MOVIE MUSIC UK

GREATEST SCORES OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Original Review by Craig Lysy

In 1934 director Frank Lloyd was impressed by the 1932 novel Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall. He believed that the historically based nautical adventure tale would transfer well to the bug screen. To that end he sought the assistance of producer Irving Thalberg to persuade MGM studio executives to purchase the film rights and fund the project. Lloyd’s diligence was rewarded and he was provided a $1.95 million budget. He and Thalberg would produce the film, and he would also take on director duties. For Lloyd this was a passion project and he insisted that screenwriters Talbot Jennings, Jules Furthman and Carey Wilson stay true to the actual novel. He also constructed the Bounty from plans obtained from the British Admiralty and considered the ship an important actor in the film. A stellar cast was hired, which included Charles Laughton as Captain Bligh, Clark Gable as Fletcher Christian, Franchot Tone as Roger Byam, Movita Casteneda as Movita, and Mamo Clark as Maimiti.

The film is based on actual historical events and is set in England and the South Seas from 1787 – 1792. and tells the tale of the British ship HMS Bounty, which has been tasked with obtaining breadfruit plants in Tahiti and transporting them to Jamaica to provide a cheap food staple for the plantation slaves. Captain Bligh, a cruel, tyrannical autocrat commands with a young Cumberland gentleman Fletcher Christian serving as executive officer. Over time Bligh’s unrelenting brutality, cruelty, and torture of the crew sow fierce resentment and precipitates a mutiny led by Christian. Bligh is cast adrift with loyalists and Christian takes the Bounty back to Tahiti to pick up provisions and women. The mutineer’s plan is to escape a death sentence of hanging and start a new life, safely beyond the reach of British law. The Bounty is piloted to an obscure island where she is burned, leaving no trace of its existence. Bligh survives, is exonerated by the Admiralty, but forever tainted by the mutiny. The mutineers live out their lives on Pitcarin Island, which is today populated by their descendants. “Mutiny on the Bounty” was a massive commercial success and the highest grossing film of 1935, earning a profit of $909,000. The film received universal praise of being one of the greatest films ever made. It earned eight Academy Award nominations including Best Director, three for Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Film Score, winning one for Best Picture.

Herbert Stothart was MGM’s resident composer and he was assigned the large budget film. Stothart understood that while this was a seafaring adventure, it was at its core a battle between two men – Captain William Bligh and First Officer Fletcher Christian. The contrast between the two men was striking and the screenplay provided opportunities to speak to this musically. Culturally the film needed to speak to formal British naval traditions as well as the exotic Tahitian Island culture. To that end, he infused his score with the traditional British anthem “Rule Britannia” by Thomas Augustine Arne and Jams Thomson as well as traditional Christmas carols. For the Tahitians, nativist drums and woodwinds were uses, as well a song “Love Song of Tahiti” by Bronislau Kaper and Walter Jurmann.

For his soundscape, Stothart supported with four original themes, and two interpolations, including The Bounty Theme supports the HMS Bounty and Stothart captures the film’s emotional core, providing the call for adventure, which propels the film. The ship’s voyage is empowered by a proud and confident nautical identity, with strings grandioso filling her wind filled sails as she sails to her destiny. The British naval anthem “Rule Britannia” by Thomas Augustin Arne and James Thomson serves as a secondary identity of the Bounty as a British ship. Juxtaposed to the British themes were the Tahitian Theme, which drew upon Polynesian cultural sensibilities, and consisted of nativist drums, wood block percussion, woodwinds and chorus. The Love Theme is the song “Love Song of Tahiti,” composed by Bronislau Kaper with Lyrics by Walter Jurmann. Most of its iterations are orchestral and the languorous melody speaks to the idyllic love borne by the gentle paradisal sea breezes of Tahiti. The Friendship Theme speaks to the deep bond of friendship between Roger Byam and Fletcher Christian. The song-like string borne melody emotes with warmth, confidence and fraternal love, which speaks to the bond between the two men. The Suffering Theme speaks to the pain and suffering inflicted upon the crew by the sadistic Captain Bligh. Aching strings sofferenza render the theme, which never resolves as the lash is unrelenting and merciless. Lastly, the Mutiny Theme resides as a dire, lurking menace festering within the abyssal depths of the orchestra. Only in the “Mutiny” scene does it erupt for a forceful and vengeful iteration. There is no commercial release of the score, as such I will uses film scene descriptors for cue titles, and film time indices for when the music is heard.

