Charles Nordhoff – Mutiny On The Bounty

Mutiny On The Bounty offered a wonderful opportunity for Welles to match his talents to those of the great Charles Laughton, who had brought the character of Bligh so vividly to the screen in 1935. Like the fi lm, the Mercury Theatre production follows the best-selling novel by Nordhoff and Hall that had been published in 1932. It showed Bligh as a Tyrant and sympathised with the mutineers. In its sequel, Men Against The Sea, the writers concentrated on the heroic qualities of Bligh, and his abilities as a seaman, but for most followers of popular culture, Bligh is the bully and sadist portrayed in the original novel….a fi ne target for Welles. ( 1 DVD )