Product Description

First officer Clark Gable and tyrannical captain Charles Laughton powerfully clash in this vigorous retelling of a true historic incident about a British ship commandeered from its brutal master. Franchot Tone also stars in 1935's Best Picture Academy Award(R) Choice.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7219 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2004-02-03
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Black & White, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 132 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
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

Customer Reviews

It's naval, not navels...
Charles Laughton gives the standout performance in this classic retelling of the Bounty mutiny. Gable appears properly confounded and gives a believable and sympathetic rendering of Fletcher Christian. The movie holds up remarkably well despite some awkward editing and gaps in the story line. Still, at 133 minutes it is a relatively long film but it never drags. In spite of allegations made in other reviews there are no "white girls in blackface" or "boats in a bathtub" scenes. True, navels are concealed but the two female leads are obviously and revealingly topless in several scenes. As for "toy boats in a bathtub" there is only one sequence that obviously utilizes a model and it isn't all that obvious. Laughton is the luminary here and his Bligh stays with you. In fact it has stayed with the culture for sixty-five years. His performance is without fault and repeated watchings bear this out. A couple of sequences bear a closer look: The mutiny montage is startlingly effective and intense. It is a realistic portrayal of sudden violence; short, confusing, and graphic. The Sunday morning prayers on deck sequence is poetic and approaches the sublime. The ship's sails gleam translucent in the sun, the Union Jack floats majestically in the breeze, sunlight reflects brightly on faces as the Captain invokes God's blessings on the voyage. The extreme contrast of light and dark in the black and white print and the metaphorical contrast of good against Bligh, the epitome of evil, is subtle yet effective. It is a beautiful few moments. In every way but gloss this film is superior to the 1962 version. The 1984 "Bounty" with Mel Gibson is a fine film but it fades in the memory. This version lingers in the subconsious.

One of MGM's very best.
This film has never escaped my top ten favorites list. The only film in history to have 3 leading men nominated for best actor. While Gable is perfect as Fletcher Christian and Franchot Tone gives a superb performance as a midshipman, it's Charles Laughton's Captain Bligh that sets this film apart. You'll want to mutiny too. The ensemble cast is also memorable (unlike later films), each playing off Bligh's totally disgusting presence. Stolen cheeses, rancid rations and repeated lashings drive a crew collected by press-gangs to solicit 1st mate Christian to end their misery. And he does, casting Bligh adrift and taking the Bounty to Tahiti where half-naked island girls and a perfect tranquil life compare to Bligh like heaven to hell. I shed a tear every viewing during Tone's 'lift their hearts' speech at the end. This is a must see classic in every sense. Highest recommendation (for all but the youngest children)

Entertaining, but not historically accurate
OK, while miles ahead of the 1960s remake, ruined by an over-the-top performance by a very miscast Marlon Brando, this version still does not tell the true story of the HMS Bounty and its ill-fated voyage. (See James A. Michener's "Rascals in Paradise" for a historically accurate, but brief, picture of Bligh and the mutiny.) The movie stays close to the novel by Hall & Nordhoff and uses a fictious midshipman, Roger Byam, as the main character and we see both Christian and Bligh mostly through his eyes.

The acting by Gable and Laughton are, of course, excellent and the film shows the money spent by M-G-M wasn't wasted. The Bounty, itself, was a beautiful replica and the filming at sea--especially during storms--is hair-raising. In short, if you are after historically accurate drama--then this isn't your film, but if you want an entertaining, thrilling sea adventure from Hollywood's golden age--then by all means take a chance with this great picture.