Mutiny on the Bounty: 1935

One thing you need to know about me is that I prematurely-- and ruthlessly-- judge period films to be unbearably boring before I even press play. So, naturally, when I saw that Mutiny on the Bounty was set in the eighteenth century, I rolled my eyes. The next two hours, however, taught me to never judge a book by its ruffled-shirted, candle-lit, bayonet-wielding cover EVER again.

The story of Mutiny on the Bounty is a long and complicated one that's based on true events that I don't want to butcher in my synopsis. Clark Gable plays Fletcher Christian, the lieutenant on a ship called The Bounty. The Bounty's captain, Mr. Bligh, is played by Charles Laughton. In my opinion, the only other character of note is midshipman Roger Byam, played by (the INCREDIBLY attractive) Franchot Tone. All you need to know is that Bligh is the manifestation of pure evil and abused power, while Christian is a compassionate and personable man with a conscience. Poor Byam is simply a bystander caught in the crossfire of Christian's and Bligh's opposing personalities. Christian is the good cop; always giving men the benefit of the doubt and forgiving mistakes, while Bligh follows all punishment protocol religiously. The audience's introduction to Bligh is a scene where a man on Bligh's crew is being punished; the man is tied up in a row boat next to the ship and his back is torn to shreds from flogging. According to Bligh, however, he is still owed 22 lashes. The man with the whip checks on the man, and it turns out he is DEAD. BLIGH MAKES HIM WHIP A DEAD BODY TWENTY TWO TIMES FOR THE SAKE OF CARRYING OUT A PUNISHMENT. After about an hour's worth of Captain Bligh exercising (read: abusing) his power and punishing his men for any minor act of insubordination, the crew reaches their final destination of Tahiti, to collect breadfruit trees-- and other things, I'm assuming. After an extended stay on Tahiti, the ship turns around to go back to England. The last straw for Christian is when Bligh forces the ship's surgeon, Mr. Bacchus, to report for duty even though he is ill; Bacchus forces himself to report for duty, and he collapses on deck and dies. In a fit of fury, Christian and a few men hastily take control of the ship; they corral the dissenters and Captain Bligh and set them adrift in a small boat with a single sail. Bligh, however, being an incredibly skilled sailor, somehow manages to navigate his lifeboat full of men to safety. Christian, on the other hand, takes his remaining crew-- which includes an extremely reluctant Byam-- and sails back to Tahiti. Christian met a native woman (played by Mamo Clark) and fell in love with her when they were there the first time, so he knows that they will have a safe place to hide out while they figure out their next move. Several months pass; Christian marries the Tahitian woman and has a child, and he and a newly married Byam repair their fractured relationship. Just when it starts looking like things are settling down for these men, a British ship (containing a fully recovered Captain Bligh) appears on the horizon to capture and arrest the mutineers and bring them back to England to be tried for treason. Christian decides to take his new family and the men who want to follow him to settle a new island and hide for the rest of their lives. They sail to the new island, called Pitcairn Island, and once they fully unload The Bounty, run the ship aground and light it on fire to destroy it. Meanwhile, Byam and a few other men decide to accept capture, because there is a chance that they will be found innocent and get to be back with their families. Unfortunately, all of the men who are caught and returned to England are found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. In the penultimate scene, after the sentence has been carried out for every other man, midshipman Byam's life is spared at the last minute by two men who were on the hearing committee that believe he is actually innocent-- which he is. Well, they all were. Byam gets his job and his reputation back, and the film ends with him on a new ship preparing for a new voyage.

What I liked:

- Holy. F*cking. Sh*t. Charles Laughton can act. Watching him and Clark Gable act together is such a gift, and we are doubly blessed that they are in so many scenes where it's just the two of them. 

- I said it before but I'll repeat it: Franchot Tone is SO ATTRACTIVE.

- The filmmakers did an incredible job painting Captain Bligh and Fletcher Christian as dramatic foils from the very beginning. That scene at the start of the voyage when they talk about their expectations and their professional relationship. WOW. 

