Mutiny on the Bounty
US (1962): Adventure/Drama
This money-pit remake of 1935's Mutiny on the Bounty is a failure for but one reason only: Its star, Marlon Brando. At first resistant to the notion of playing Fletcher Christian, the first mate who engineering the mutiny of the HMS Bounty in 1788, Brando was promised a multitude of perks by its producers -- promises that were never intended to be kept. Likewise misled was the original director, Carol Reed, who was able to walk off the production. Lewis Milestone inherited the directorial reins, doing the best he could under impossible conditions. In contrast to the clearly defined heroes and villains of the 1935 version, we are offered a Captain Bligh (Trevor Howard) who seems more grouchy than tyrannical, and a foppish Fletcher Christian who is just this side of a female impersonation. Some of the "improvements" made on the original Chris Nordhoff-James Norton Hall novel are laughable, notably Bligh's command that Christian have sex with one of the native girls so as to appease the Tahitian chief and thus expedite the shipment of breadfruit. Running -- or walking -- 179 minutes, Mutiny on the Bounty contains some breathtaking photography (filmed in Ultra Panavision 70) and gorgeous scenery, as well as a soaring musical score by Bronislau Kaper, but on the whole is but a shadow of the Oscar®:-winning 1935 classic. (Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide)
7 nominations
· Best Picture 1962: Aaron Rosenberg - Producer (Arcola, MGM)
· Art Direction/Set Decoration (Color) 1962: George W. Davis & Joseph McMillan Johnson - Art Direction, Henry Grace & Hugh Hunt - Set Decoration
· Cinematography (Color) 1962: Robert L. Surtees
· Film Editing 1962: John McSweeney, Jr.
· Music Scoring Awards (Music Score substantially original) 1962: Bronislaw Kaper
· Music Best Song 1962: "Love Song from Mutiny on the Bounty ('Follow Me')" Bronislaw Kaper - Music, Paul Francis Webster - Lyric
· Special Effects 1962: A. Arnold Gillespie - Special Effects (Visual), Milo Lory - Special Effects (Audible)