Mutiny on the Bounty

A sea film set in the eighteenth century. The ship Bounty is to sail to Tahiti, collect breadfruit plants and carry them to the Caribbean. The aim is a cheap food source for slaves. Captain William Bligh runs the crew by hard rules, and his methods of punishment build tension aboard. His mate Fletcher Christian is a different man: educated, courteous and at a distance from authority. The friction between them grows through the voyage. At Tahiti the ship stays for months. The crew settle into life on the island and do not want to return when the order comes. On the way back a cut to the water ration is the last of it and the mutiny breaks out. The production itself was hard. The shoot ran long, the budget grew, the director changed and a sailing ship was built from scratch for it. That cost affected the studio for years. Marlon Brando plays Christian, Trevor Howard plays Bligh and Richard Harris plays Byam. Brando's reading of the part was argued over; it steps outside the usual heroic pattern. Lewis Milestone directed. A showy choice for anyone who likes large-scale historical productions and sea films. For a viewer expecting fidelity to history, the film divides its characters plainly into good and bad.