MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY: three films' worth of masculine chest-heaving, each with its own strengths, weaknesses, and then there's Brando's Fletcher Christian.
Caught the original BOUNTY (Laughton, Gable, Tone) on TCM, and was pleasantly surprised. Despite Gable having refused to speak with an accent (oddly, hardly missed it--maybe it was the right choice!), despite a really irritating secondary back-story of a sailor pressed into service leaving a wife and baby, it was pretty damn good overall.
It's easy to forget one easy fact whilst watching an old (1935) film like this: despite some hokey dialogue, primitive effects, and dated musical score, some of these dudes could ACT. Laughton is great: he nails Bligh as the martinet he was. Gable is great: strong, unyielding, and--well, GABLE. Franchot Tone is the weakest link, but he pulls it together in the last reel and leaves one with a favorable impression. It won BEST PICTURE back in the day, and I can see why. The production values are top notch, it's a thrilling tale, and Gable's shirtless in about 90% of it. After all, when you give the people what they want....
Then there's the Howard and Brando version. Trevor Howard is a decent Bligh, though he lacks the innate OOMPH! that Laughton gave his performance. Personally, I actually LIKE Brando's affected, bizarro performance. Yes he talks funny, acts like an upper-class poof, struts around, and does everything but sing "In Dreams" into a portable industrial light like Dean Stockwell in BLUE VELVET, but I'll give this to him: dull he ain't. The production values are again top-drawer, the music is good, the photography is terrific, and it's an entertaining film.
Lastly, there's the Hopkins and Gibson version. It's not bad, with an emphasis particularly on the trial of the captured BOUNTY crew, but it's got that great bane of early 80's films: A horrible, stinking, festering boil of a syntho score (see a prior post for my visceral distate of them--thank God no one does them anymore in period pics). Unfortunately, it cannot not lanced or ignored: the film is stuck with it for all eternity no matter how bad it truly is, like Monday Night Football apparently is with Tony Kornheiser.
Anyway, this particular musical crime has all the modus operandi features of that musical Greek gangster "Vangelis" (with a hard 'g', by the way, like in the word 'girl,' NOT like 'angel') , the originator and leader of the "Let's Ruin a Period Picture with Synthesizers" gang). Maybe it worked once with CHARIOTS OF FIRE, but never again, for the love of God! Back in the day, it almost got to where I expected a sword and sandals epic scored with theremin and mellotron.
Regardless, I'm recommending all three for a marathon session, in this order:
1. 1935 version. Set the stage with the original, place the bar for the others high right from the start. This is a pre-Production Code film, so keep your finger on the pause button and you might just glimpse a nipple on a Tahitian girl (and no, I'm not exactly kidding).
2. 80's version. Crack open your first beer when that initial rousing syntho theme is heard (you'll recognize a distinct sinking feeling when it does). Drink the beer to deaden the pain. Lather, rinse, repeat as needed.
3. Bizarro Brando Version. Start hitting the hard stuff as soon as you notice the strange tonal inflections Brando decided to give his character. Mix your drinks with a 1:4 Rum to Juice ratio, reversing said ratio after his famous tirade where he says all kinds of inappropriate stuff for a man in the 18th century (you'll know it when you hear it). Shake your head in disbelief every time he opens his mouth. Gape at the native girls, especially the one Brando eventually married in real life.
If anyone actually does this, let me know and I'll mail you a certificate stating that you're a better man than I am.
Caught the original BOUNTY (Laughton, Gable, Tone) on TCM, and was pleasantly surprised. Despite Gable having refused to speak with an accent (oddly, hardly missed it--maybe it was the right choice!), despite a really irritating secondary back-story of a sailor pressed into service leaving a wife and baby, it was pretty damn good overall.
It's easy to forget one easy fact whilst watching an old (1935) film like this: despite some hokey dialogue, primitive effects, and dated musical score, some of these dudes could ACT. Laughton is great: he nails Bligh as the martinet he was. Gable is great: strong, unyielding, and--well, GABLE. Franchot Tone is the weakest link, but he pulls it together in the last reel and leaves one with a favorable impression. It won BEST PICTURE back in the day, and I can see why. The production values are top notch, it's a thrilling tale, and Gable's shirtless in about 90% of it. After all, when you give the people what they want....
Then there's the Howard and Brando version. Trevor Howard is a decent Bligh, though he lacks the innate OOMPH! that Laughton gave his performance. Personally, I actually LIKE Brando's affected, bizarro performance. Yes he talks funny, acts like an upper-class poof, struts around, and does everything but sing "In Dreams" into a portable industrial light like Dean Stockwell in BLUE VELVET, but I'll give this to him: dull he ain't. The production values are again top-drawer, the music is good, the photography is terrific, and it's an entertaining film.
Lastly, there's the Hopkins and Gibson version. It's not bad, with an emphasis particularly on the trial of the captured BOUNTY crew, but it's got that great bane of early 80's films: A horrible, stinking, festering boil of a syntho score (see a prior post for my visceral distate of them--thank God no one does them anymore in period pics). Unfortunately, it cannot not lanced or ignored: the film is stuck with it for all eternity no matter how bad it truly is, like Monday Night Football apparently is with Tony Kornheiser.
Anyway, this particular musical crime has all the modus operandi features of that musical Greek gangster "Vangelis" (with a hard 'g', by the way, like in the word 'girl,' NOT like 'angel') , the originator and leader of the "Let's Ruin a Period Picture with Synthesizers" gang). Maybe it worked once with CHARIOTS OF FIRE, but never again, for the love of God! Back in the day, it almost got to where I expected a sword and sandals epic scored with theremin and mellotron.
Regardless, I'm recommending all three for a marathon session, in this order:
1. 1935 version. Set the stage with the original, place the bar for the others high right from the start. This is a pre-Production Code film, so keep your finger on the pause button and you might just glimpse a nipple on a Tahitian girl (and no, I'm not exactly kidding).
2. 80's version. Crack open your first beer when that initial rousing syntho theme is heard (you'll recognize a distinct sinking feeling when it does). Drink the beer to deaden the pain. Lather, rinse, repeat as needed.
3. Bizarro Brando Version. Start hitting the hard stuff as soon as you notice the strange tonal inflections Brando decided to give his character. Mix your drinks with a 1:4 Rum to Juice ratio, reversing said ratio after his famous tirade where he says all kinds of inappropriate stuff for a man in the 18th century (you'll know it when you hear it). Shake your head in disbelief every time he opens his mouth. Gape at the native girls, especially the one Brando eventually married in real life.
If anyone actually does this, let me know and I'll mail you a certificate stating that you're a better man than I am.
posted by I. Michael Koontz | 1:42 PM
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