“Main Title” offers a score highlight which opens with the display of the MGM Studio logo supported by cyclic strings energico. We surge and usher in with horns dramatico at 0:11 the roll of the opening credits, which display as white script against stylized nautical images. At 0:20 we flow into a proud rendering of the British naval anthem “Rule Britannia”. At 0:27 male chorus sings confident a seaman’s seafaring song. At 0:41 we flow into the Love Theme on languorous strings of the south seas, which conclude the main title. At 1:10 we segue into “Foreward” where script provides an overview of the purpose of the voyage and its outcome. Stothart supports with a robust and proud rendering of the Bounty Anthem, with a coda of “Rule Britannia”, which ends in a flourish. At 1:48 “Portsmouth, England, 1787” opens with pizzicato strings and woodwinds, muted drums militare replete with tolling bells, which portend dark purpose as we see Fletcher Christian leading a press gang to a local pub. Inside the pub a fiddler plays a sad tune as Tommy Ellison and his bride share a mug of beer. Christian bursts in and presses all the men into the King’ service for the two-year voyage as Tommy’s wife begs for naught.

At 5:03 in “Byam’s Toast” reveals Roger Byam toasting to a successful voyage with his mother and Sir Joseph. The music is not celebratory, but instead offers a subtle portentous misterioso. At 5:24 “Portsmouth Harbor” reveals the bustling sea port, which Stothart supports with spritely woodwinds draped with nautical auras. “Rule Britannia joins and then entwines with the woodwind motif as Byam is advised where lies the diminutive HMS Bounty. Aboard ship it is a madhouse of celebration as families wish their sons and husbands bon voyage. At 7:27 Stothart sow comedy as a woman tries to sell Jack some trinkets, which he declines. As Christian introduces himself to Byam a spritely sea yarn supports below the dialogue. At 8:24 the comedic farcical fun of the Doctor’s Theme supports the arrival of the drunk Dr. “Bacchus”. At 9:27 a romance for strings supports Tommy’s farewell to his wife. At 10:58 “Captain Bligh’s Arrival” reveals him piped aboard in formal naval tradition. Flogging through the fleet reveals the Bounty ordered to bear witness to the punishment of a sailor who struck his captain. At 12:58 Bligh assembles the crew and rattling snare drums of doom and a nautical bell support the boat’s arrival. The man is declared dead, but Bligh demands punishment proceed, which appalls officers and crew alike. Drum rolls unfold and support each lash.

At 15:01 “Set Sail” offers a score highlight, which reveals Bligh ordering the Bounty to set sail. Stothart supports with bustling action filled with confidence and sea faring energy as the crew goes aloft to unfurl the sails. They sing a sea shanty as the anchor is pulled up. Slowly we begin a nautical crescendo dramatico, which crests with a celebratory choral supported “Rule Britannia” as we see the Bounty sail proudly out to sea. At 19:01 “The Bounty at Sea” reveals her sailing south west to Cape Horn. Stothart supports with the inspired, sea faring confidence of the Bounty Theme. A fight between Byam and Haywood results in Bligh ordering Byam aloft to the mast head. At 29:43 “Byam Returns Aloft” reveals Christian lowering Byam, who had passed out from the lashing by the fierce storm, down to safety. Bligh is outraged and orders Byam back aloft over Christian’s fervent protest. The dark torrent of the Mutiny Theme’s seething anger enters the film for the first time as this act of cruelty catalyzes its emergence. Swaying strings of alarm support Byam’s treacherous climb in fierce winds and the ships’ rolling. At 30:20 the lyrical strings of the Friendship Theme blossoms in a celebratory statement as Byam at last makes the crow’s nest.

