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.

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

Okay, I feel like a typical stupid American movie viewer when I say this, but it took an hour and a half to get to the effing mutiny. The movie should be called "(Really Hard-to-Watch Flogging Scenes Resulting Eventually in a) Mutiny on the Bounty". Basically, I'm inclined to like movies with people as charming as Fletcher Christian (Clark Gable) and as villainous as Captain Bligh (Charles Laughton). The only problem is the part of this movie that showed Bligh for the sadistic creep he was lasted so so long and was truly painful. Now, I know we needed to understand why a good guy like Christian would want to take over the ship, but I think about a half an hour in we understood. I loved Franchot Tone as Roger Byam, the future admiral with conflicting feelings of loyalty to the crown and camaraderie to Christian. I'm really glad I watched this movie, because now I appreciate Frank Lloyd for the visionary director I think he truly was, instead of the oh-so-sad director of Cavalcade (a.k.a. worst movie ever). Basically, I think it was a very good movie, if a little drawn out and depressing. Notes to myself: Clark Gable became a sexy pirate at the end! Ellison (Eddie Quillan) looks just like River Phoenix. Charles Laughton is totally a charicature of himself. Herbert Mundin played a small role in this movie, and I recognized him from Cavalcade. It was very exciting, and I'm sure I will be recognizing more and more actors from previous best picture winners. 7/10