In 1934 American writers Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall brought
out the Bounty Trilogy. This three-part novel deals with Christian's
mutiny on the Bounty, the escape of Bligh and his loyal crew members
to Dutch Timor, and the colonization of Pitcairn Island by Christian
and his fellow mutineers.
The novel was an instant bestseller, and director Frank Lloyd soon
made it into a movie, Mutiny on the Bounty, starring Charles Laughton
and Clark Gable. In keeping with the mood of his time, the mutiny was
presented as a simplistic struggle between good and evil, and the film
won an Oscar for Best Picture in 1935.
A generation later Marlon Brando flew down to Tahiti to star in a blockbuster
remake of Mutiny on the Bounty. MGM's 1962 production is still considered
the most spectacular film ever made in the South Pacific, in part due
to the glorious scenery of Tahiti and Bora Bora. Thousands of Tahitian
extras appeared in the film, and Brando married his first lady, Tarita
Teriipaia.
