Mutiny On The Bounty - 1935

MGM wanted Cary Grant to play Byam, but Grant was under contract to Paramount, which refused to release him.

2nd unit assistant cameraman Glenn Strong died when a barge with 55 crewmen and staff members capsized while shooting exterior scenes.

Charles Laughton, playing William Bligh, who performed one of the world's greatest feats of navigation after having been cast adrift at sea by the Bounty mutineers, was in reality terrified of the ocean and was violently seasick throughout most of the filming.

Clark Gable had to shave off his trademark mustache for this film for historical accuracy. Mustaches were not allowed in the Royal Navy during the time the story takes place.

Actor James Cagney was sailing his boat off of Catalina Island, California, and passed the area where the film's crew was shooting aboard the Bounty replica. Cagney called to director Frank Lloyd, an old friend, and said that he was on vacation and could use a couple of bucks, and asked if Lloyd had any work for him. Lloyd put him into a sailor's uniform, and Cagney spent the rest of the day as an extra playing a sailor aboard the Bounty.

An additional tragedy nearly occurred during filming when an 18-foot replica of the Bounty with two crewmen aboard separated from its tow and was adrift for two days before being found by a search party.

Wallace Beery turned down the role of Capt Bligh because he didn't like Clark Gable and didn't want to be stuck on a long location shoot with him.

The only film in Oscar history that had three nominees for Best Actor: Clark Gable, Charles Laughton, and Franchot Tone. They all lost to Victor McLaglen for The Informer (1935), the only nominee not in this film.

Irving Thalberg cast Clark Gable and Charles Laughton together in the hope that they would hate each other, making their on screen sparring more lifelike. He knew that Gable, a notorious homophobe, would not care for Laughton's overt homosexuality and would feel inferior to the RADA-trained Shakesperaean actor. Relations between the two stars broke down completely after Laughton brought his muscular boyfriend to the island as his personal masseur. They were an obviously devoted couple and would go everywhere together, while Gable would turn away in disgust. In addition, Laughton felt that he should have won the Best Actor Oscar for The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934). In the event, he was not even nominated and the award went to Gable for It Happened One Night (1934).

The last winner of Best Picture Oscar that won no other Oscars.

Clark Gable was initially disappointed when Franchot Tone was cast as Byam. The two actors had been bitter rivals for the affections of Joan Crawford, and did not like each other at all. However, during filming Gable surprisingly became close friends with Tone when they discovered a mutual interest in alcohol and women, both of which were abundantly available in Avalon, the island of Catalina's famous pleasure town.

Franchot Tone's role was originally intended for Robert Montgomery.

The "Pacific Queen" shown in this film is actually a 19th-century ship, originally called the "Balclutha" (although later renamed the "Star of Alaska"). This ship, renamed to its original "Balclutha", can now be found at the Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco as part of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park.

Years later, in a conversation with playwright George S. Kaufman, Charles Laughton remarked that he had given such a good performance in this film because he came from a long line of seafarers. Referring to Laughton's performance in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939), Kaufman dryly commented, "I assume, then, that you also came from a long line of hunchbacks?"

In order to break the ice before shooting, Clark Gable, apparently unaware of co-star Charles Laughton's homosexuality, took him to a brothel. Laughton's wife Elsa Lanchester always said that Laughton was nevertheless "flattered" by this gesture.

The character of Dr. Bacchus, who was a highly-functioning alcoholic, shares his name with the ancient Greek God of Wine.

Clark Gable disliked wearing knee-breeches, because he found them "effeminate."

The film was MGM's most expensive production at the time, costing around $2 million.

Since all three leads were nominated for the Best Actor Oscar, the Academy introduced a Best Supporting Actor Oscar shortly afterward to ensure this situation would not be repeated.

Clark Gable initially felt he was badly miscast as an English naval lieutenant in an historical epic. However, he later said he believed this was the best movie he had starred in.

During filming Clark Gable and Franchot Tone were said to have become romantically involved with Mamo Clark and Movita, who played their girlfriends in the movie.

Cary Grant eagerly sought the role of Midshipman Roger Byam, but the part went to Franchot Tone instead.

The film was based on a trilogy written by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall: "Mutiny on the Bounty", "Men Against the Sea" and "Pitcairn's Island", although events in the last book weren't filmed. Director Frank Lloyd wanted to film a sequel called "Captain Bligh" with Charles Laughton about Bligh's career as governor of an Australian penal colony, but that film was never made.

The sterns of the larger ships in the harbor at the beginning of the film are first rate ships of the line that are similar to the HMS Victory. The producers tried to make these scenes as accurate as possible and it shows.

The only film to have three performers nominated in the Best Actor category at the Academy Awards.

The last film to win Best Picture without winning any other Academy Awards.

Cast of Mutiny On The Bounty

Charles Laughton - Capt. William Bligh
Clark Gable - Lt. Fletcher Christian
Franchot Tone - Midshipman Roger Byam
Herbert Mundin - Smith
Eddie Quillan - Seaman Thomas Ellison
Dudley Digges - Dr. Bacchus
Donald Crisp - Seaman Thomas Burkitt
Henry Stephenson - Sir Joseph Banks
Francis Lister - Capt. Nelson