The Mutiny of the Bounty

The Mutiny of the Bounty
The Mutiny of the Bounty
Directed by	Raymond Longford
Written by	Raymond Longford; Lottie Lyell
Based on	Journals of Captain Bligh
Produced by	Raymond Longford
Starring	George Cross; John Storm; D.L. Dalziel; Wilton Power;
Cinematography	Charles Newham; Franklyn Barrett; A. O. Segerberg
Production; companies	Crick and Jones
Distributed by	Hughes (NZ)
Release date	2 September 1916;
Running time	5,000 feet
Country	Australia
Languages	Silent film ; English intertitles

The Mutiny of the Bounty is a 1916 Australian-New Zealand silent film directed by Raymond Longford about the mutiny aboard HMS Bounty.^[2] It is the first known cinematic dramatisation of this story and is considered a lost film.^[3]

Longford claimed it was the first Australian film to shoot scenes at sea.^[4]

Plot

The story deals with the mutiny on HMS Bounty on 28 April 1789, Captain Bligh's journey back to England, the recapture of the mutineers on Tahiti and the subsequent fate of the other mutineers on Pitcairn Island.^[5] The story was structured in five acts.^[6]

Cast

George Cross as Captain Bligh
John Storm as King George III
D.L. Dalziel as Sir Joseph Banks
Wilton Power as Fletcher Christian
Reginald Collins as Midshipman Heywood
Ernesto Crosetto as Midshipman Hallett
Harry Beaumont as Mr Samuels
Charles Villiers as Burkett
Meta Taupopoki as Otoo
Mere Amohau as Mere
Ida Guildford as Mrs Heywood
Lottie Lyell as Nessy Heywood

Production

Filming took place in Rotorua, Norfolk Island and Sydney starting April 1916.^[7]^[8]

The movie was partly financed by distributors Stanley Crick and Herbert Finlay in association with J.D. Williams^[9] and was described as "probably the most costly production yet made in Australia."^[10] Māori actors played the Tahitians who greeted crew members of the Bounty. During shooting the unit came across a real life HMS Pandora.^[11] Longford wanted to shoot some scenes on Pinchgut Island in Sydney Harbour but was refused with the authorities giving no reason.^[12]

Attempts were made to ensure the script was as historically accurate as possible and Bligh was not as demonised as he would be in later film versions of this story.^[13]

Reception

Box office

The film received good reviews and was a success at the box office. When the film was released in Sydney on 2 September 1916,^[14] it was endorsed by the education department and 2,000 school children attending the initial screening.^[15] Lottie Lyell later supervised a recut of the film for the British market.^[16]

Critical response

One reviewer described it as the best Australian film ever made.^[15]

References

^ "Raymond Longford", Cinema Papers, January 1974 p51
^ Loretta Barnard.These Australian women dominated Hollywood before Hollywood.The Big Smoke.8 March 2019.
^ 'New Zealand's Missing Film History', The Film Archive Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
^ Everyones, Everyones Ltd, 1920, retrieved 25 March 2019
^ "PERTH MAJESTIC". The Sunday Times. Perth: National Library of Australia. 4 November 1917. p. 7. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
^ "Advertising". Goulburn Evening Penny Post. NSW: National Library of Australia. 30 September 1916. p. 3 Edition: EVENING. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
^ "PRODUCTION OF MOVING PICTURES-- IN AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA". Australian Town and Country Journal. Vol. XCVIII, no. 2555. New South Wales, Australia. 18 December 1918. p. 20. Retrieved 21 November 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^ "Australian Feature film". Billboard. 22 July 1916. p. 57.
^ "Bound printed copy of Minutes of Evidence of the Royal Commission on the Moving Picture Industry in Australia (one of two copies)". National Archives of Australia. NAA: A11636, 4/1. p. 146.
^ ""MUTINY OF THE BOUNTY."". The Mail. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 24 March 1917. p. 4. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
^ "No title." Sunday Times (Perth) 14 Nov 1926: 15. Retrieved 7 December 2011
^ The Lone hand, W. McLeod], 1907, retrieved 4 June 2018
^ Helen Martin and Sam Edwards, New Zealand Film: 1912-1996, Oxford Uni Press, 1997 p 26
^ The Mutiny of the Bounty (1916).imdb.com.
^ ^a ^b "Motography - Lantern: Search, Visualize & Explore the Media History Digital Library".
^ Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 64

