Let's skip the "scandal" and stick with the script on this one, shall we?
I say that because there are some films where the backstory became/becomes so much more bloated than the film itself or what the film was about it can often times overtake the story, getting in the way of the view. In short, if I'm looking for the Eiffel Tower, I don't need Melvyn Douglas' finger over it on the map to show me how to get there --
-- Weeeell ... maybe just a little bit. It does make for one seductive sort of romance. But why not take the tour first? Watch what's going on on screen, and if you enjoy it ... who knows, this could be a seductive sort of film love affair. There's plenty of time to dish the dirt with the girls (or fellas) when the film is over.
Though, I'll go first, I'll be the first to admit, to separate Brando's personal life from MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY, or "media Brando" as I call it (see my read on it in Do you take sinners here?) of the era while this film was made is a bit difficult to deny and somewhat hard to do.
As it was this film that he bought his home ... aka, his island.
As it was this film that he bought his home ... aka, his island.
PHOTO: The Brando
An island in a land he had long been in love with, even as a teenager:
I had a lot of loneliness. I spent most of my time, up in the library reading the National Geographic Magazine about Tahiti. I was entranced by the expressions on their faces. They had unmanaged faces. No manicured expressions. A kindness. That's where I want to go. That's where I want to be."
-Marlon Brando, SONGS MY MOTHER TAUGHT ME
The location itself is quite breathtaking as you will notice right away once revealed on screen. No wonder Marlon fell in love with it in person. The landscape, the vivid colors ... and I don't mean in terms of "the vivid use of color", this is nature naturally all the way, only captured beautifully for us at home to see and venture off to in our alternate world escape.
On the other hand, there is quite a bit of the film that takes place on the ship itself, but never do you feel "claustrophobic" in the process of watching. I find I enjoy the ship scenes as much as on land.
On the other hand, there is quite a bit of the film that takes place on the ship itself, but never do you feel "claustrophobic" in the process of watching. I find I enjoy the ship scenes as much as on land.
The role of MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY for Marlon came by, in a roundabout way, of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. A film Brando was offered in the role of Lawrence by David Lean. It was after, when MGM offered Marlon the Clark Gable role from the 1935 adaptation of MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY as Fletcher Christian, Marlon decided to take "Mutiny" instead when he found out during his trip for a meeting with Lean in Paris, "Arabia" was to be shot in the desert over a course of a period.
Marlon says in his autobio, he didn't want to spend six months in the desert, so he'd take Tahiti ... However, I don't think he meant quite in a literal context as that at the time. However, Marlon wanted this film adapted not so much as a remake, but as a continuation of the first 1935 version. The question answered of what happened next, after the mutiny?
And even I have to admit, having seen MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1935 and '62) and LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, I'm so glad casting went as is. Because I think Peter O'Toole, not only wonderful as Lawrence, but knowing what we know now, what luck we film lovers had in being introduced to O'Toole by way of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (still an unknown at the time of this picture, with only a few films in his credits). For as I always say ...
Me, every time Peter O'Toole walks onto the screen:
Marlon says in his autobio, he didn't want to spend six months in the desert, so he'd take Tahiti ... However, I don't think he meant quite in a literal context as that at the time. However, Marlon wanted this film adapted not so much as a remake, but as a continuation of the first 1935 version. The question answered of what happened next, after the mutiny?
And even I have to admit, having seen MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1935 and '62) and LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, I'm so glad casting went as is. Because I think Peter O'Toole, not only wonderful as Lawrence, but knowing what we know now, what luck we film lovers had in being introduced to O'Toole by way of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (still an unknown at the time of this picture, with only a few films in his credits). For as I always say ...
Me, every time Peter O'Toole walks onto the screen:
... Yep. Just like that.
Marlon, in spite of the trouble that may have been going on behind the scenes of "Mutiny", plays "Fletcher" ... realistically. (Though, it may have been fun to see the "Zapata brothers", Quinn and Brando, reunite on the screen in LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, still having yet to find out what director Elia Kazan had done behind each of their backs during filming on VIVA ZAPATA!)
His decision to play Christian as a "fop" in the beginning of the film, to showcase a change in his character as the film progresses, is an ideal characterization. Especially when it comes off so well and smoothly without being obvious in a forced way. And not without an inner conflict of himself as a person we see grow on screen as well. Facing and figuring, where exactly does he fit in with either side, truly trying to evaluate with the weight of his actions and decisions, where does he go from here? Yet, wanting to be his own man. Make up his own mind. Though all factors from all directions seem to be pressing down on him.
