The Mutiny of the Bounty
The Mutiny of the Bounty | |
---|---|
Directed by | Captain Bligh |
Produced by | Raymond Longford |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Charles Newham Franklyn Barrett A. O. Segerberg |
Production companies | Crick and Jones |
Distributed by | Hughes (NZ) |
Release date | 2 September 1916[1] |
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
Cast
- 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 and was described as "probably the most costly production yet made in Australia."[9] Māori actors played the Tahitians who greeted crew members of the Bounty. During shooting the unit came across a real life HMS Pandora.[10] Longford wanted to shoot some scenes on Pinchgut Island in Sydney Harbour but was refused with the authorities giving no reason.[11]
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.[12]
Reception
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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,[13] it was endorsed by the education department and 2,000 school children attending the initial screening.[14] Lottie Lyell later supervised a recut of the film for the British market.[15]
Critical response
One reviewer described it as the best Australian film ever made.[14]
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.
- 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