Mutiny on the Bounty

An exotic and gripping piece of Hollywood mythology, made with all the technical skill and gloss one associates with Irving Thalberg's MGM. Frank Lloyd's direction and the literate screenplay constantly juxtapose the notions of 18th century naval service as an aristocrat's high adventure and an ordinary seaman's pressganged misery, underlying the central clash between Captain Bligh and Fletcher Christian with a surprisingly sharp examination of British breadfruit imperialism. Unlike the 1962 remake, this version virtually deserts Christian after the mutiny, concentrating on Bligh's amazing 4,000 mile open boat voyage and the subsequent court-martial. Laughton scowls magnificently, and paints a remarkable portrait of Bligh's humourless character, while Gable injects a startling (and unintentional) bisexuality into the Tahitian sequences.