Mutiny on the Bounty (1935): Eitan's Take

Oh, Clark Gable, how you continue to woo me. At this pace, I am almost not dreading Gone With the Wind! Mutiny on the Bounty has absolutely secured my love for this actor, if it wasn't already there before. I went into the film with high expectations. I hoped for a badass mutiny scene; lots of epic shots of ships, sails, and storms; killer performances by Gable, Laughton, and Tone; and an overall picture quality that lived up to the utterly fantastic story it was based on. I have always been a sucker for naval stories -- growing up, I was fascinated with the Titanic, the Bismarck, the Andrea Doria, and the vast and exciting history of navies and sea captains. Never been a big fan of pirates, though, which is why the Pirates of the Caribbean movies have rarely captured my full imagination. Mutiny on the Bounty is exactly the type of seafaring story I have come to love, and I can see how many parts of my most recent favorite anchors-aweigh film (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World) were influenced by the utterly great 1935 original. I know that MOTB has been remade several times since, but I doubt that they have done it as faithfully, cohesively, and excitingly as Frank Lloyd's version.

The film takes a bit of time to get started, and I found myself checking the clock every minute or so during the boring, drawn out scene where the Bounty prepares to set sail. But the second act, with its riveting storm scenes, rising tension, and totally un-hammy acting by the three fine leading men, assured my total admiration for the film. I was especially impressed with the details: the fantastic rear-projection during the scenes in which Bligh is set asea with his loyal men aboard a dinghy, the subtle chemistry between Gable and Tone, and the realistic character development when Bligh starts to become a genuine leader for his men adrift in the sad little boat. It is no wonder that all three men were nominated for Best Actor (a distinction that only this film holds, to this day).

Although the romance stuff on Tahiti was a little silly, the film still kept my rapt attention for over two hours. No swashbuckling, no violence (except for copious flogging... was this directed by Mel Gibson?), no adventuring on the high seas... just a terrific seafaring story, awesomely well-told. All around great acting, great production values, and an admirable (haha, no pun intended) reluctance to succumb to awkward moralizing earn this film a solid score. If the bloated love scenes had been taken out, it would earn an 8, but as it stands, I give it a very respectable 7/10.

Note to myself: tighty whities = awesome.