Mutiny on the Bounty: 1935 Best Picture

Ah, a historical film, or at least one loosely based on history. MGM’s “Mutiny on the Bounty” (1935) was adapted from a novel by the same named written by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall. Both were “based upon a true story”, you might say. And though nobody really knows what Fletcher Christian looked like, judging by his son, Thursday October Christian, it’s safe to say he didn’t look like Errol Flynn or Clark Gable.

Errol Flynn played the role of Fletcher Christian before Clark Gable. Marlon Brando played it a few decades after Gable. Most agree that Gable was the best and that this adaptation of the mutiny, however inaccurate, is the best cinematically. Charles Laughton portrayed the allegedly tyrannical Captain Bligh, and Franchot Tone played Roger Byam, a character based upon the real life Peter Heywood. All three actors were nominated for Best Actor, which never happened again and that’s because they introduced the Supporting Actor and Actress categories so it wouldn’t. They all lost to Victor McLaglen for his role as “Gypo” Nolan in “The Informer.” At the time, both Laughton and Gable already had scored Academy Awards for Best Actor for “The Private Life of Henry VIII” and “It Happened One Night”, respectively. Neither ever won another and Franchot Tone was never again nominated for an Oscar after this.

Here is one interesting bit of trivia connecting two of the Bounty films. In 1960, Marlon Brando married Movita, the actress who played Tehani in the 1935 film. They separated in 1962, whereupon he took up with Tarita. She played Maimiti, the Tahitian woman who dances for him in the 1962 remake. Brando’s marriage to Movita was annulled in 1968 when it was determined that she was still married to her first husband in 1960. It is often said he married Tarita in 1962 but, at least in the USA, he was still married to Movita. If you’ve ever a mind to see the 1962 remake, check out the look on Brando’s face while Tarita dances.

There is an abundance of Jeopardy! clues on the Bounty mutiny. Hey! It’s history, literature and film. In 2008, Jeopardy! devoted a whole category to Captain Bligh but most of it concerned real facts about his life. Here’s one you would know just from seeing the film:
BLIGH ME, CAPTAIN! $400: The most famous event in William Bligh’s life was the 1789 mutiny on the Bounty led by this man

More Bounty clues:
POLYNESIA $800: In January 1790 the population of Pitcairn Island went from 0 to 28: 19 Tahitians & 9 British sailors, led by him
VIRGIN BERTHS $2,000 (Daily Double): Formerly known as the Bethia, this refitted ship set sail to find Tahitian breadfruit in 1787
TALES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC $400: “Pitcairn’s Island” is the second sequel to this historical novel about a rebellious crew
HOLLYWOOD REMAKES $800: This waterlogged 1935 movie with Charles Laughton & Clark Gable was remade in 1962 & 1984
FAR AND AWAY $500 (Daily Double): One way to reach this remote British island in the South Pacific is via a research vessel, the Bounty Bay
SHIPS $800: In the most famous mutiny in history, Fletcher Christian & his mates seized control of this ship in 1789
NAME THAT MOVIE $800: 1935: “I’ll live to see you… all of you… hung from the highest yardarm in the British fleet”
THAT’S NOT HOW THAT BOOK ENDS! $400: Fletcher held up his hand. “Y’know, taking out Bligh is a bad idea, let’s go have espressos & talk out our feelings”
NOW NAME THE OTHER… $2000: movie in which Clark Gable starred that won consecutive Best Picture Oscars in the mid-1930s
BODIES OF WATER $1600: This bay off Pitcairn Island is named for the ship that was burned & sunk in its waters on January 23, 1790
CATALINA $800: Movies shot on Catalina include this 1935 Oscar winner starring Clark Gable & Charles Laughton
CLARK GABLE $1200: In this rebellious 1935 release, Gable romances island girl Mamo Clark
TAKES 2 TO TONGA $600: This ship was off the coast of Tonga when its famous mutiny took place in 1789
HISTORICAL NOVELS $800: Some consider this 1932 novel, the first in a trilogy, a blight on Captain Bligh’s character
HISTORY TEST $900 (Daily Double): This ship left Tahiti April 4, 1789, apparently to the regret of many of the crew
“T” COUNTRIES $600: In 1789 the mutiny on the Bounty occurred in the waters of this south Pacific kingdom
THE SKIPPER $400: 1932: The Bounty (before the mutiny)
CLIFFS NOTES $500: Sea captain cares more about his cargo of breadfruit trees than he does about his crew; crew senses this
FILM ROLES IN COMMON $1,000 (Daily Double): Role played by Clark Gable in 1935, Marlon Brando in ’62 & Mel Gibson in ’84
NOVEL TRILOGIES $1,000 (Daily Double): It’s the first book in a historical trilogy that continues with “Men Against the Sea” & “Pitcairn’s Island”
AUTHORS & THEIR WORKS $200: Nordhoff & Hall’s 1934 “Men Against the Sea”, the story of Bligh & his men in an open boat, was a sequel to this
HISTORY $400: The officer who led the mutiny on the Bounty
1789 $400: Why April 28th was a bad day for Capt. Bligh
OSCAR NOMINATIONS: The only time 3 actors from the same movie were nominated for Best Actor was for this high seas film
THE 18th CENTURY: In 1790 the HMS Pandora sailed thousands of miles specifically to bring back this man but failed

