In The Wake Of The Bounty (1933)
Directed by Charles Chauvel Produced by Charles Chauvel Written by Charles Chauvel Starring: Mayne Lynton, Errol Flynn Narrated by Arthur Greenaway Music by Lionel Hart Cinematography: Tasman Higgins Edited by William Shepherd Production company: Expeditionary Films Distributed by Universal Pictures, Umbrella Entertainment Release date: 15 March 1933 Country: Australia Budget: ₤6,500 Box office: £7,000 (Australia) Plot Chauvel's film uses introductory enacted scenes showing the mutiny, followed by documentary footage, anthropological style, of the mutineers' descendants on Pitcairn Island.[5] Chauvel also used footage of Polynesian women dancers; and film of an underwater shipwreck, filmed with a glass bottomed boat, which he believed was the Bounty but was probably not. This was Chauvel's first 'talkie' and he had clearly at this stage not yet learned to direct actors: the dialogue is very stiff and amateurish.[6] The use of long sections of documentary footage with a voice over, combined with acted scenes, is similar to the hybrid silent and talking pictures that were produced during the transition to sound. It also represents the combination of interests of the director, and he returned to documentary toward the end of his career with the BBC television series Walkabout. Despite the poorly written dialogue, the documentary sections retain their excellence. A return to enactments at the end of the film, with one scripted modern scene in which a child suffers because of the lack of regular ship visits which could have taken the child to hospital, probably sought to make the film a useful voice for the Pitcairn Island community, who had been generous with their participation. The film mixed re-enactments with documentary, and focused not so much on the mutiny itself as on its consequences.
Directed by Charles Chauvel Produced by Charles Chauvel Written by Charles Chauvel Starring: Mayne Lynton, Errol Flynn Narrated by Arthur Greenaway Music by Lionel Hart Cinematography: Tasman Higgins Edited by William Shepherd Production company: Expeditionary Films Distributed by Universal Pictures, Umbrella Entertainment Release date: 15 March 1933 Country: Australia Budget: ₤6,500 Box office: £7,000 (Australia) Plot Chauvel's film uses introductory enacted scenes showing the mutiny, followed by documentary footage, anthropological style, of the mutineers' descendants on Pitcairn Island.[5] Chauvel also used footage of Polynesian women dancers; and film of an underwater shipwreck, filmed with a glass bottomed boat, which he believed was the Bounty but was probably not. This was Chauvel's first 'talkie' and he had clearly at this stage not yet learned to direct actors: the dialogue is very stiff and amateurish.[6] The use of long sections of documentary footage with a voice over, combined with acted scenes, is similar to the hybrid silent and talking pictures that were produced during the transition to sound. It also represents the combination of interests of the director, and he returned to documentary toward the end of his career with the BBC television series Walkabout. Despite the poorly written dialogue, the documentary sections retain their excellence. A return to enactments at the end of the film, with one scripted modern scene in which a child suffers because of the lack of regular ship visits which could have taken the child to hospital, probably sought to make the film a useful voice for the Pitcairn Island community, who had been generous with their participation. The film mixed re-enactments with documentary, and focused not so much on the mutiny itself as on its consequences.