Pitcairn Island Today

For 1935, this is a very good and interesting documentary. MGM actually had a crew sail to Pitcairn Island to film the locale, residents and their activities. All just to make a 10-minute short film. It was as preview in theaters to promote the feature film, "Mutiny on the Bounty."

"Pitcairn Island Today" almost runs like a newsreel that was part of the standard package in theaters through the mid-20th century. It included the short news documentary from around the world, previews of coming shows, and a cartoon. I remember as a kid and teenager back then that we could allow up to 15 minutes after a published show time to get there before the feature film started. That came in handy at times when someone was running late for a date, had car trouble, or couldn't find a parking space close to the theater..

MGM did a good job researching for the documentary, and lining up some of the people for the shooting. It's very interesting seeing the descendants of some of the HMS Bounty mutineers, more than 150 years after the mutiny. They have the surnames of Christian. McCoy, Young, Warren and Clark. Carey Wilson narrates the film.

The population of Pitcairn Island peaked at 233 in 1937. "Mutiny on the Bounty" brought considerable tourist trade to the small island for many years. But, in time, the population began to emigrate, especially to New Zealand. While it eventually became part of a British colony, the population by 2022 had declined to 50.

This film focuses on the survival, development, social growth and success of the people who have lived on Pitcairn since 1790. But the island's history reveals a quite different picture and makes for interesting reading. After the 1790 landing by nine Bounty mutineers and 21 Tahitians, the residents enjoyed a short period of calm and peace as they settled in. But feuding soon broke out, and through the mid-19th century, the island history was raucous and bloody.

This short subject was produced by MGM to promote their big picture of the year, multiple-Oscar-winner MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY. Carey Wilson was credited as a writer on that movie, and he wrote and narrated this short.

What happened to the mutineers and their women? Twenty-seven of them made it to Pitcairn Island; they were not discovered for decades, by which time only one of the mutineers was still alive.

At the time this short was made, about fifty families lived on the island. Their numbers included one guy who came to the island and stayed.

There are a couple of errors here. The wreckage of the Bounty is shown, although it was not discovered until well after this movie, and much is made of the inbreeding. But it's an interesting little portrait of an isolated society.

This over seventy year old short documentary isn't exactly a contemporary record of life on the isolated Pitcairn Island. Still it's an interesting view of how life evolved up to the middle of the 20th Century for the Bounty descendants.

Naturally we get to meet a whole lot of people named Christian, some named Quintal, some named McCoy names familiar to those who've read Nordhoff&Hall's novel and have seen more or more of the films about the most famous mutiny in history.

Though it's not recorded in any of the films dealing with the mutiny the mutineers were in fact all killed save one in quarrels with the natives over the native women. Only a fellow named John Adams of the mutineers was actually around when Pitcairn was rediscovered and re-charted by the geographers. I guess at that point it wasn't worth the effort for the Admiralty to open up that old can of worms again.

In 1935 life still looked pretty rugged, but the Pitcairners seem to have made a nice little society for themselves. It's still a forbidding landscape with no natural harbor. That and because it was not chartered right on the maps the Royal Navy was using at the time was the reason that Fletcher Christian chose the place as their new home.

Pitcairn Island Today remains a fine documentary and a nice coda to the MGM film that won for Best Picture of 1935

The American production code, instituted in 1934, dealt with lots of things besides sex in motion pictures. It didn't allow men of the cloth to be portrayed negatively, nor business men to appear greedy, nor did it allow the glorification of armed rebellion. So, besides prudishness, there must have been more than just a little fear during this stage of the Great Depression that the starving American people might start another revolution.

"Mutiny on the Bounty" did not really paint the idea of rebellion in a positive light, but it did paint British naval justice in a rather harsh light. Men who didn't rebel and returned to England were tried for treason and the actual mutineers sailed away to Pitcairn Island, never to face any judicial repercussions for their acts.

Too late to make a long story short, maybe that is why this interesting and informative little short about Pitcairn Island in 1935 gets so preachy - to make up for the rather libertine message of MOTB. It talks about how the inhabitants of Pitcairn Island are all descendants of the mutineers and their islander wives. Thus you have things like one interesting wedding announcement that says "Mr. X Christian will be married to Miss Y Christian on Saturday. Let anybody who has reason why these two should not be wed report to the registry office." It shows one girl getting water from a well and mentions that the vase she is using is actually from the Bounty itself.

Then it oddly starts going into the ill effects that all of the inbreeding has had on the descendents of the mutineers and somehow tries to make this the "sins of the fathers", talking about "their evil deed" of mutiny. Funny how no mention is made of the cruelty of Captain Bligh who brought on their rebellion.

Finally it mentions how Mr. Christian, leader of the mutineers spent his final years sullen, alone, and unhappy. Hey, with half of the islanders seemingly named "Christian" he couldn't have been THAT unhappy or alone! I'd recommend this short. Just try to ignore the preaching and pay attention to the actual facts revealed.

This is a very brief look at the story behind "Mutiny on the Bounty" of the Pitcairn settlers on PITCAIRN ISLAND TODAY.

Again, it's narrated by Carey Wilson who calls it one of the most tragic stories in the history of the British navy.

Eighteen men remained aboard the Mutiny as it returned to Tahiti, and then went on to Pitcairn Island where they burned the ship and made a new life for themselves on the island.

A glimpse of the Adams town settlement in houses along the rocky hillside, combined with a few scenes of the men and women going about their daily tasks--and the film is over.

A meager look at a very important slice of history. If you've seen the other short subject narrated by Carey Wilson on the same subject, no need to watch this.