Mutiny on the Bounty: 1935

An hour and half into Mutiny on the Bounty, and finally, there is a mutiny on the ship. Unlike the previous films and posts, I'm writing this post as I attempt to finish this film. While I find the acting outstanding (it's no surprise that the three leading men were all nominated for Best Actor the same year the film won Best Picture) and the cinematography is impressive, the actual story takes too long to get started, and by the time it starts, I'm no longer interested.

According to the opening background information, the story is based on a true mutiny that changed the way British ships operated. Captain Bligh is captain on the Bounty, and he rules with an iron fist. Bligh believes that control is best achieved through fear, and when sailors disobey, he punishes harshly with flogging (whipping). The first hour of the film is the ship's journey to Tahiti to pick up breadfruit plants for the West Indies. Several crew members die on the voyage, one due to flogging. Bligh's brutality is overwhelming terrible, and I kept thinking the mutiny would happen any time but no. It just kept going on and on and on. The mutiny doesn't occur until they leave Tahiti.

Like I said, the acting is solid. Clark Gable plays Fletcher Christian, the first officer who leads the mutiny. Gable is outstanding. I kept thinking about the last film I watched for this blog, It Happened One Night, and how Gable plays such a significantly different character. His ability to transform into this role is truly impressive. But that, along with other actors, it's insufficient to make this 132 minute film bearable.