From the Archives: ‘Mutiny on the Bounty,’ an excellent drama of sea

Great sea stories are a rarity in pictures. But “Mutiny on the Bounty” is one of them. It ascends to the crest of picturesqueness and of drama, and just occasionally sinks into the trough of brutality. But any forbidding characteristics that it possesses are swept under by the power of its story, which rides high on the tide of adventure in a day when the ocean’s lanes and pathways were fraught with danger. It is a great production, recalling the best days of the silent films in its photographic excellence.

“Mutiny on the Bounty” lashes the screen with high pictorial effect at Grauman’s Chinese and Loew’s State theaters. Rich in the spectacular, it has mood and quality. Frank Lloyd, as director, brought it to fulfillment as his most important feature of the type since “The Sea Hawk,” and in this instance he has probably more sharply etched characters to deal with.

LAUGHTON SCORES

Certainly Charles Laughton is at his best in a relentless portrait of the inflexible Capt. Bligh. He surpasses everything with the possible exception of his Javert in “Les Misérables.” And his role in “Mutiny” is a decided contrast. His cruelties are all but overshadowed by his courage, especially when he and a few adherents are set afloat in the long boat by the mutineers.

Clark Gable has a true he-manish character to do as the mate aboard the Bounty. He carries it out with spirit. One misses the lighter Gable in this portrayal, but it is a substantial accomplishment that he offers.

Franchot Tone enjoys some brilliant opportunities. The long final speech is not in all ways the best of these, though he speaks the words ably. The speech itself is weak. In the atmosphere of the primeval which prevails in the South Seas, Tone represents admirably romance.

CAST WELL CHOSEN

There is a throng of characters. Pre-eminent perhaps are Donald Crisp, Herbert Mundin, Eddie Quillan, De Witt Jennings, Dudley Digges and some of the other members of the well-selected crew of the Bounty. The native girls, Movita and Mamo, lend allure to their scenes. Henry Stephenson, Spring Byington, Ian Wolfe, Ivan Simpson, Stanley Fields, Wallis Clark, Vernon Downing, Dick Winslow and Pat Flaherty are others seen. Various writers contributed to the screen play, including Talbot Jennings, Jules Furthman and Carey Wilson, while story is credited to Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall.