Mutiny on the Bounty
Short description
Mutiny on the Bounty is a 1935 adventure drama set in the late eighteenth century, when the British naval vessel HMS Bounty sails for Tahiti to collect breadfruit plants. Commanded by Captain William Bligh, a skilled seaman notorious for his harsh discipline, the ship becomes a place of floggings and reduced rations. Tension grows between Bligh and Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, who tries to shield the crew from the captain's cruelty. When the mistreatment becomes unbearable, Christian leads the men in seizing the ship and casting Bligh adrift. The captain survives and eventually returns to England, where he sets out to track down those who rebelled. The story is drawn from the novel by Charles Nordhoff and James Hall, and it centers on the personal clash between the two officers rather than on a strictly historical account of the events.
Frank Lloyd directed the film, which followed Berkeley Square in 1933 and preceded Blood on the Sun in 1945. Jules Furthman, John Farrow and Talbot Jennings wrote the screenplay, and Irving Thalberg and Lloyd produced it for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Charles Laughton plays Bligh opposite Clark Gable as Christian, with Franchot Tone as Roger Byam, Herbert Mundin, Eddie Quillan and Dudley Digges in supporting roles among a credited cast of 72 and a crew of 43. Made for about two million dollars, the film returned roughly four million worldwide. On IMDb it holds a 7.6 rating from over 24,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7.4 from some 400 votes. A critics' rating of 8.6 from 75 reviews is notably higher than those audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Actor James Cagney (1899-1986) was relaxing on his own yacht near Santa Catalina Island off the coast of California and happened to be in the area where filming was taking place on board a replica of the ship 'Bounty'. Cagney called the film's director and his friend, Frank Lloyd (1886-1960), told him he was on vacation but would be happy to earn some extra money, and asked if there was a role for him. Lloyd ordered that Cagney be given a sailor's uniform, and Cagney spent the rest of the day as an extra, specifically one of the sailors on the 'Bounty'. He is clearly visible on screen at the beginning of the film.
- Wallace Beery (1885-1949) refused the role of Captain William Bligh (1754-1817) because he couldn't stand Clark Gable (1901-1960) and didn't want to be near him for long periods, which would have been inevitable if he had accepted the part.
- For the sake of historical accuracy, Clark Gable even had to shave off his famous mustache, as wearing mustaches was prohibited in the British Navy during the period depicted in the film.
- Charles Laughton (1899-1962) played Captain Bligh, who became the author of the greatest achievement in the history of maritime navigation after the mutinous sailors cast him adrift at sea. Laughton himself was terribly afraid of being at sea and did not tolerate it well, so he suffered from seasickness during filming.
- To film the final scenes in a stormy sea, another replica of the ship was built, and filming was organized in a special tank at the MGM studio. The ship rocked so violently that Laughton had to be tied to the helm, and then the ship ran aground on a reef, shaking so much that some of the actors involved in the scene suffered broken ribs.
- When Frank Lloyd and his team returned to Hollywood, they discovered that a significant portion of the footage shot on location had been destroyed due to improper storage. They had to return to Tahiti and reshoot it.
- During filming, camera assistant Glenn Strong (1904-1935) died. This happened when a barge capsized, carrying 55 members of the film crew and the acting ensemble.
- The scenes of Bligh and those who supported him surviving on a longboat after the mutiny were filmed in a special tank at the MGM studio. Only the scene in which Bligh curses Christian (played by Clark Gable) as the longboat is left adrift in the open sea was shot on location. Filming in the studio tank was no less difficult than shooting outdoors: Laughton and the other actors were doused with water, shaken by hidden cables, and scorched by studio spotlights. After a week of such filming, director Frank Lloyd suddenly realized that one of the characters on the longboat should have remained with the mutineers on board the 'Bounty,' so everything had to be reshot. When Laughton delivered the line “We have conquered the sea!”, the sailors with him cheered wildly, and Laughton himself couldn’t hold back his tears.
- For the extras, MGM hired 2,500 residents of Tahiti. The canoes in which the Tahitians rowed to meet the 'Bounty' were brought to Tahiti from Hollywood.
- The "Bounty" and "Pandora" were full-size replicas created specifically for the filming of this movie. They were filled with cement to serve as ballast. The ships were equipped with three masts, and their rigging precisely replicated that of similar vessels in the 18th century. At the end of the film, an eight-meter model, a precise copy of the "Bounty" but reduced to one-fifth of the original size, was burned for this purpose.
- The MGM studio decorators built a Tahitian settlement on the shores of Santa Catalina and planted the surroundings with specially imported palm trees and tropical vegetation. The Portsmouth sets, the starting point of the "Bounty", were built in the same manner.
- During filming, a five-and-a-half-meter replica of the "Bounty" with two sailors on board was lost at sea for two days when the tow rope broke. Fortunately, everything turned out alright.
Similar movies
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
