It's ironic that the truest version of this story was the least popular, but every historian I've read backs this one. We keep forgetting what a miserable life the common seaman had - or how smart the captains had to be. (See Master and Commander, for example.) Although I haven't seen the film in more than fifteen years, I'm still haunted by one scene: Captain Bligh has been put in the long boat with a few officers, to row for Africa. Mister Christian is staring down on them. Captain Bligh warns: "They mutinied once; they can do it again." And suddenly Christian is afraid... The discipline, though harsh, was necessary; most crewmen had no structure in their lives, and no capacity to see as far ahead as next week. Their officers had to, and they were trained harshly as well. Read the Hornblower series, for some first rate adventures of the times.
Performances on the Bounty were first rate, and this is one to see - especially if the MGM version is fresh in your mind. Never mind Brando and his antics in Tahiti...though Trevor Howard wasn't a bad Bligh, either. He just didn't have the script on his side.
Performances on the Bounty were first rate, and this is one to see - especially if the MGM version is fresh in your mind. Never mind Brando and his antics in Tahiti...though Trevor Howard wasn't a bad Bligh, either. He just didn't have the script on his side.