In 1932 Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall wrote their novel Mutiny on the Bounty based on the real story of the mutiny against Lieutenant William Bligh, commanding officer of HMS Bounty.
From the novel have arisen two movies with the same title.
The first was a 1935 film starring Charles Laughton, Clark Gable and Franchot Tone. David Niven and James Cagney also had bit parts in the movie.
The only Oscar won by the movie was for Best Picture for its producers, Irving Thalberg and Albert Lewin.
It also received seven additional nominations:
- Best Actor in a Leading Role - Clark Gable
- Charles Laughton
- Franchot Tone
- Best Director - Frank Lloyd
- Best Film Editing - Margaret Booth
- Best Music, Score - Nat W. Finston (head of departmment) and Herbert Stothart ("Love Song of Tahiti" written by Walter Jurmann, uncredited)
- Best Writing, Screenplay - Jules Furthman, Talbot Jennings and Carey Wilson
- Academy Award for Best Picture - Aaron Rosenberg
- Academy Award for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color - George W. Davis, Henry Grace, Hugh Hunt and J. McMillan Johnson
- Best Cinematography, Color - Robert Surtees
- Best Effects, Special Effects - A. Arnold Gillespie (visual) and Milo B. Lory (audible)
- Best Film Editing - John McSweeney Jr
- Best Music, Score - Substantially Original - Bronislau Kaper
- Best Music, Song - Bronislau Kaper (music) and Paul Francis Webster (lyrics) - For the song Love Song from Mutiny on the Bounty (Follow Me)
A musical based on the same story appeared in the West End during the 1980s. It was written by and starred David Essex.