All this time Brando lived regally in his villa, surrounded by Polynesian retainers. Production dragged on in Tahiti for four and a half months. He also fell in love with the Tahititian locations, and after the film completed even purchased an island, Tetiaroa, just 30 miles off Tahiti. Eventually he chose Tarita, a waitress in a local hotel, as his co-star and later his third wife. To audition his leading lady for the remake Brando took a series of young Polynesian maidens one at a time into a room where he threatened to throw himself out the window to test their reactions. His second wife, Movita, had previously played Tehani in the 1935 Mutiny on the Bounty film. This combined with his diva‑like demands for reshoots meant they often had 30 takes per scene!īut Brando’s challenging behaviour didn’t end there he insisted on wearing lifts in his shoes, to appear to be the same height as Trevor Howard and his weight fluctuated to such an extent during filming (from 170 to 210lbs), the costume designer had to put stretch fabric in his trousers to prevent them from ripping.īrando had a taste for exotic beauties. He frequently turned up late and had trouble remembering his lines, requiring ‘idiot cards’, to be hidden around the film set for him to refer to during filming – it’s even been suggested that the actress kneeling beside him at his death scene had his lines written on her forehead! When he did speak Brando’s bad habit of saying the lines incorrectly or mumbling meant his co-star Trevor Howard found it tricky to pick up cues. Frustrated, Brando’s outrageous behaviour quickly worsened, alienating cast and crew alike. Milestone’s idea of filmmaking was to set up the camera and tell the actors what to do, but Brando was used to having endless discussions about motivation and mood. When the original director Carol Reed was fired and replaced by Lewis Milestone things really began to unravel. In reality Captain Bligh was clearly a challenging man as, after the mutiny he was appointed Governor of New South Wales, Australia, where he soon faced a further mutiny (known as the Rum Rebellion) when he banned the import of liquor.Ī renowned method actor Marlon Brando seemed to be channelling the wrong crew member for inspiration – acting more like the tyrannical Captain than the rebellious First Mate. However, Captain Bligh was a skilful enough naval officer to successfully navigate them more than 4,000 miles to safety. His mistreatment of his men caused First Mate Fletcher Christian (Marlon Brando) to overthrow his command, setting him and his few remaining loyal men adrift in an open boat on the Pacific. The deal was signed and Brando was given ‘consultation rights’ over the last part of the picture.īased on a true story, the film follows Captain William Bligh (Trevor Howard) on his voyage to Tahiti on the HMS Bounty. Brando turned him down flat but then had his agent call back saying he would do it if they moved the story on, focusing more on what happened after the mutiny when the mutineers settled on Pitcairn Island. In 1959 producer Aaron Rosenberg approached Marlon Brando with the idea of recreating his 1935 film Mutiny on the Bounty which had starred Charles Laughton and Clark Gable.
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