“But there’s another story, Captain Bligh, of ten cocoanuts and two cheeses. A story of a man who robbed his seamen, cursed them, flogged them, not to punish but to break their spirit. A story of greed and tyranny, and of anger against it, of what it cost”.
Clarke Gable as Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind is one of those iconic performances that will live on forever. Clarke Gable in It Happened One Night is one I only saw for the first time a few years ago, but it immediately proved to me that his work in Gone With the Wind was no fluke. He is one watchable, charismatic, charming son of a bitch. Which is why I thought it was time I saw a bit more of his work, starting with Mutiny on the Bounty.
“In December, 1787, HMS Bounty lay in Portsmouth harbour on the eve of departure for Tahiti in the uncharted waters of the Great South Sea. The Bounty’s mission was to procure breadfruit trees for transplanting to the West Indies as cheap food for slaves. Neither ship nor breadfruit reached the West Indies. Mutiny prevented it. Mutiny against the abuse of the harsh eighteenth century sea law. But this mutiny, famous in history and legend, helped bring about a new discipline based upon mutual respect between officers and men, by which Britain’s sea power is maintained as security for all who pass upon the seas”. (more…)
Bored and Dangerous 