Mutiny on the Bounty (1935) (2nd time)

Fletcher Christian successfully leads a mutiny against the ruthless Captain Bligh on the HMS Bounty. [imdb]

Nominated for 8 Oscars:

Best Picture (WINNER)
Best Director: Frank Lloyd
Best Actor: Clark Gable
Best Actor: Charles Laughton
Best Actor: Franchot Tone
Best Screenplay
Best Original Score
Best Editing

And so I continue my Best Picture winner odyssey with the 8th winner: Mutiny on the Bounty. I had first seen the film probably about 5-6 years ago, so watching it now I knew plot and that made it difficult to sit through the first hour. But once you get past the cruelty and first impressions, you realize this is quite a good film. It's well directed, well written and the ensemble cast is great.

As a piece of trivia: this film is considered to be the cause for introducing the Best Supporting Actor/Actress the following year, due to Franchot Tone who got a Best Actor nomination, even though his role is supporting; this resulted in 3 Best Actor nominations for the same film (still a record today), probably unacceptable, giving birth to the much needed supporting acting categories.

Charles Laughton is so cruel & mean and his casting is perfect, with him giving an Oscar worthy performance. I've even enjoyed Clark Gable, even though it's not my type of character and Franchot Tone's speech at the end of the film is dead on. The direction is smart & often difficult and the technical part is believable. I found the film to be very enjoyable, especially in the second half and I couldn't really find major flaws to it. I haven't seen its main Best Picture contender (John Ford's The Informant), but this one is a worthy winner.

My rating for the film: 8.5/10. I've enjoyed it more this time around.