In the Wake of the Bounty

The fictional part of `IN THE WAKE OF THE BOUNTY' is a brief, piecemeal rendition of the typical Bounty saga; resplendent with over-acting, ludicrously stereotypical costumes and substandard directing. It adds nothing to the arcane mystique and unholiness that later versions would impress upon it (particularly Dino De Laurentis's). The scenes used for Tahiti are taken from un-used stock footage with none of the principle actors appearing in them.

What is compelling, however, is the style in which the movie is made: for the film is also a documentary on the current inhabitants of Pitcairn Island, nearly all of whom are descendants of Christian and his fellow mutineers. It is pleasantly filmed and makes for very compelling viewing: the footage painting these in-bred islanders as resourceful, unique, and resilient.

Errol Flynn's performance is subpar (thought the script doesn't give anyone much scope) and certainly gives no impression whatsoever to his international talent, although it was a scant eighteen months after 'BOUNTY that he would achieve his superstardom.

...that's a mix of poor historical reenactments and documentary footage, from writer-producer-director Charles Chauvel. A crusty old sailor tells some other crusty old sailors the story of the HMS Bounty and the mutiny, led by Fletcher Christian (Errol Flynn), against the tyrannical Captain Bligh (Mayne Lynton). The second half of the 1-hour movie is documentary footage of Pitcairn Island in contemporary (1932) times, showing the society that has evolved there descended from the mutineers and their Tahitian wives.

This picture is most notable for being Errol Flynn's movie debut, but he, like the rest of the reenactment section, is terrible, offering no hint at his future star quality. These passages are cheap looking, poorly staged, and almost comically inept. The documentary footage is excellent, though, and I especially liked the brief glimpses of what remained of the Bounty's hull at the bottom of the bay at Pitcairn. If any of this second half of the movie looks familiar, it was later bought by MGM and edited into a pair of short subjects that ran with the 1935 Mutiny On the Bounty.

I bought this 1933 picture because I was curious to see the first Errol Flynn movie role. He is playing Fletcher Christian in the historically based Bounty mutiny. He is supposed to be himself a descendant of Christian, which gives an added interest. If you expect a good adventure movie, a kind of an Australian Captain Blood, then you'll sure be disappointed. Better see the Clark Gable or Marlon Brando versions. This is more like a Flaherty documentary, although more amateurly delivered. Image quality is quite defective, specially at the beginning, and rythm is sometimes boring. Real sequences depicting places where the Bounty left its trace constitute the majority of the picture, and between them the dramatised story is now and then added (and abruptly ended). An ancient mariner (Victor Gouriet) remembers the adventure and tells it to a tavern audience. Captain Blight (Mayne Lynton) figures in only a couple of scenes, but Flynn hasn't got much more; the detailed story of the breadfruit plant is left aside. The characters are superficially approached, but this seems to be the producer's intention, giving more time to show Tahitian habits and life at Pitcairn at the time. And it's in this sense that it's worth viewing. Many descendants of the mutineers are shown, as well as community-based island life and their struggle against the wild sea. The alleged remains of the Bounty can still be seen through the clear waters in the natural bay where it lays. I guess the real adventure was in fact lived by the film crew.

Funny is to notice the fact that the picture consistently anticipates producer Charles Chauvel & wife future style, which would develop between long-feature and documentary films.

This film combines documentary, travelogue-style footage with dramatic 'reconstructions' of the mutiny on the Bounty.

Much of it is silent, ie with music only, as I recall. It's very much a primitive sound-movie, in which the director is still working with silent movie techniques, although not in any sophisticated way.

The acting in the dramatic scenes is uniformly abysmal; very 'stagey' acting even by the more experienced performers. The only interest is in seeing Errol Flynn in his first movie role. He's dreadful: very wooden delivery; as stiff as a parody of amateur theatricals, with no star presence whatsoever.

But I find it of interest for this very reason. It shows that even a superstar like Errol Flynn didn't hatch from the egg fully formed, and that however bad you are to start with, there's still hope ...

In the Wake of the Bounty (1933)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Errol Flynn made his debut in this film, which is an early version of Mutiny on the Bounty as well as a travelogue. The old sailor sits at a bar and tells the story of Fletcher Christian (Flynn) and that infamous journey where he helped lead a mutiny. This footage is told via a story but half of the film uses narration to talk about the Pitcairn Island, which is where the travelogue stuff comes from. For some strange reason it was this film, which made Warner sign Flynn, which is rather shocking because he is very wooden in his few scenes here but I guess the studio could have been going on his looks. The film contains quite a bit of female nudity from the locals on the island but these seem more like models due to their looks. This is a really strange film but thankfully it just runs 60-minutes but in the end this is just for those wanting to see a young Flynn before fame.