More clues for 1935 films:
SHAKESPEAREAN ACTORS $1000: In 1935 as Petruchio in “Taming of the Shrew”, Alfred Lunt tamed this wife who played Katharina
MOVIE TAGLINES $1,800 (Daily Double): 1935: “The monster demands a mate!”
MR. ROBINSON $400: 1935’s “The Little Colonel” contains the scene in which Bill Robinson tap dances up & down the stairs with her
1930s CINEMA $1200: Elsa Lanchester played 2 roles in this 1935 sequel: the title mate, &, in an amusing prologue, Mary Shelley
THE SECOND FILM IN THE SERIES $600: The doctor methodically manufactures a mate for his monster in this 1935 follow-up
FROM SCREEN TO STAGE $200: A handful of actors play more than 100 roles in “The 39 Steps”, based on this director’s 1935 suspense classic
LEONARD MALTIN ON DISNEY $200: (Leonard Maltin reads the clue.) 1935’s “The Band Concert”, my favorite animated short, featured the color debut of this ultimate Disney icon, who played the maestro
OSCAR YOUTH $1600: Her 1935 honorary award made this curly-haired girl the youngest actress ever to receive an Oscar
THIRTYSOMETHING $800: Number of “Steps” in a Hitchcock thriller from 1935
A COLONEL OF KNOWLEDGE $400: In 1935 on the big screen, she was “The Little Colonel”
THE “CAPTAIN” $2000: Errol Flynn is a doctor who is forced to become a pirate in this 1935 action fest
HERE’S LOOKING AT YOU, KID $400: She played little Virginia Cary in 1935’s “The Littlest Rebel”
THAT’S YOUNG! $200: At age 6 in 1935 she won a special Oscar for her outstanding contribution to screen entertainment
FROM PAGE TO SCREEN $400: James Cagney played Bottom & Mickey Rooney was Puck in a 1935 adaptation of this Shakespeare comedy
“WILD” ABOUT ENTERTAINMENT $1600: Clark Gable starred in the 1935 big screen version of this Jack London adventure tale
FAMOUS PAIRS $800: This acting couple who wed in 1922 starred in 1925’s “Arms and the Man” & 1935’s “Taming of the Shrew”
“B” MOVIES $100: A marriage-minded monster awaits this title creation in a 1935 horror classic starring Elsa Lanchester
MOVIE QUOTES $1000: 1935: The toast was “To a new world of gods and monsters!”
BLOODY BUSINESS $800: His first role as a swashbuckler was in 1935 as Captain Blood
CLASSIC CINEMA $100: In 1935 this little girl starred in “Our Little Girl”, “The Little Colonel” & “The Littlest Rebel”
MEN IN RED $200: In 1935, in one of this red-caped hero’s first adventures, he finds the real killer of Jack Kennedy
LARRYS, MOES & CURLYS $400: Alisan Porter was “Curly Sue” in 1991 & this child star was “Curly Top” in 1935
MOVIE MONSTERS $400: In 1935 Elsa Lanchester played this doctor’s hair-raising second creation & was meant to wed the first
THE CHINESE THEATRE $300: She wrote, “Love to you all” over her tiny bare footprints in 1935; she was only 6 years old
HITCHCOCK BLONDES $1000: In 1935 this elegant blonde was handcuffed to Robert Donat in “The 39 Steps”
MOVIE TRIVIA $100: Turned down to be an “Our Gang” member, she became top box office star of 1935
And there are even more! click here