Dungog Film Festival

Presented by NFSA

Friday, 28-May-2010

8:45 AM

at: James Theatre

Credits: Dir: Charles Chauvel / Scr: Charles Chauvel / Prod: Charles Chauvel / Cast: Marie Rosenfeld, Mayne Lynton, Errol Flynn, Arthur Greenaway / 1933, Rated G

Duration: 66 mins

Charles Chauvel’s first foray into drama retells the story of the mutiny in 1789 led by Fletcher Christian against William Bligh, depicting the fate of the mutineers on Tahiti and Pitcairn. This film preceded MGM's more famous Mutiny on the Bounty by two years and features the screen debut of Errol Flynn, playing Fletcher Christian. Mayne Lynton portrayed Captain Bligh. Flynn, a Tasmanian, had made the film in a Sydney studio although he often claimed he made it in the South Pacific. In 1935, some of the documentary scenes from Chauvel's film were bought by MGM and re-edited into trailers for the Hollywood film.
Thanks to Warner Brothers' publicity department, it was long told that on his mother's side, Errol Flynn was a direct descendant of Fletcher Christian, the character he portrays in this film. In actuality, he was a descendant (on his mother's side) of Midshipman Young, the character portrayed by John Warwick.

Made in 1933, Chauvel's film uses introductory enacted scenes showing the mutiny, followed by much more interesting documentary footage, with an anthropological style,of the mutineers' descendants on Pitcairn Island (this footage now has great historic value). This film is a fascinating mixture of drama, documentary and cinematic history.

Courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia

---

Festival Buzz: