The Bounty (built for and made famous by the film "The Bounty", in 1984 staring Mel Gibson)
The Bounty story
The original Bounty in 1787 was a small three masted vessel. The whole area between decks was removed and converted into a greenhouse to house the 1,000 breadfruit plants to be transported from Tahiti to the West Indies. The hull was sheathed in copper to guard against marine worm. The refitting was completed in late 1787 and the ship re-named “His Majesty’s Armed Vessel Bounty”. Captain William Bligh later sailed into history when his crew mutinied just off the Island of Tofua on 28th April 1789.
The Bounty in this photo is the replica built for and made famous by the 1985 film “The Bounty”, starring Mel Gibson as Fletcher Christian and Anthony Hopkins as Captain Bligh.
A novel about the Bounty was written in 1932 by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall.
Of the various film versions of the tale “Mutiny on the Bounty”, The Bounty (1985), was the most accurate, and was set during the trial of Lt. William Bligh upon arriving home after the mutiny had occurred.
This film starred Anthony Hopkins as Captain Bligh and Mel Gibson as Fletcher Christian.
This film shows both Bligh and the crew as more products of their time than anything else and also suggests that the motives behind the mutiny might not have been as noble as suggested in the other films. It also portrays the natives mostly nude as they would have appeared at the time of The Bounty's visit to the island (the previous films couldn't portray this because of censorship and decency concerns).
The earlier films made about the Bounty were:
1. “In the Wake of the Bounty”. Made in 1933 it was the first film to introduce Errol Flynn. He played Fletcher Christian.
2. “The Mutiny on the Bounty”. Made in 1935, it was considered to be one of the best nautical adventure films of all time and one of MGM’s greatest classics. It starred Charles Laughton, as Captain Bligh, and Clark Gable as Fletcher Christian. It also featured Franchot Tone, David Niven and James Cagney.
3. The second “Mutiny on the Bounty” was made in 1962 and starred Marlon Brando and Trevor Howard.
Copyright protection watermarks are on every image in this web site. Watermarks cannot be seen on any purchased products.
