Mutiny on the Bounty

For the life of me, I have never been able to understand why the 1962 version of the "Bounty" tale is so maligned. It is a magnificent movie, stunningly photographed. It is not a perfect film, but it is undeniably entertaining. I actually (dare I say it?) enjoy it more than the original 1935 version that is so revered.

I can understand that some viewers balk at Marlon Brando's affected foppishness. IMO, however, the actor is taking a calculated risk in attempting to illustrate the profound transformation that Fletcher Christian undergoes as the story progresses. It does not always ring true, but, taken as a whole, it works very well. Some moments are brilliant. By the time we reach the actual mutiny, his growing rage (which has been suppressed almost imperceptibly up to this point) explodes in a massive rush and instantly we see a side of Christian that we weren't quite sure existed. His self-serving has finally given way to inevitable sympathy for the much-abused crew and even a sort of new-found idealism.

However, it is Trevor Howard's performance as Lt. Bligh which is the backbone of this movie. This man IS Bligh. At first he seems approachable and even affable, but each succeeding scene reveals some new brush stroke of character that illustrates the single-minded, ruthless soul of stone contained within. Howard also has this playfully mischievous smile that, every now and then, leads you to believe that there may be some glimmer of warmth inside the man. This hope, of course, is dashed to pieces every time.

"Mutiny on the Bounty" is also a strong example of how a soundtrack can make a film. This music always gives me goosebumps. From the overture through intermission to closing, it sets the tone of the picture brilliantly as a seafaring drama/adventure. It sounds like the ocean. It sounds the way the cinematography looks. Vast panoramas of blue ocean, endless skies, lush green tropical islands, and, most of all, the ship itself (which was built specifically for this film). And the icing on the cake is the song "Follow Me", one of the most hauntingly beautiful melodies ever written for the screen. To me (here I go again), it sounds like Tahiti.

Watch "Mutiny on the Bounty" in letterbox and full stereophonic sound and THEN see if you don't like it.

MGM's 1962 remake of their own 1935 Mutiny on the Bounty, makes the older film look hokey at best, and like an outright joke at worst. The newer version takes a far more realistic and honest look at every facet of the legendary mutiny. The movie potrays the two key characters in the story, Captain Bligh (Trevor Howard), and Fletcher Christian (Marlon Brando), as real men, and not like the cardboard cutouts as was the case in the 1935 version.

Howard's Bligh is brilliant, and not at all like the prancing cartoonish Charles Laughton version in '35. And when it comes to Christian, the protaganist of the mutiny, Brando makes an admirable effort to capture the essence of the the fopish and aristocratic character as portrayed in the Nordhoff and Hall book upon which both MGM "Bountys" are based. Brando becomes Christian, in the 1935 movie Clark Gable as Christian is just Gable as Gable, and that's that. Richard Harris as crew member Mills, is another solid portrayal in the 1962 movie.

Don't get me wrong, the 1935 movie's fun, but the 1962 movie is infinitely more impressive in all respects, especially its use of a real ship made just for the film, the awesome "shots" of life at see in the late 1700s, and of course the spectacular location filming in Tahiti.

1935's Mutiny on the Bounty, was a fine film in its day, but it doesn't stand the test of time, 1962's film stands that test. Is it a great movie, probably not, but it is a very good one. Considering that MGM did not deliver the ship on time for filming before the bad weather set in in Tahiti, MGM's firing of legendary director Carol Reed, and other miscalculations mainly attributable to producer Aaron Rosenberg, the film is a remarkable achievement.

The studio used an off-form Lewis Milestone as a replacement for director Reed. Once they decided that Reed wasn't their cup of tea, they just tried to slide by with Milestone, instead of securing the services of one of the many still vital directing greats working in the early 1960s. A movie of epic proportions like 1962's Mutiny on the Bounty, cried out for a William Wyler, a David Lean, or a Fred Zinneman, to take over the helm once Reed was canned.

When the movie didn't hit like gangbusters, MGM's publicity machine moved quickly to "sandbag" their star, and the lemmings of the early 60s entertainment press corps swallowed the studio's propaganda whole. It was open-season on Brando, and it was shameful, but anybody who has seen the movie and also read the book, knows that Brando's Christian is a very solid performance. I'm sure Brando was peevish and nettlesome at times during production, Trevor Howard says as much in his biography, but to blame Brando for the film's bloated final cost and its lack of epic earnings is ludicrous.

I love 1962's Mutiny on the Bounty, it should have been better, but its still one beautiful movie. It is an under-appreciated and highly underrated movie. I strongly recommend it, to me calling Brando and Howard's Mutiny on the Bounty of 1962, a minor film, as one IMDb movie fan recently did, is blasphemous. The truth is MGM, just fumbled the ball on Mutiny on the Bounty in 1962, despite all of their ineptitude during production, they still had what should have been a major hit. But they opened it as a road-show movie in just a few theatres nation wide instead of in as many theatres as possible like the studios do with all major movies today. Despite MGM's poor efforts 41-years ago, movie fans today can scoop up the old lion's fumble and enjoy this exciting high seas adventure/love story.

It took a better book, Richard Hough's "Mr. Bligh and Mr. Christian," to produce a better movie rendition of the true life Mutiny on the Bounty. That book was the basis for the magnificent, "The Bounty," starring Anthony Hopkins as Bligh, and Mel Gibson as Christian. Also adding lustre to that movie were Liam Neeson, and Daniel Day-Lewis.

While the initial critical reception given MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY was not as favorable as that given the original 1935 film, seen nowadays it is a very impressive telling of the Bounty story with some fine performances and a stirring musical score by Bronislau Kaper that fully captures the mood with some haunting and truly striking themes that give the film added dimension. The pictorial splendor of the technicolor photography at sea and in Tahiti is never less than eyefilling. A thrilling high point is the storm at sea with Kaper's music rising to powerful intensity.

Furthermore, there are two fascinating performances by Marlon Brando and Trevor Howard. Howard is not quite as showy in the role as the scenery-chewing Laughton but his characterization is a bit more complex. Brando does an excellent job as Christian, posturing in the manner of a gentleman and speaking with an upper crust British accent that is entirely credible. Indeed, when he reaches the mutinous moment in a rage of uncontrolled anger, he is at the top of his acting form. Even so, some of his most effective moments are quietly underplayed. His performance deserved an Oscar nomination--but with so much bad publicity surrounding the film and the hardships and strains involved in the making, Hollywood apparently gave him the cold shoulder. Years later, they did the same to Russell Crowe for his bad boy behavior.

Technically, of course, the film is far superior to the B&W 1935 Gable-Laughton film. Gorgeous sunsets are backdrops to the ship at sea and the island scenes in Tahiti are gorgeous to behold.

A missing element from the earlier film is the absence of the character played by Franchot Tone. Indeed, Tone was nominated for a Best Actor award, along with Gable. There are numerous other differences but this take on the story is a good one, every bit as valid as the 1935 film.

With all of the bad publicity surrounding the film relegated to the past, we can look at this film with a fresh viewpoint today and enjoy it for the entertaining blockbuster that it is. Highly recommended.

I first heard of this movie in the spring of 1996. It surprised me to learn that there was a remake to the 1935 Mutiny on the Bounty which I had recently watched for the 10th time. I hardly figured that the likes of a slurring Marlon Brando as Fletcher Christian and a cast of personally unfamiliar characters("who was Trevor Howard",I asked myself) could top the swashbuckling Clark Gable as Christian and the ripping story that the cast of the 1935 gem pulled off. How wrong I was to doubt the 1962 Mutiny on the Bounty. I loved it! I do not think that it is better than the 1935 Mutiny on the Bounty, but it stands as a different take. While the older Mutiny told a by the numbers high-seas adventure with sword fights and glitzy hollywood melodrama, the 1962 version turns out to as less of an action movie and more of a drama. It chooses to downplay the story more to better concentrate on the surprisly complex characters. How complex? Take the tormented Mr. Fryer, Captain Bligh's 3rd in command. He sees the wrongful treatment that his captain is giving the crew, but he does not want to go against the navy. On the other hand, there is McCoy, the old 30 year veteran--someone who seemly would have experienced cruelty similar to Bligh's--who mutinied along with the younger members. Then there is Brown, who ever the gentleman, tries to be loyal to Bligh,but, in the end, he must obey his gentle ways and go against the captain's harsh methods. Although Mills plays a key role in the film, his character does not hold much mystery; the captain overreacts too much, and he does not think it right. He does something about it. All of these different characters and more, play off one another beautifully. When the mutiny does happen, watching them work together(or against each other) is truly beautiful. The production values stir the soul. The gigantic bounty, the breathtaking location footage of Tahiti, the vast panaramic shots of the Atlantic Ocean, and the loud/proud moody score accented with Tahitian percussion. The dialogue is quick, clever and too the point.

All of these elements help to elevate the core story in Mutiny on the Bounty: Bligh and Christian. As Bligh, Trevor Howard changes the character immortalized by Charles Laughten in the 1935 version. Instead of inhuman, demonic tyrant, Howard portrays Bligh simply as an excruciatingly stern captain focused(a little overzealously) on doing the best job that he can. If his mean do not pursue his goals with the same fervor. He gets impatient then frustrated then angry and then violent all in quick succession. He makes for a very realistically workaholic without a life, and he wants everyone else to be a workaholic, too. I thought Clark Gable's Fletcher Christian could not be topped...until I saw Marlon Brando undergo a sheer transformation playing the role. After seeing Brando in ON THE WATERFRONT and the equally American THE GODFATHER, I could not imagine him playing 18th Century British officer...but he did. Brando perfects the haughty, posturing walk. He perfects the clipped, accented speech. He perfects the foppish, effeminate walk of a "true" English gentlemen of high-born connections. Brando does it so remarkably well that one cannot imagine such sissified character leading a mutiny against a tyrannical man like Bligh. Brando's transformation of Christian from sissy to mutiny leader baffles. Unlike Gable, he doesn't gloss over the decision to be a mutineer. Gable made it look easy and as the "right thing to do". Realistically, is it the right thing to do? To throw away your career that you worked hard for? To throw away your life? All for the sake of a feeling a moral belief? It may sound hard, but when faced with a such a delimma, it can be agonizing...which is exactly what Brando captures to a tee, right down to the last frame.

Mutiny on the Boutny 1962 truly needs to be seen. Please don't listen to critics. This movie is fantastic.

I wonder if they made more three-hour-plus films in the 1960s than any other decade? It seems that way. Here is another one. This also is a re-make from a 1935 version of the famous story

I liked this 'Mutiny On The Bounty' better than the critics did, who got annoyed at Marlon Brando's British accent. I found nothing wrong with it and I usually am critical about that sort of thing myself. Brando gave a solid performance.

Trevor Howard was convincing as the sadistic "Captain Bligh" and Tarita was fair as the love interest "Maimiti." The cinematography might have been the best feature of the film, a definite movie for widescreen as a lot of these mid '50s-to-mid '60s films were. There are some beautiful shots in here, beginning with those Tahiti sunsets. The color in this movie is magnificent.

Although not particularly a film you might watch over and over, I found no major fault with it except for perhaps the romance which was a bit sappy. The adventure, acting and photography were all top-notch and the three hours went by fairly fast.