Film Romance of The Historic Mutiny of The Bounty

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 18975, 27 March 1936, Page 13

Film Romance of The Historic Mutiny of The Bounty

i TO New Zealanders the story of the ' mutiny of the Bounty is of especial interest. Immediately after the war two for-; mer air aces, James Norman Hall and Charles Nbrdhoff, seeking a means of eking out a livelihood in the cheapest manner possible, sot out for the South Seas; and there was penned the romance of the historic Bounty, presented in such a manner as to make, it one of the world's best sellers, with over .'1,000,000 copies to its credit. ! Mr. Prank Lloyd, director of the film, had "Mutiny on the Bounty" as u project for independent production, j but eventually he told of his dream to j Irving Thalberg. As a result, £500,000 was spent in getting on to celluloid what would preserve for all time the sea epic of a great nation. Pacific Coast shipbuilders of the U.S.A., using blueprints supplied by the British Admiralty from which the original Bounty was constructed, built an absolute replica of the picturesque ship. Miss Ida Leeson, librarian of the Mitchell Library, Sydney, w.as at Papeete at the same time as Mr. Lloyd, where she told him that the original log of the Bounty, handwritten by none other than Captain Bligh, was hecurely locked away in the vaults of her library. Mr. Lloyd was delighted, and immediately photostats H ere ordered by cable, and forwarded to him; ' Months were spent in selecting the cast. Though the principals —Laugh-ton*-as .Captain -Bligh and Gable and Tone" as' ■mutin.eers-'-were signed up, dt was the choice of the two native [girls who portray the wives of Flet-