- I loved how the mutiny flipped the script. The first half of the film paints Christian as a man of the people, full of compassion with a good heart. Conversely, Bligh is made out to be the manifestation of unadulterated evil. However, the mutiny, which started as an effort to put a stop to Bligh's unjust and torturous leadership, showed these men's true colors. Bligh becomes a beacon of stability for the men on the row boat with him, and Christian, who seems so put-together and stoic turns into a man who is constantly improvising and starts putting his need for personal fulfillment over the needs and wants of his crew. The loyalty the crew has to the two men changes as soon as Christian takes the ship. Everyone is united against Bligh until the uprising; after the ship is taken, almost half the crew end up on the boat with Bligh voluntarily. Maybe it was out of fear of getting in trouble with the law, or maybe they were willing to endure the harsh treatment for the promise of a safe return home.

What I disliked:

- I'm really digging for things I didn't like here, but the only thing I actually remember that pulled me out of the moment at first was that the dialects were really inconsistent from person to person. Some men weren't even trying to have a British dialect, even though that is where the entire crew is from. I have more of a problem with the men who didn't even try than the men whose accents sounded strange, because they were at least trying to have a dialect of some sort, and for all I know those were actual British dialects at the time.

What surprised me:

- This is the first time I've ever seen Clark Gable without a mustache. I didn't know where else to put that statement, but I felt it needed to be shared.

- Aside from Pirates of the Caribbean, which probably doesn't even count, I really haven't met an eighteenth-century period piece that I enjoy. I don't know what it is but I just can't get (ahem) on-board with them; there is something about them that has historically given me the weirds. But there truly is a first time for everything because I actually REALLY liked this movie, and that surprised me more than anything.

- Laughton, Gable, and Tone were all nominated for Best Actor this year, which prompted the Academy to add the Best Supporting Actor category starting at the next year's ceremony. However, none of them won the award that year - Best Actor was awarded to Victor McLaglen for his work in The Informer.

What won it the Oscar:

I truly think this is the first film that has the whole package, perhaps with the exception of Diction, and even then the only reason for that would be the inconsistencies in dialects. However, concerning Diction, I thought every character had his own distinct voice and point of view, and the relationships were specific. The Plot was fascinating and fun to follow, and it was very easy to be loyal to a character, of course until our loyalties were challenged. That feeds into Thought, in my opinion; after the mutiny, we as the audience seriously call our choices of protagonist into question, as we immediately start to doubt and mistrust in the "hero." I don't particularly remember the Music, but I think the fact that it isn't particularly memorable and didn't distract me from following the story is a plus in this case. The sound effects didn't draw my attention away from the action, either, so they must have been realistic enough for me to keep my disbelief suspended. The scene where they were on Tahiti singing Christmas carols, however, was heartbreaking. I think I've shared my thoughts on how much I enjoyed the Character work, especially from the three leading men. It was such a gift to see Gable, Laughton, and Tone act in such a representational, authentic, and true way, as opposed to the presentational performances of the past seven films. And the Spectacle! The scene with the swinging lamp was cool in terms of how the filmmakers created the sense of seasickness; the island of Tahiti was stunning; the depiction of how tall the sails were when Byam was sent up for a punishment was so awesome. I think it would be near impossible to pick one of the six elements as the front runner - this film is such a complete and cohesive unit and all the elements work together to make it that way.

Final thoughts:

Mutiny on the Bounty, I'm shocked to admit, is my new favorite movie of the eight Best Pictures that I've watched so far. I adored the acting. I was horrified and enthralled by the story and cared about the characters' outcomes. There was really nothing about this movie I didn't love. Maybe that's why I liked it so much; I was completely expecting to hate it and was so pleasantly surprised that I actually didn't hate it. Mutiny on the Bounty takes the number one spot on my ranking by a large margin. I'll say it yet again - watching a performance from Clark Gable that I'd never seen before was such an incredible gift. I'm so incredibly thankful that I got to see this performance and learn from his work, as well as from Charles Laughton's and Franchot Tone's. (Watch Tone's speech he gives after his sentencing - available on YouTube and so incredibly refreshing.) I will definitely be keeping an eye out for these men's other work; seeing them act with each other was an inspiration. 

My current ranking:

1. Mutiny on the Bounty

2. Grand Hotel

3. Wings

4. All Quiet on the Western Front

5. It Happened One Night

6. The Broadway Melody

7. Cavalcade (I know my last ranking had this last, but I think that was a goof on my part.)

8. Cimarron

Next on the list is The Great Ziegfeld!