Plot: What’s it about?
After “It Happened One Night” swept the Oscars (the 5 major categories) with Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Screenplay; it was hard for Clark Gable to top what he had accomplished the year before. However, with “Mutiny on the Bounty”, he and Charles Laughton brought the classic novel to screen in grand form. The movie was a vast undertaking at the time, compared to modern-day films like “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World”, costing upwards of 2 million dollars. Now that figure might seem nominal as compared the inflated budgets of today’s movies, but consider that this was 70 years ago and “talkies” had only been around for a few years. “Mutiny on the Bounty” was Director Frank Lloyd’s ship to captain and that he did. Though there have been about as many retelling’s of this story as the O.K. Corral, this remains the definitive version. Laughton was in top form as his ruthless Captain Bligh and Gable was even required to shave his trademark mustache (British Naval Officers weren’t allowed to wear them at the time) for the part. Combine historical accuracy with a huge budget and a major studio (MGM) and the film was bound to deliver. It did. The film was nominated for 8 Academy Awards and won only one, though it was the highest honor, Best Picture. Laughton, Gable and Franchot Tone were nominated for Best Actor, however none of them won and the honor went to Victor McLaglen for “The Informer”. All of that aside, the film remains one of the early triumphs of cinema and stands as a classic not to be missed. But for those who don’t know the entire story…
The story of “Mutiny on the Bounty” is that of fact and not fiction. The incidents really did happen, though it’s quite possible and probable that history has distorted the facts and most assuredly Hollywood took a few liberties with the plot and characters. The HMS Bounty is the ship commanded by Captain Bligh (Charles Laughton). It’s First Officer is Fletcher Christian (Clark Gable), more likeable to the crew and more of the people’s man. The mission is quite simple, they are to sail from England to Tahiti to obtain breadfruit plants. This seems simple enough, but trouble starts to arise when the merciless Capt. Bligh enforces his brand of punishment. The usual punishment for most anything was lashings, and after the crew witnesses a dead man lashed (as punishment), they begin to lose faith in their fearless leader. Bligh’s punishments always exceeded the crime and it’s with these senseless acts that the men look toward Christian as their leader. Once the crew reaches Tahiti, the find an island paradise filled with warm weather and beautiful women. Christian and Midshipmen Roger Byam (Franchot Tone) form relations with the local women and find it hard to leave once the Bounty has to head back to England. Bligh’s actions don’t change and it’s not long before the crew decides to mutiny and send Bligh and his loyal staff of 18 out to sea, presumably to their deaths. Bligh would find a redemption in the sea as all odds opposed him, he makes his way back to England (some 3,500 miles away) only to get another ship. He and his crew are intent on finding and punishing the mutineers.
The phrase “They don’t make them like they used to” certainly rings true here. While we’ve seen bigger budget movies come and go, this movie was one of the first to be a true “Big Hollywood Production”. Compared to more recent films like “Titanic” and “Master and Commander”, we can see that the filmmakers undoubtedly drew from this film (and its successors) and while the newer movies might have an edge technically, it’s hard to beat the original. The American Film Institute selected this as one of their “Top 100 of All Time” and while I’m not certain that the movie is that good, it’s a testament to those in the film.
Video: How does it look?
I’d like to start this out by saying “It’s hard to believe that this film is 75 years old…” but since movie was nearly 40 years old when I was born, I don’t really have that much of a connection with it like I do other films. “Mutiny on the Bounty” is shown in its full-frame format and in black and white. This makes its debut on Blu-ray and the VC-1 transfer looks pretty good. Considering the age of the film, there are some scenes that are plagued with grain, but this HD transfer seems a bit more polished than that of the standard DVD that came out in 2003. Contrast seems improved a bit, detail is pretty impressive as well (just look at those dimples on Mr. Gable) and black levels are spot on. While “Mutiny on the Bounty” is a far cry from a Pixar movie in terms of image quality, the age of the film does factor into how it looks on screen and all things considered, looks good.
Audio: How does it sound?
The soundtrack for this film isn’t one that will impress your friends, but again, considering the age of the film it does sound fairly good. Dialogue is a bit harsh in places, but we get to hear every sneering word uttered by Charles Laughton. There are some well-reproduced sounds like the creaking of the boat, the jingling of the chains and such. This mono mix is certainly the best the movie has ever sounded, for sure.
Supplements: What are the extras?
“Mutiny on the Bounty” was one of the last of Warner’s Best Picture films to hit standard DVD and now with its 75th anniversary, we find it on Blu-ray. Unfortunately, we don’t get any additional supplements unless you count the fact that this is a Digibook release. So while the inclusion of a 30 page book full of photos from the movie and the set is a welcome addition, the supplements on the actual disc itself remain the same. That said we get a documentary “Pitcairn Island Today” which focuses on the islands that the crew eventually settled down on. They show how the people live there without technology and how they make it from day to day. Narrated like a newsreel, this certainly delivers what it promises. Next up is an Academy Award Newsreel, which is essentially Frank Capra handing the award for Best Picture to Frank Lloyd and his ten second “Thank You” speech. Lastly, there are trailers for this and the 1962 remake starring Marlon Brando.
