Cinema Sunday: Mutiny on the Bounty

Today's Cinema Sunday takes a turn back to 1962 for an epic version of Mutiny on the Bounty.  The story is based on the real-life mutiny led by Fletcher Christian against William Bligh, captain of HMAV Bounty, in 1789. 

In 1787, the Bounty sets sail from Britain for Tahiti under the command of Captain William Bligh (Trevor Howard) to collect a shipload of breadfruit saplings and transport them to Jamaica.

The plan is to see if the breadfruit plants will thrive in Jamaica and provide a cheap source of food for slaves.

Bligh is a flinty old bastard whose motto is "Cruelty with a purpose is not cruelty, it is efficiency."

Bligh wants to reach Tahiti ahead of schedule by attempting the shorter westbound route around Cape Horn. 

Everyone tells him this won't work.

Bligh order this route to be taken anyway.

It doesn't work, the Bounty cast about by storms and rough seas.  The shortcut puts the ship behind schedule. 

Bligh makes up the lost time by pushing the crew harder and cutting their rations.

In other words, the beatings will continue until morale improves.

First Lieutenant Fletcher Christian (Marlon Brando) serves as second-in-command and is privately disgusted by Bligh's dismissive and cruel treatment of the men under his command. But Christian is first and foremost a good officer and will not act or speak out against his commanding officer.

Until Bligh does one damn cruel thing too damn many.

On the voyage to Jamaica, to atone for the lost time due to Bligh's error of attempting to go around Cape Horn, Blight attempts to bring back twice the number of breadfruit plants and reduces the water rations of the crew to water the extra plants.

Bligh's cruel and heartless edict to restrict the crew's access to water results in the deaths of crew members and Christian has finally had enough.   

Christian takes command of the ship. 

Showing more mercy to Bligh than Bligh ever showed for his men, Christian sets Bligh and the certain crew members still loyal to Bligh adrift in a longboat with navigational equipment. 

Long story made short: Bligh makes it back to England where there's a trial where a bunch of old white men in wigs declare that Bligh is not guilty in the matter of losing his ship in a mutiny but maybe it was a mistake for him to be a captain of a ship in the first damn place. 

Meanwhile, Fletcher Christian tries to come to terms that he is a renegade captain of a stolen ship with an outlaw crew. 

And he can't. 

Christian decides to return to Britain and testify to Bligh's wrongdoing. His men have other ideas and their decision does not end well for Christian or the Bounty. 

The 1962 version of Mutiny on the Bounty certain looks good.  Filmed using the Ultra Panavision 70 widescreen process and partly shot on location in the South Pacific, the movie makes use of bold colors and a vast canvas. The scenes in Tahiti are a gorgeous spectacle. 

In terms of acting, Trevor Howard's turn as Captain Bligh is particularly chilling with the casual nature of Bligh's arrogance and his cruelty to his men. Bligh's detached and blithe attitude towards his men is worse than any histrionic mustache twirling villainy.

The most challenging performance to process is Marlon Brando as Fletcher Christian as a seagoing Hamlet, pensively pondering Bligh's misguided leadership and his cruel treatment of the crew but doing nothing about it, more of an effete sophisticate than a seasoned sailing professional.  

Things are not helped by Brando questionable English accent.

In the narrative of Mutiny On the Bounty, Fletcher Christian should provide a solid moral center. Brando's Christian is more of an oddity than a captivating leader of men.  

Quite frankly, Marlon Brando was miscast in the role of Fletcher Christian. Which is not the first time that particular issue has come up in a Cinema Sunday review. In our post on Guys and Dolls from September 13, 2020, the role of Sky Masterson destined for someone like Gene Kelly or Frank Sinatra went to Marlon Brando based solely on him as a big box office draw. 

Brando's rep as an actor's actor who could also fill theater seats carried a lot of weight, a one-two punch to bring both prestige and dollars. Even if the role wasn't quite right for him. 

Fletcher Christian in Mutiny On the Bounty was another such role. 

It didn't help matters than apparently Marlon Brando was in a pissy mood during much of the shoot.  Apparently Brando had certain ideas how the movie should be made and director Lewis Milestone had a different view.  

Originally, Carol Reed was the director but after 3 months of shoots in Tahiti, Reed stepped down for reasons ranging from poor health to just being fricking tired of fighting everyone to get the movie made his way.  

Lewis Milestone took over thinking this would be an easy gig except to find after three months of shooting, all anyone had to show for all that work was one 7 minute scene.  

And Marlon Brando was behaving very badly.

And I haven't mentioned to 372 times the script was re-written. OK, 372 is an exaggeration but the script went through many changes by many hands. 

Ultimately, the 1962 version of Mutiny on the Bounty could not deliver on its promises, panned by critics and bombing at the box office. Marlon Brando's one-two punch did not bring either the prestige or the dollars the studio was fervently hoping for.  

What did I think? Well, it looks good, both the beautiful tropical paradise of Tahiti and the gritty details of the harsh life aboard the Bounty.  

Ultimately though, Mutiny on the Bounty is a victim of style over substance, a potentially strong story undone by a ponderous pace and questionable acting choices.  

Mutiny on the Bounty is something more suited to look at and less so to experience.