His decision to play Christian as a "fop" in the beginning of the film, to showcase a change in his character as the film progresses, is an ideal characterization. Especially when it comes off so well and smoothly without being obvious in a forced way. And not without an inner conflict of himself as a person we see grow on screen as well. Facing and figuring, where exactly does he fit in with either side, truly trying to evaluate with the weight of his actions and decisions, where does he go from here? Yet, wanting to be his own man. Make up his own mind. Though all factors from all directions seem to be pressing down on him.
Brando, not wanting to play the character in the same manner as Clark Gable in the 1935 adaptation:
I had seen the 1935 version of MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY and was impressed with the performance of Charles Laughton but not with that of Clark Gable as Fletcher Christian. He didn't even bother to speak with an English accent; nor had Franchot Tone, the costar." |
*sigh* ... Oh Bud, what are you doing to me? You know how much I love my Tone. No matter though, Tone (too a student of The Group Theater in the early days) makes up for this in his, underrated by the times, acting ability (at least for me). Not just "Bounty" but in his filmography as a whole, though it is unfortunate the films he had to make during the studio era for the most part, didn't seem to reflect the capability of what he could do with a role outside of the "other man", playboy, or romance roles, just to look good for the sake of looking good, for the sake of the picture (see more on my highlight on Franchot Tone in my piece SUMMER UNDER THE STARS)
Though it won none of its Oscar nominations, MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1962) was up for 7 Academy Awards:
Best Picture
Best Art Direction
Best Film Editing
Best Cinematography
Best Special Effects
Best Music/Score
Best Music/Song
Best Picture
Best Art Direction
Best Film Editing
Best Cinematography
Best Special Effects
Best Music/Score
Best Music/Song
As well as Marlon's love interest in the film "Maimiti", and soon to be wife in real life, Tarita Teri'ipaia, in her first and only film role, nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.
The size of this film is impressive, and I'm not just speaking of the Ultra Panavision 70 Widescreen aspect of the film, but in terms of its execution, acting, elaborate sets, construction and structure, with the ship "Bounty" being reconstructed as a replica, though larger than its origin, to use for filming. Taking up 400,000 feet of lumber with canvas sewn by hand to create.
The ship, built in Nova Scotia, sailed 7,000 miles to Tahiti.
After usage on the film, The Bounty, was not only used in TRESURE ISLAND (1990), with Charlton Heston, Oliver Reed, Christian Bale, and Christopher Lee, but up until 2012, was used in a personal favorite film series between my Mom and I, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, in its second installment "DEAD MAN'S CHEST" ... Yep. We were there in the theater the weekend it came out; PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN shirts on, tote bag (that my Mom made and wore herself) and all, watching The Bounty, dressed as the Edinburgh Trader, being eaten by ...
After usage on the film, The Bounty, was not only used in TRESURE ISLAND (1990), with Charlton Heston, Oliver Reed, Christian Bale, and Christopher Lee, but up until 2012, was used in a personal favorite film series between my Mom and I, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, in its second installment "DEAD MAN'S CHEST" ... Yep. We were there in the theater the weekend it came out; PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN shirts on, tote bag (that my Mom made and wore herself) and all, watching The Bounty, dressed as the Edinburgh Trader, being eaten by ...
"Let no joyful voice be heard! Let no man look up at the sky with hope! And let this day be cursed by we who ready to wake ...
... the Kraken!"
The Bounty too an attraction for tourist in St. Petersburg, Florida all those years in between until its sinking during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. *loooong exhale* Remember watching the World News on this night with the announcement of. That hurt. Real bad. Almost went Kathy Bates MISERY on the tele screen right on the spot, "No! No! Not my misery!".
The first time I watched "Mutiny", I almost ate my entire box of Cheez-Its while immersed in the scenery of this film from beginning to end. And almost struck to tears at the end when ... SPOILER ALERT: ... Brando dies.
Marlon Brando with CoStar (and later wife) Tarita Teri'ipaia as "Maimiti"
MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1962) |
I wanted to appear to be in shock from having been fatally burned. I asked the crew to make a lot of ice; then I lay on top of it until my body was chilled and I was shivering and shaking and my teeth were chattering. While my body was responding physically to the cold, I also thought about how much I loved the Tahitian woman I had fallen for, what it was about her that I loved, and then about the pain, amazement and surprise of dying." |
I turned to my Mom at the end of the film, (who, though was my #FilmPartnerInCrime, was paying any mind not to me), and said to her in my Tom Hanks A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN "there's no crying in baseball" voice; "Marlon Brando doesn't *die* in a movie!" (I know. I know. He has in films, but I needed my "in scene" moment). At my dramatics, my mom laughed, which was really the purpose behind my outburst anyhow. We often did such theatrical performances to one another to challenge the other.