At 30:48 “Bligh’s Unrelenting Lash” offers an extended cue with a series of alternating scenes involving Bligh repeatedly cruelly ordering his crew whipped for trivial offences and the Bounty’s progress seen on a map. We open with the Bounty’s trek displayed on a map carried by nautical strings, which end darkly off the northwest coast of Africa. At 31:02 we are bathe in solemnity by strings religioso, which support Bligh’s offering Sunday services on deck. At 33:32 the Mutiny Theme rises up and seethes with a lurking anger as Bligh in imperious fashion castigates the crew and declares his plenary authority. It supports as two crewmen are given two dozen lashes for disrespect and withholding information. The misterioso of the Map Motif supports the map display of the Bounty sailing southward along the west coast of Africa. At 34:42 the grieving strings of the Suffering Theme returns as another crewman is given two dozen lashes for missing a roll call. The misterioso of the Map Motif returns as the map displays the Bounty sailing south along the east coast of South America. At 35:04 a man falls overboard and is strapped to the deck to dry out as punishment, again supported by the Suffering Theme, which festers with anger. The misterioso of the Map Motif returns as the map reveals the Bounty’s approach of the treacherous Cape Horn where currents, fierce storms and violent surging seas erupt endlessly as the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans contest. At 35:48 the Suffering Theme supports a crewman’s pleading for water for his bleeding knees. Horns crudeli resound as Bligh orders him keel hauled, which results in his death. The misterioso of the Map Motif supports the Bounty failing to round Cape Horn, and instead turning east to the Cape of Good Hope.

“The Doldrums” reveals the Bounty caught in a windless sea with the men in rowboats pulling her progress under the searing sun. Music enters at 39:35 on pleading strings of hope as wind is seen and the men are ordered to pull the ship into it. We flow into a joyous rendering of the Bounty Theme as we see the sails fill at last with wind. At 46:24 “The Fish” reveals a seaman throwing a piece of a freshly caught fish at Magg after he demands a large piece to keep silent. Bligh witnesses the incident and orders a brutal flogging supported by a menacing Mutiny Theme full of outrage. Later below in the hold, a crewman plays a sea shanty on a fiddle to lighten their spirits. At 48:39 “Sailing East” the windswept strings of the Nautical Travel Motif supports the Bounty’s map trek past Australia and into the south seas. Christian refuses to sign the ship’s inventory log, which was falsified to hide Bligh’s skimming. Bligh is outraged, orders the crew assembled, and threatens Christian with death for insubordination if he does not sign. Christian does so and declares that he signs under orders, and will request a Court of Inquiry upon their return. Bligh calls him a mutinous dog and as Christian moves to strike Bligh we segue at 51:33 “Land Ho!” atop a celebratory paean of joy joined by “Rule Britannia” as Tahiti is sighted.

At 52:16 “Welcome to Tahiti” offers a score highlight, which reveals the Tahitians racing out to greet the Bounty in their outriggers in traditional Polynesian custom. Nativist drums and surging strings felice propel them towards the Bounty with vibrant energy and excitement. They board and the crew is filled with joy at the fruit gifts, but especially the gorgeous women. At 54:00 we segue into “The Chief’s Arrival” atop horns reale, men’s chorus and drums, which declare the Chief’s Anthem. He comes aboard and reacquaints with his friend Captain Bligh. At 58:51 “Bligh’s Revenge” reveals him denying Christian any shore leave, so he may recondition the ship for the return voyage. Lush strings of the south seas support the natives draping the Bounty with flower garlands. A woodwind ascent motif at 59:00 supports a native’s climb up a palm tree to retrieve coconuts. In a montage, nativist woodwinds and strings support the rain of coconuts and palm branches below, the catching of fish, and cooking a boar for a great feast. At 1:00:00 we segue into “Bread Fruit” as we see bread fruit plants being placed in wooden pots for transport. Stothart supports the tedium with a plodding, workman-like woodwind motif, interspersed with alluring strings seducente as the crew leer and lust for the beautiful native women. At 1:00:37 the men sing a sea shanty as they transport the bread fruit to the Bounty.

