Mutiny On The Bounty (1962 Film) - Miscellany

Miscellany

• The very first filming of the story predated the well-known 1935 Irving Thalberg/M-G-M version: it was a 1915 silent Australian picture. There was also a 1933 Australian film In the Wake of the Bounty, a primitive, studio-bound early talkie most notable as the first picture made by future star Errol Flynn, who played Fletcher Christian.
• The 1962 film has become legendary for Brando's behaviour during filming. Allegedly, this was what led to Carol Reed's departure, and caused confrontations with Lewis Milestone. According to fellow actor Richard Harris, Brando got along badly with several cast members, including Harris himself, whose resentment was fuelled in part by Brando's refusal (or inability) to memorize his lines; Harris was later quoted as saying, "The picture and Brando were a large dreadful nightmare for me and I'd prefer to forget both as soon as my nerves recover." Brando would even reportedly rewrite portions of the script to his liking from day to day, leaving the rest of the cast bewildered as to what was to be filmed. According to the biography by Peter Manso, Brando's antics included pulling members of the film crew away from the set to work on the decorations for a friend's wedding in Tahiti and flying airplane loads of expensive food and drinks to the island for parties he would throw. The press accused Brando of throwing the film into weeks of overbudget, but Brando denied this and said the producers made a few mistakes as well that made the film's release late.
• In order to prepare for the scene of Fletcher Christian's death at the close of the movie, Brando, already no stranger to method acting, reportedly lay on blocks of ice for several minutes at a time to accurately simulate the tremors of a burn victim. When the scene was filmed, however, Harris refused to act opposite Brando, and performed his dialogue to a log. When Brando wanted to film his close ups, Harris reportedly threw the log down and said, "Let him talk to this."
• Brando later married Tarita Teriipia, who played Maimiti in the film.
• The 1962 version of the film is the only one of the three in which Christian never appears shirtless. In fact, Marlon Brando is portrayed in the somewhat ridiculous position of lying with the chief's daughter in the bushes, clad in full naval uniform.
• The working replica of Bounty built for the movie, Bounty appeared at the 1964 World's Fair in New York. It was built to Admiralty plans, but significantly larger to accommodate the filming crew and equipment. In the summer of 2007 it sailed to Britain and visited several ports, although not in "Bounty" trim: masquerading as the pirate ship The Black Pearl from the Pirates of the Caribbean film series, its deception was spotted by a young boy and reported in the British press. In 2011 the replica was located in Norway, and offered for sale at a price of US $4,600,000. On October 29, 2012 it was reported that the ship had sunk 90 miles off the North Carolina coast after being caught by Hurricane Sandy.
• When the movie finally premiered in the U.S., it opened to mostly negative reviews. Although it was the sixth-highest grossing film of 1962, it lost money because of its runaway budget.