Though "Captain Bligh", who, in life and truth, the lieutenant William Bligh was only 33 when he set sail from England to Tahiti (1), is played by a mature Trevor Howard, and Brando may have dreaded the picture, but he, along with Trevor Howard, Richard Harris, Hugh Griffith, even Henry Daniell and Richard Haydn all act their roles seemingly without a hitch of whatever was going on behind the scenes, other than possibly using it in tone for the parts they were portraying. Even if due to no other choice but. Any off screen drama there may have been doesn't interfere with the on screen drama of the film. Instead, it blends in character as the perfect mix of both, that we, the viewer, are none the wiser. Remember what we talked about in ON THE WATERFRONT, and at the start of this coffee talk? Just watch as the film goes on. It will take you where you need to go.
Though "Captain Bligh", who, in life and truth, the lieutenant William Bligh was only 33 when he set sail from England to Tahiti (1), is played by a mature Trevor Howard, and Brando may have dreaded the picture, but he, along with Trevor Howard, Richard Harris, Hugh Griffith, even Henry Daniell and Richard Haydn all act their roles seemingly without a hitch of whatever was going on behind the scenes, other than possibly using it in tone for the parts they were portraying. Even if due to no other choice but. Any off screen drama there may have been doesn't interfere with the on screen drama of the film. Instead, it blends in character as the perfect mix of both, that we, the viewer, are none the wiser. Remember what we talked about in ON THE WATERFRONT, and at the start of this coffee talk? Just watch as the film goes on. It will take you where you need to go.
Though I find it almost impossible not to hear Robert Osborne telling Alec Baldwin, while he thought it was a good film, he didn't think it essential for people to see it. As this was a week in The Essentials on TCM where Alec had chosen this film to be showcased during one of their seasons together ... Fun times. But I wouldn't let that dissuade you from watching it. No matter where you sit with 1935, like it or dislike it, I say, go for it, give it a try. Even if it's just for one time through.
Before I close out, I have to mention, this was the first time to my memory I had seen Trevor Howard in such an unfavorable role. Becoming a fan of his from films like BRIEF ENCOUNTER (1945), THE KEY (1958), THE THIRD MAN (1949), and I SEE A DARK STRANGER (1946), this was different for me. And thereafter whenever watching him in those films I've just mentioned, there are times I still can't believe this is Captain Bligh! What an actor Howard was. He played it well, which may have stemmed from the frustration of filming this epic adventure, that too seems to show up in a bit of a comical way in MORITURI every time I watch it, knowing by this point, 1965, Marlon had apologized to Trevor for any unpleasantness he may have caused between them on "Mutiny", wherein Trevor makes a cameo appearance in the film MORITURI as "Colonel Statter". It's the scene where Trevor's "Colonel Statter's" has to see off Brando's "Robert Cain" on his mission when Trevor gives a look almost into the camera, as it is quite clear even to the viewing audience, Marlon has just went off script in his dialogue with words of his own, as if Trevor: *inwardly curses* "... Not this again -- " in an irritated fashion whilst the camera rolls. Trevor's face never fails to make me laugh!
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In short (a long time later), don't hesitate to give this film a watch, it's actually perfect for a Saturday kind of a morning. I'd lay out some pancakes and a couple cups of coffee for this one though (leave the Cheez-It's behind). It is lengthy, Overture and Intermission included, but worth the effort.
Be sure to climb upon MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY this SATURDAY morn at 10:30AM CT on TCM! ... Welcome aboard.
Be sure to climb upon MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY this SATURDAY morn at 10:30AM CT on TCM! ... Welcome aboard.
This concludes my 31 Days of Oscars series. I hope you've enjoyed the show during its run. And if nothing more, I hope I've shed a different light or view you may have had on Marlon Brando, to see him as more of a person than headlines (read my HELLO. I'M MARLON BRANDO piece for more). If not, no worries, we can still enjoy cinema for what it is. Entertainment, meaningful to watch in each of our individual lives, or as an escape.
To view the other pieces that were included in my Marlon Brando #31DaysOfOscar: Start here ... Or Follow me on Twitter @DominiqueRevue
For more of my personally made gifs, visit my channel at: @DominiqueRevue
For more of my personally made gifs, visit my channel at: @DominiqueRevue
Until we blog again ... Best and love Guys 'n Dolls.
#ForMyMom
(Miss her everyday ...
To watch the Short Film inspired by my Mom click the hashtag above.)
(Miss her everyday ...
To watch the Short Film inspired by my Mom click the hashtag above.)