Which version of "Mutiny on the Bounty"?

With the passing of Marlon Brando, I got thinking about the movie "Mutiny on the Bounty". I have seen his version with Trevor Howard (1962), but there is also the original version with Clark Gable & Charles Laughton (1935). Can anyone who has seen both version tell me which you prefer?

Thanks in advance for your input.

Honestly, I haven't seen either of those origional versions, but I thought the remake with Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins kicked ass. I think that one was called The Bounty. I will have to check out the origionals.

I think Brando & Gable are pretty evenly matched as Fletcher Christian. I do, however prefer Laughton's Capt. Bly over Trevor Howard's portrayal. Because of this and a general nostalgic reverence for the movie as a whole, I'll have to go with the Gable / Luaghton Mutiny.

I liked the one with the naked papayas.

Hey, what happened to this thread anyway? I saw it, I clicked, I went to Lotta Livin'. I refreshed and it vanished. Now it's here again. Odd.

The Marlon Brando version is the one for me. Over the top acting, over-saturated color, island babes in grass skirts, palm trees, tikis, a hundred drums drumming while Marlon gives the Chiefest Island Babe (whom he later married in real life) the eye.

The Clak Gable Version gave us Christian's Hut, which begat the Bali Hai in San Diego.

The Brando version convinced him to move to Tahiti & ignore movie making for years at a time.

Looking at it this way my vote goes to the original.

My mother introduced me to the original with Clark and Charles when I was a wee lad. I own both the 1935 Oscar Winner and The Bounty. But, come on: Mel, Olivier, Day-Lewis, Neeson and Hopkins . . . The Bounty has to be the best (I have to admit though, I have never seen the Brando one). Also, let's not forget the beautiful scenery in The Bounty (lot's of gorgeous nekid ladies)!!

Bartender! I see light through my glass - mind the gap! The bottle stands near you!

[ Edited by: Dano on 2004-07-14 22:44 ]

[ Edited by: Dano on 2004-07-14 22:44 ]

I like all three. You'll like all three. The story of the Bounty is so interesting that once you've seen one of these movies you'll want to see all three. And then you should watch Errol Flynn's swashbuckler movies to return again to the same atmosphere.

I have seen all 3 and I absolutely like Gable's version the best.

While I am a huge Brando fan - he was a bit too stoic for the part and Gable was much more believeable as a mutineer.

and mel gibson was laughable in comparison to the earlier two versions. he played the part as a wimp.

and mel gibson was laughable in comparison to the earlier two versions. he played the part as a wimp.

“Oh, there are rumblings are there?”

To me, there is no comparison between “The Bounty” (1984), and “Mutiny On The Bounty” (1935). “TB” (1984) is far better than “MOTB” (1935). I have yet to see the Brando version.

TB is more historically accurate than MOTB, thus the most reliable version of the mutiny. The acting (yes, even Mel’s) is fantastic, and the supporting cast is mostly English, therefore very good for a movie made about one of HisMajesty’sShips. Also, the Polynesian actors, such as Wi Kuki Ka as King Tynah, give a more authentic (and sensitive) feel to TB. Also, let me mention once more: Olivier, Day-Lewis, and Neeson. TB definitely has the most heavyweight cast of the two movies.

Mel brings complexity and strength to the character of Fletcher Christian that you never saw in Gable’s depiction. Even more brilliant than Mel’s depiction of Fletcher Christian, is Hopkins portrayal of Bligh. Hopkins is able to convey Bligh’s increasing frustration and irritability magnificently. The scenes between Gibson and Hopkins, starting off when they are friends and leading up to the mutiny are filled with emotion, intensity and tension. On the other hand, Charles Laughton in MOTB portrayed Bligh as an angry and unreasonable tyrant who flogs a sailor who’s already dead. Nothing could be further from the truth. Bligh actually punished his crew very little in comparison to other ship’s captains of the time. He was a professional, capable seaman who was able to sail the Bounty to Tahiti with the loss of only one man, and when cast afloat in the Bounty’s launch, sailed it 4,000 miles to safety.

Thanks to a 49-year advantage in film technology, etc., TB gives you better sets, props, and special effects. TB is filled with wonderful cinematography of the beautiful South Pacific and Tahitian landscape, and very beautiful Polynesians.

I must truculently insist that the Brando version is the best. Yes, the Mel Gibson version is more historically accurate, but so what? Bounty is about Big Conflict and Big Love in the most exotic South Seas setting there is, and the Brando version serves up great heaping dollops of this throughout. Whereas the Gibson version is, in my opinion, kinda pokey ...

It's like someone coming to your back yard and pointing at your tikis and saying "these are not authentic Polynesian tikis." And we all know the answer to that. Brando's version of Fletcher Christian is like that -- something that's started off historically real and then gone through a reinterpretation, in this case by one of the greatest and most crazy actors of the 20th century.

And here is something (from an earlier string somewhere) to print out and put in a place of honor near your tiki bar:

and btw, this is a British naval lieutenant's uniform, which Christian never was. The way he was attired in the Gibson movie is authentic. The above picture is false and inaccurate. But if the above picture is not the supreme personification of South Seas fun n' games, I'd like to know what is.

OK...OK! Brando was a pretty cool Fletcher Christian and that's a really great picture. If Christian wasn't a British naval lieutenant then what was his position aboard the Bounty. I always thought Fletcher Christian was like the XO. Or are you saying the "uniform" is incorrect?

Christian was a "master's mate" -- and yes, he was the XO, but he was not an active-duty British naval officer.

The only British naval officer on the Bounty was Bligh -- and he as a lieutenant. He was called "captain" because the c.o. of any ship -- regardless of pay grade -- is by courtesy called "captain." Bligh wasn't awarded the actual rank of captain until much later -- and later on he made admiral. He also suffered another mutiny, btw.

The Bounty was not really on a military mission per se. The Bounty was not even a warship, but was purchased by the British government for the purpose of gathering and delivering breadfruit. The British put an active duty officer in charge of the Bounty (Bligh), but the rest of the crew was basically a "pickup" civilian crew -- Christian included.

But oh how I prefer the "Hollywood" version of Brando arriving at the Bounty in a fancy carriage with two hot babes to see him off! Christian as indolent aristocrat who is "obliged" to serve in the military so as to be socially correct! And who immediately looks down his nose at the bourgeois Bligh! Much, much better! Completely historically false, but much, much better.

In my opinion.

Search only showed this and something in the music forum...so posting on this old one.

Turner Classic Movies is playing a little clip about the Bounty that was built for the movie...some movie scenes included, no narration, just background music.
http://video.tvguide.com/Mutiny+On+The+Bounty/Mutiny+On+The+Bounty+New+York+Worlds+Fair++Original+Movie+Promo/1184719?autoplay=true&partnerid=OVG

I liked Brando. :)