At 1:01:50 in “Tehani”, we have a romantic score highlight. The chief’s daughter, who is smitten with Byam, brings him a lei crown carried by playful woodwinds, which usher in the Love Theme as she departs with a flirtatious look back. Christian arrives thanks to the Chief’s intercession, and Byam greets him outside. At 1:03:25 playful woodwinds of delight support Tehani’s scribbling in Byam’s book. She is caught and as he reproaches her, yet she disarms his fury by saying the word yes to each of his queries. Slowly warm strings ternero join as we see a nascent attraction between the two. At 1:04:12 the lush dreamy strings romantico usher in the Love Theme as Christian stands awestruck by the beautiful Maimiti, the Chief’s granddaughter. They decide to spend the afternoon swimming, and comic woodwinds and playful strings support their happy departure. At 1:05:27 we segue into an extended rendering of the Love Theme by strings romantico as the four enjoy an idyllic and intimate time together. At 1:06:18 the girls challenge them to a swim race propelled by racing strings energico. But as they swim the music becomes languorous as they enjoy time together in paradise. Christian receives word from a native that his leave has been cancelled, and explodes in anger, ready to hang for insubordination, yet Maimiti saves the day instructing the man to inform Bligh that Christian cannot be found. He is grateful and strings romantico crown the moment, yet give way to comic woodwinds as Maimiti teases him about his temper. The comic woodwinds carry their return to the village. As he departs longing strings romantico carry his departure as we view Maimiti’s yearning eyes.

In “Celebration” at 1:08:12 chattering wood block percussion and nativist drums carry Christian to the rowboat as we see the tribe performing a highly rhythmic celebratory dance. When Maimiti joins him, tentative woodwinds and yearning strings support his coming to her. At 1:09:09 as they embrace and kiss, wordless nativist mixed chorus joins, draped with harp glissandi to crown the moment. We close at nightfall with a festive native chorus singing a celebratory song. At 1:09:40 in “Christian and Maimiti” we have another romantic score highlight. Languorous strings romantico support her laying down, with her inviting eyes bringing Christian to her as the kiss and make love. In the background the festive native celebration continues propelled by kinetic wood block percussion and drums. At 1:10:11 ethereal women’s choir and languorous strings romantico support Christian and Maimiti’s idyllic moment together, flowing into the new day where we see him preparing to return to the Bounty. They kiss and bid farewell and as he departs the yearning Love Theme speaks to Maimiti’s aching heart. We close with woodwinds tenero as she surprises him at the ladder, kisses him, and then at his beckoning, swims back to the island. Bligh harangues him upon his return and promises retribution. Later Bligh is informed by the botanist that there is insufficient water to keep the plants alive, and be responds by ordering water rations for the crew to be cut.

At 1:13:44 in “The Bounty Departs” languorous mixed wordless chorus supports the Tahitian’s solemn sail out to wish the Bounty safe travels. A cut away to Byam and Tehani offers a music box tune as he gifts her a token of his affection. They part with the traditional cheek rub of affection. Hitihiti asks Byam to remain as his son, to which he respectfully declines, saying he will never return. They embrace, he departs, and we close with a tearful Tehani listening to her beloved music box. At the beach, Maimiti gifts Christian some beautiful pearls to give to his mother. Christian asks Byam to translate that one day he will return to her, and they depart with a kiss supported by tender native wordless chorus. At 1:17:53 in “The Bounty Sets Sail” the bright confidence of the Bounty Theme with interplay of “Rule Britannia” carries her departure for the West Indies. At 1:21:25 we segue into “Flogging” where Bligh orders the very sick doctor to the deck to observe punishment. He orders the men who deserted to be mercilessly flogged four dozen lashes. The Suffering Theme grimly supports, and then descends unto death as the very ill doctor collapses and dies in Christian’s arms. Christian yells out that Bligh killed him and the crew stares with a grim menace, which elicits Bligh to order the crew dismissed. The simmering anger of the Mutiny Theme simmers with dire purpose as we see several men poised to attack, only to backoff as Bligh walks defiantly through them. At 1:22:58 we segue into “Eulogy” atop an elegy by ethereal strings as Christian lays the doctor in his bunk and Mr. Fryer gives a eulogy. We see that Christian has reached the breaking point, unable to endure Bligh’s inhumanity and cruelty.

