Mutiny on the Bounty (1935): Movie Review + Analysis
In this episode of Worthy, we take the high seas and explore the world of Mutiny On The Bounty (1935). As the world of Hollywood and the Academy Awards started to expand, big high-priced productions became the norm. MGM’s golden producer, Irving Thalberg, saw the market opportunity to make a film on a grand scale. He enlisted the help of Academy Award Winning director Frank Lloyd to recreate the notorious story of the real life mutiny on the HMS Bounty.
The film is based on the real life events and 1932 novel of the same name. It was also not the first adaptation of this naval story. In 1933, Errol Flynn made his screen debut in the Australian made In The Wake Of The Bounty.
The 8th Best Picture Winner
Thalberg and Lloyd adapted the film for Hollywood by casting Clark Gable as the mutinous leader Fletcher Christian and Franchot Tone as the good natured midshipman Roger Byam. The casting of the villain, Captain Bligh, went to the most appropriate person to play the role, Charles Laughton. All three of these actors created an acting arena that reaches peaks few ever get to. The tension and dramatic moments are all there due to the chemistry of these actors.
The film opens up with the HMS Bounty getting ready to make it’s voyage out to Tahiti to collect breadfruit plants. The opening credits, Star Wars style, gives a brief background and story to the film. It might be a little too revealing as well with how much it does give the audience, but one can also argue that the film’s title alone spoils that there is going to be a mutiny.
Fletcher Christian (Gable) is the first main character we meet at the beginning. Christian and a group of other naval officers, round up men in Portsmouth, England by essentially forcing them to join the HMS Bounty. When the new members find out that Captain Bligh (Laughton) is leading the voyage, they start to get hysterical at the idea of being under his rule. The mystery of why Bligh is so feared builds the tension in the film right away. You could feel that the shark was in the water, but not sure where it is lurking.
We are also introduced to Roger Byam (Tone), who is joining the HMS Bounty as a midshipman. Byam is trying to establish a career in the Royal Navy, just like every member of his family before him. His good natured and noble ideals plays into the dichotomy later on in the film when all good is abandoned.
What we go over in the podcast episode on this film, is the idea of villains and how a good one can really catapult a film. Charles Laughton’s performance delivers a character that encapsulates the drama, horror and evil that you see in such villains like Darth Vader, HAL 9000 and Heath Ledger’s Joker. This isn’t to compare the performances of them, but the innate quality you see in Laughton’s Captain Bligh is echoed in those later performances.
Laughton gave an approach to Captain Bligh that is representative of early method acting. Laughton personally found the tailor company that had made the real Captain Bligh’s clothing and uniform, which he got fitted to the exact same measurements. Laughton also studied Bligh’s personal journal to get into the psyche of the man who committed horrific acts. Some of these acts include tortuous conditions to the ship’s crew, flogging them and keelhauling as a last resort.
Keelhauling is when a person is tied to a rope and the other end is attached to the ship. The person is thrown overboard and dragged under the ship by the rope, essentially a guaranteed death sentence. There is one moment in the film in which we see a crew member get keelhauled, but it is done in a way that you know is fake. For the time though, I can imagine how graphic it was to see that depiction.
Bligh is ruthless and shares no love for anyone or anything. The only ounce of affection he shows is really towards his respect to the Royal Navy and even that is questionable after watching the film. All of this evil is packed into Laughton’s performance and it truly stands out among the early Best Picture films. Honestly, even future films to come because it is so captivating and interesting.
The performances that were winning the acting awards in the 7 years before the 1935 film were tame and rooted in a place of good. Laughton even won prior for his 1933 lead role in The Private Life Of King Henry VIII, which may be the closest thing to an evil person prior to Captain Bligh. Unfortunately though, Laughton didn’t take home an acting award for Mutiny On The Bounty.
It’s a real shame that there was no Best Supporting Actor category because he would’ve slotted in there perfectly. He was the perfect antithesis to Gable’s Fletcher Christian. It provided depth to the film overall and added to the big Hollywood aspect that Thalberg and Lloyd were looking for. A year later at the 9th Academy Awards the supporting categories were added, but it was a year too late. If you were to watch one scene from this film, it would have to be when Bligh is mutinied and then finds his way back to port after over 50 days abandoned at sea.
