Mutiny on the Bounty is a 1962 film starring Marlon Brando. It is based on the novel Mutiny on the "Bounty" by Charles Nordhoff. It is the second film to be made from the novel, the first being the 1935 version. It was directed by Lewis Milestone.

The movie chronicles the real-life mutiny aboard the HMAV Bounty lead by Fletcher Christian against the ship's captain, William Bligh. Like the 1935 version, this movie portrayed Captain Bligh as a cruel tyrant whose abuse lead the crew to mutiny. However the movie does not spend too much time on what happened to those in the launch after being put off the Bounty. It only shows the beginning of the voyage of the launch and then Bligh's participation in the inquiry into the mutiny in England.

Plot

This version has the unfortunate distinction of being the least historically accurate of the films. This movie has Bligh and Fletcher meeting for the first time - in reality Bligh and Christian had sailed together before. Bligh was asleep during the initial stages of the uprising; this movie shows him as awake. After the mutiny, Fletcher Christian suffers a guilt complex which severely affects his behavior. He dies at the end of the film after the ship lands at Pitcairn Island. He dies not from being murdered, but as a result of burns suffered while trying to save the Bounty after the other mutineers have set it on fire so that Christian will not take them back to stand trial, as he was planning. However, most historical evidence shows that Fletcher lived on the island for several years before being murdered, and some even believe that he eventually returned to England some years later.

Trivia

The movie has also become legendary for the excessive behavior of Marlon Brando during filming. According to the biography by Peter Manso, Brando's antics included pulling members of the film crew away from the set to work on the decorations for a friend's wedding in Tahiti and flying airplane loads of expensive food and drinks to the island for parties he would throw.

Also according to the NPR trivia Show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! Brando ripped fifty two pairs of pants from the costume department due to his excessive over eating.

Awards

The 1962 movie did not win any Oscars but was nominated for seven:

• Academy Award for Best Picture - Aaron Rosenberg
• Academy Award for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color - George W. Davis, Henry Grace, Hugh Hunt and J. McMillan Johnson
• Best Cinematography, Color - Robert Surtees
• Best Effects, Special Effects - A. Arnold Gillespie (visual) and Milo B. Lory (audible)
• Best Film Editing - John McSweeney Jr.
• Best Music, Score - Substantially Original - Bronislaw Kaper
• Best Music, Song - Bronislaw Kaper (music) and Paul Francis Webster (lyrics) - For the song "Love Song from Mutiny on the Bounty (Follow Me)"

External links

1962 films | Films based on actual events | Films based on fiction books | Films shot in 65mm | Best Picture Academy Award nominees | Best Picture Academy Award winners | Best Song Academy Award nominees

Meuterei auf der Bounty (Film) | Les Révoltés du Bounty (film 1962) | Gli ammutinati del Bounty (film 1962) | Мятеж на «Баунти» (фильм)