Mutiny on the Bounty

Director: Frank Lloyd
Year Released: 1935
Rating: 3.0

Clark Gable takes on inhuman monster Charles Laughton in this justly praised naval epic that's loosely based on a true story. The real life Captain Bligh, it's been written, was a gentleman and honorable man - not like the Bligh shown here, who is a one-dimensional character - and that perhaps the real reason the crew mutinied was to return to Tahiti. Facts be damned when it comes to literature and Hollywood, however, and the result is a rousing action picture that features the same old build-up and release mechanism for the audience to take delight in the characters (led by Gable) turning on Bligh - after an hour plus of his cruelty, his being cast off the Bounty is a great relief to all. Most importantly, it's a model for all cinematic sea adventures, and the precisely the movie 2003's Master and Commander is not.