Let’s talk about the mutiny while we are on the topic. The film title not only references it but it was also well known in history. It’s fair to expect that the film would have a big climatic moment centered on the mutiny. We have to wait until there is about 40 minutes left in the film to see the mutiny happen. It’s a slow build and certainly feels like they could’ve reached this event in the story sooner. They throw in a whole love story when the crew reaches Tahiti. Gable and Tone’s characters fall in love with two native women on the island. They also have many scenes of the entire crew enjoying themselves on the island, getting some deserved respite from the sea and Bligh’s leadership.
As fun as this all is, it takes away from what the film is building to and ultimately what the audience wants to see. It is understandable that when constructing a big Hollywood film in the 1930s you have to have certain qualities to appeal to a mass audience. One of them being a romantic storyline involving the extremely popular Clark Gable. So what we are left with is a beginning that hypes up the evil of Bligh, a middle act that is slowed down and then a final act that ramps back up with not as much screen time because the middle act was hyper focused on the love story.
The mutiny itself is actually a visually dramatic and appealing scene. Watching the crew come together finally to kick Bligh off the HMS Bounty. Seeing them break down finally and not able to take anymore of the cruelty is empowering. Frank Lloyd really shows off his talent as a director because of the complexity of his shot choices and coverage he gets from not just the crew, but the ship itself. It’s remarkable and really a job well done.
The film ends with Captain Bligh returning with a new crew to Tahiti on the HMS Pandora. He is seeking revenge against Christian, Byam and the crew that mutinied him. They had returned to Tahiti to live out their lives and escape the cruelty of the Royal Navy. In the end, Christian and few men escape on the captured Bounty to an unknown island in French Polynesia. Their history and ending is unknown. Byam however is brought back to England by Bligh, along with other crew members played by Dudley Digges and Donald Crisp. They are put on trial and all convicted for their mutinous crime. Byam isn’t executed because of his family’s history in the navy, giving him a very privileged pass in what should’ve been his death. Bligh is looked down upon by his peers because of his horrific actions. They feel that if he wasn’t as evil as he was, he would’ve never been the reason for a mutiny.
One of the last things to touch on about this film is the lack of awards it received. It is the last Best Picture winner to not win any award besides the top honor. It’s extremely odd, but also there is a very obvious connection to it and the 2 other films that join it’s unfortunate company. That connection is Irving Thalberg. While Thalberg was such a huge player at this time and recognized as an original pioneer of the Golden Age of Hollywood, his 3 Best Picture winners never amounted to much more. Those films are The Broadway Melody (1929) and Grand Hotel (1932).
They all won Best Picture but none of his directors, actors, writers, and crew took home any awards they were nominated for. It brings forth questions of Academy politics and how they really value these films. There isn’t a clear answer I can give, but it’s clear to me that there is something that will forever be a mystery. Why would the Academy honor Thalberg’s films as a whole but not the individual parts? I wish I knew.
Mutiny On The Bounty (1935) was a great achievement. It was the top of the U.S. Box Offices that year and really captured everyone’s interest with the performances of the lead roles. It is worthy of its place in film history because of the big leap in visuals for its time, the production value and the top level performances from Clark Gable, Charles Laughton and Franchot Tone. The mutiny scene is extremely dramatic and complex that forwards filmmaking for its time. It is a film to watch and sink into as you explore the waters of early Hollywood Cinema.
Where was Mutiny On The Bounty (1935) filmed?
The 1935 film was filmed partly on location in Tahiti and in different harbors in Southern California. The production in Tahiti consisted of recreated villages and the use of Tahitian people as background characters in those scenes.
Is Mutiny On The Bounty a true story?
Yes, the film and its subsequent versions, are all based on the real life event from 1789.
How to watch Mutiny On The Bounty?
The 1935 version of the film is available on HBO Max as well as available to rent on Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime Video.
What does Mutiny On The Bounty mean?
The title of the film alludes to the real life mutiny by crew members on the HMS Bounty in 1798.