get a great sense of fun with these parts. I was kind of surprised at how violent this movie got. This actually showed some pretty graphic depiction of blood, a rarity back then. I still love how we focus on everyone's individual stories. As a history buff, it's always nice to learn more about significant historical events and I don't recall this from history class. Clark Gable was against being in a movie without romance although some of the crew men has some cute little relationships with the natives. ***1/2

Based on a famous incident in the history of British Navy, Mutiny on the Bounty is the cinematic representation of the famous mutiny against Captain Bligh led by Fletcher Christian. It has brilliant production values. Without any special effects, it nicely develops the feeling of the extremely exhausting and troublesome journey. From the beginning, it develops the sparks of the revolt. It nicely shows how all the small incidents and different thinking led to such a big revolt.The most and possibly only notable flaw with the film is its historical accuracy. Being a mainstream film, the characterization is binary. Captain Bligh is painted as antagonist and every action of Fletcher Christian is glorified in the film. The film has been made from the perspective of mutineers, considering this there isn't any big flaw in this film. However, I felt the role of Charles Laughton is not utilized properly.Apart from that I liked editing and entire production. The film stands tall when it comes to performances. The heat between Bligh and Christian is quite amusing to see. Charles Laughton is fantastic once again with his brilliant ascent. He brilliantly portrayed ruthless and inhuman actions of Bligh at the same time his character is a great seaman. On the other hand, it was quite an experience to see Clark Gable at his peak. His character is a good combination of a wise gentleman and an angry young man. Franchot Tone was also good. Movie has good dialogues and some fine monologues.Apart from being little partial towards a few things, It is a great adventure film.

We follow the crew of the HMS Bounty on its mission to collect Bread Fruit from Tahiti to plant in the West Indies. Commencing with the formation of the crew through to the mutiny itself and the subsequent events, we see it mainly from the point of view of the crew.We're introduced to the film the way it ends, with a rousing patriotic rendition of Rule Britannia. Under the regime of Captain Bligh (Laughton), the crew sustain abuse and cruel unprovoked punishment until enough of them stand up to him under the leadership of Fletcher Christian (Gable) and send him on his merry way. The film shows (with all my experience of life aboard 18th-century sailing ships) a genuine portrayal of life at sea at that time, and the ocean scenes were very convincingly shot. They chose to shoot the Tahitian scenes in Tahiti rather than a set so we got to see real scenery and experience some local flavour as well. This is based on a book that was based on a true story so naturally some facts were lost along the way in the name of entertainment rendering it quite inaccurate historically. This period was a turning point of "a new understanding between officers and men" no small thanks to Byam (Tone) for his courageous speech at the trial. The tagline "A Thousand Hours of Hell For One Moment of Love" was a confusing choice since the romantic aspect was such a small part of the storyline! It took longer than I expected for the mutiny to commence, perhaps to really hammer home the reason for the mutiny without the audience labelling them as anarchists...but how much convincing did a 1930s crowd really need? Still, the film was engaging throughout and gave us a chance to really get to know the characters and sympathise with most of them. We did not get a chance to get inside the head of Captain Bligh, which made the film one-sided and most audiences would side with the oppressed on their own without being forced towards one point of view. It was a very enjoyable film, though it would have been nice to add what became of Christian and the other settlers after they began life on their new home. Despite winning the Best Picture Oscar® of 1936, someone thought they could do it better come 1962 with a remake starring Marlon Brando...they did come close with a nomination, which is not a bad result for a remake so I might have to check it out!

No wonder this won the Oscar for best picture of 1935. This was a far superior version than the remake of 1962.This version produced 3 actors being nominated for best actor. Charles Laughton stole the film with his venomous performance as Captain Bligh. He was truly the embodiment of evil. He really gave cruelty a new meaning as well as interpretation here. As his assistant, who would ultimately lead the mutiny, Clark Gable was most impressive here. Despite his one scene, why was Franchot Tone nominated for best actor? Of course, in 1935, they didn't have the supporting categories.This terrific film shows what men will do to fight tyranny, no matter where it is. It is really an indictment of military life in the 1700s.