Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) (DVD)

Academy Award winner Clark Gable stars as the first mate who leads his ship's exploited and abused crew in the Mutiny on the Bounty.The South Pacific, 1789. On the far side of the Earth from their home inEngland, the crew of the H.M.S. Bounty suffers under the sadisticleadership of its captain, William Bligh (Academy Award winner CharlesLaughton). Months from its return to port, the ship's first mate,Fletcher Christian (Gable), realizes that many of the crewmembers willnot survive the voyage unless he takes control of the ship. But hisdecision to mutiny means that none of the crew can ever return home inthis enduring, true adventure.

]]>

The highlight of Mutiny on the Bounty is undoubtedly Charles Laughton's bracingly evil performance as Captain Bligh, a man so mean that he insists on having a dead sailor flogged. Bligh pushes his men beyond physical endurance, slashes their rations for his own profit, and drastically cuts down their frolicking time with scantily clad Tahitians. Finally, the moment everyone has been waiting for arrives: first mate Fletcher Christian (Clark Gable) hits his limit and all hell breaks loose. Gable holds doggedly onto his American accent through the entire movie, but in a way it makes Christian come off as a Regular Guy in opposition to Bligh's institutionalized cruelty. Once you get past the hurdle of his diphthongs, Gable makes an excellent Fletcher Christian--strong, fair, and noble, and he effectively conveys the struggle of a man who loathes the idea of mutiny but can't stand see his men mistreated. And Charles Laughton is just superb. His Bligh is thoroughly appalling, yes, but it's far from a one-note performance--when he is cast adrift on the open sea in a lifeboat and tries to make an impossible journey to land, you can't help but root for him. Mutiny on the Bounty won the 1935 Academy Award for Best Picture and picked up a Leading Actor nomination for each of its male leads. Check it out or be tied to the mizzenmast. --Ali Davis