External links

The Mutiny of the Bounty at IMDb
Copy of script and associated documentation available at National Archives of Australia (registration required)
Full text of A Voyage to the South Sea by William Bligh
Full text of A Narrative of The Mutiny, on Board His Majesty's Ship 'Bounty' by William Bligh

[papers-1] "Raymond Longford", Cinema Papers, January 1974 p51

[2] Loretta Barnard.These Australian women dominated Hollywood before Hollywood.The Big Smoke.8 March 2019.

[3] 'New Zealand's Missing Film History', The Film Archive Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine

[4] Everyones, Everyones Ltd, 1920, retrieved 25 March 2019

[5] "PERTH MAJESTIC". The Sunday Times. Perth: National Library of Australia. 4 November 1917. p. 7. Retrieved 7 January 2012.

[6] "Advertising". Goulburn Evening Penny Post. NSW: National Library of Australia. 30 September 1916. p. 3 Edition: EVENING. Retrieved 1 September 2013.

[7] "PRODUCTION OF MOVING PICTURES-- IN AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA". Australian Town and Country Journal. Vol. XCVIII, no. 2555. New South Wales, Australia. 18 December 1918. p. 20. Retrieved 21 November 2023 – via National Library of Australia.

[8] "Australian Feature film". Billboard. 22 July 1916. p. 57.

[vol-9] "Bound printed copy of Minutes of Evidence of the Royal Commission on the Moving Picture Industry in Australia (one of two copies)". National Archives of Australia. NAA: A11636, 4/1. p. 146.

[10] ""MUTINY OF THE BOUNTY."". The Mail. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 24 March 1917. p. 4. Retrieved 7 January 2012.

[11] "No title." Sunday Times (Perth) 14 Nov 1926: 15. Retrieved 7 December 2011

[12] The Lone hand, W. McLeod], 1907, retrieved 4 June 2018

[13] Helen Martin and Sam Edwards, New Zealand Film: 1912-1996, Oxford Uni Press, 1997 p 26

[14] The Mutiny of the Bounty (1916).imdb.com.

[lantern.mediahist.org-15] "Motography - Lantern: Search, Visualize & Explore the Media History Digital Library".

[16] Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 64

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v t e Films directed by Raymond Longford
1910s	The Fatal Wedding (1911) The Romantic Story of Margaret Catchpole (1911) Sweet Nell of Old Drury (1911) The Tide of Death (1912) The Midnight Wedding (1912) Australia Calls (1913) Pommy Arrives in Australia (1913) 'Neath Austral Skies (1913) The Silence of Dean Maitland (1914) The Swagman's Story (1914) Taking his Chance (1914) (short) Trooper Campbell (1914) (short) We'll Take Her Children in Amongst Our Own (1915) (short) Ma Hogan's New Boarder (1915) (short) The Mutiny of the Bounty (1916) A Maori Maid's Love (1916) The Church and the Woman (1917) The Woman Suffers (1918) The Sentimental Bloke (1919)
1920s	On Our Selection (1920) Ginger Mick (1920) Rudd's New Selection (1921) The Blue Mountains Mystery (1921) The Dinkum Bloke (1923) Australia Calls (1923) An Australian by Marriage (1923) Fisher's Ghost (1924) The Bushwhackers (1925) Peter Vernon's Silence (1926) The Pioneers (1926) Sunrise (1926) Hills of Hate (1926)
1930s	Waltzing Matilda (1933) (assoc director) Diggers in Blighty (1933) (assoc director) The Hayseeds (1933) (assoc director) Splendid Fellows (1934) (assoc director) The Man They Could Not Hang (1934)