1935--Mutiny on the Bounty, Frank Lloyd

 

1935--Mutiny on the Bounty, Frank Lloyd

Nominated: Alice Adams, Broadway Melody of 1936, Captain Blood, David Copperfield, The Informer, The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Let Miserables, Naughty Marietta, Ruggles of Red Gap, Top Hat

Should Have Won: Bride of Frankenstein
Be sure to see: Buccaneer Bunny (1948 cartoon), A Night at the Opera, The 39 Steps, Werewolf of London
 "He doesn't punish men for discipline; he likes to see men crawl," --Lt. Fletcher Christian

    Mutiny on the Bounty is an engaging movie, and every second the Bounty is at sea, the audience feels terrified for the men. Not from storms or lack of supplies, but from their captain. The captain of the Bounty is William Bligh, one of the meanest, nastiest, cruelest sons of bitches in movie history. Can he be classified as a villain if he is just doing his job of leading the ship? I'd say so. And as much as I hate remakes, this is one which I'd like to see modernized versions. It was remade in 1962 with Trevor Howard in Bligh's role and Marlon Brando as  Christian and again in 1984 with Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins known simply as The Bounty. I haven't seen either remake but I can imagine a successful version coming out today. Unfortunately, the writer would throw in too many comic relief lines and the director would undoubtedly edit a million cuts into it, distracting the characters and story.

 

    It is the winter of 1787 and the Bounty has left from Portsmouth Harbor to Tahiti to procure breadfruit trees for transplanting to the West Indies as cheap food for slaves. Lt. Fletcher Christian is recruiting men for the voyage and they seem up to it until it is revealed Bligh will be captain. On the journey Bligh punishes men for no good reason. He sends one man up to the top of the mast in a storm. When Christian brings him down, Bligh sends him right back up. When a man complains about his knees scraping from washing the deck, Bligh ties him to a rope and drops him deep into the ocean until he drowns. Another man accidentally falls overboard so he is flogged. One man is even flogged to death. Because he died before the lashes were completed, Bligh orders his man to continue whipping the corpse until all the lashes are totaled.

    There is a big sequence in the middle of the film when the ship reaches Tahiti and the men are allowed to go to shore, yet still ordered to work. I suppose there are some important plot points during the time on the island but all that matters is the hellish journey that, thinking back on the film, appeared to be voluntary. It makes me wonder why these men signed up. I don't recall any mention of payment.

    Christian sees men chained below the deck and has had enough. He forms a mutiny against Bligh to send him afloat with a few men who do not wish to take part. Some of the men would rather see Bligh dead or whipped, but Christian will not see to that, even knowing mutiny will cause him to suffer great consequences later. 

 

    I've seen Clark Gable in only three movies and all three are best picture winners (Gone With the Wind and It Happened One Night are the others). Both he and Charles Laughton were nominated for best actor in their respected roles for this film. Both lost to Victor McLaglen in The Informer. I recommend seeing this movie once. Once is enough. It is pretty good and watching the slimy tyrant Captain Bligh is entertaining. But the best thing I can say about this movie is it inspired one of the greatest cartoons of all time. Take a look at the Bugs Bunny classic Buccaneer Bunny from 1948. Bugs becomes Captain Bligh for a scene to trick Yosemite Sam. It is very funny and has tons of cannon-fire in Sam's face; and the classic steps to the four doors bit is one of the biggest laughs in cartoon history. 

 

   But more importantly, this film was directed by Frank Lloyd and it should be noted his movies won best picture two of the past three years as he was also in the director's chair for Cavalcade two years prior.