The HMS Bounty departs on a two-year voyage across the Pacific to keep the gears of the English Empire churning. Captain William Bligh is famously tyrannical over his crew, exacting harsh punishments whenever he suspects a lack of discipline. When the ship arrives in Tahiti, the crew finally breathes a sigh of relief as they are allowed shore leave to rest. All, that is, but the ship’s lieutenant Fletcher Christian, who is denied leave after disagreeing with the captain for his treatment of the crew. Still, Fletcher manages to sneak away long enough to fall in love with Tahiti (and a Tahitian woman, named Maimiti). When shore leave ends and the harsh treatment resumes, the ship’s beloved surgeon dies, applying the straw that breaks the camels back. The crew agrees on mutiny, casting Bligh and his loyalist out on a dingy (I figure it’s not a spoiler if it’s in the title). The Bounty’s crew sets back to Tahiti in search of a peaceful life. But with a revenge-fueled Bligh on their tail, with the Bounty’s crew ever be free men?
At 2 hour and 12 minutes of seafaring adventure, I honestly expected to grow tired of this one, but I liked it. The story was well paced and well told, and I felt the story beats took us to believable and interesting places. Clark Gable is young and likable as Fletcher Christian and Charles Laughton is the perfect antagonist as Bligh. The film kinda lives in the same place as a classic Western does, in the sense that the ocean is the frontier and our man wants his own homestead, free from tyranny. Part political narrative, part wish fulfillment, the film was perfect escapism for Great Depression audiences. Today, while it lacks some of the bite of modern films, it’s still perfectly watchable and entertaining.