At 1:23:33 we segue into “At the Precipice”, which reveals the bounty sailing at nightfall with a dire and simmering iteration of the Mutiny Theme informing us that Bligh’s reign of terror has reached the breaking point with the Christian and the crew. Byam joins him on deck and the two friends reminisce supported by wistful strings and woodwinds gentile. The moment is lost when Bligh intrudes and orders Byam below. At 1:25:25 a somber “Rule Britannia” ushers in the new day. Christian shouts down a crew request to mutiny and descends into the hold to find Magg brutally beating the two prisoners. He throws him out, sees their deprivation, and at 1:27:24 the dire menace of the Mutiny Theme rises up as we see Christian has had enough. At 1:27:30 in “Mutiny”, a rousing, aggressive score highlight. The Mutiny Theme erupts on a crescendo of anger as Christion opens the arms locker, mobilizes the crew and declares his intent to mutiny. Stothart whips his orchestra into frenzy to support a montage of action scenes revealing mutineers fighting loyalists and seizing the ship, as Christian orders Bligh arrested in his cabin. On deck Christian stands resolute against killing Bligh and the loyalists and instead orders them set adrift in a boat, a certain death sentence as the nearest port is 3,600 miles away. Bligh swears that he will survive and live to see the day when they all hang from the highest yardarm. In “Aftermath” several loyalist officers and crew remain and demand to join Bligh, but Christian denies their request as the boat is full, instead ordering them imprisoned below deck. He then orders a reverse course back to Tahiti as the men celebrate by tossing all the bread fruit trees into the sea. Below deck Christian releases Byam with his word to not try to take back the ship. Byam departs saddened that they could no longer be friends. This scene is unscored.

At 1:36:54 we segue into “Fight for Survival” as we see Bligh and his heavy-laden boat fighting for survival buffeted by rain, wind, and storm swept seas. Stothart supports the storm’s fury and men’s desperation with a dramatic raging orchestral torrent as they bail for their lives. The orchestral storm subsides on a diminuendo of despair as Bligh writes in his log on Day 27 that fishing has been a failure and the bread allowance has been cut again. Day 39 in the log reveals their inability to kill sea birds, and bread and water rations now cut below starvation levels. Strings tristi emote a heavy laden “Rule Britannia” to support the log entry. At 1:38:48 strings of hope ascend as the men succeed in striking a sea gull. At 1:39:37 the log reveals no food or water left, that they have traveled 3,600 miles, and that their fate was now in God’s hands. Beleaguered strings devoid of vitality support the log entry. We segue at 1:40:00 into “Journey’s End” as Bligh spots the coast of East Timor. Tremolo violins of hope usher a thankful statement of “Rule Britannia” to support the moment. Masterful is Stothart’s musical approach, in avoiding celebratory exuberance, and instead mirroring the men who are too famished and weak to celebrate. At 1:40:58 we segue into “Christmas” where Stothart interpolates the traditional carol “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” to support Christmas celebration at the Byam estate, and then on Tahiti where the crew sings the carol. Christian and Roger reconcile and at 1:43:00 they present a hand-made boat as a gift to Christian’s baby supported by a tender rendering of the traditional carol “We Three Kings”. At 1:44:04 Tommy dances a jig supported by a fiddle as they celebrate Christmas.

At 1:44:23 we segue into “Love Among the Palms”, a romantic score highlight. Playful strings and woodwinds animato support Christian, Maimiti, Roger and Tehani frolicking and swimming’ As the two couple lay together in the lap of paradise, Stothart supports with the romance of “Love Song of Tahiti”. At 1:45:20 the moment is shattered in “British Ship” by a native blowing a conch shell horn to alert the island of the approach of a ship. Racing strings and woodwinds of alarm support Christian and the men viewing the ship through a telescope. There greatest fears are realized when he identifies her as British. Christian orders the men to grab their wives, and provisions, and head to the Bounty, which is anchored out of sight on the other side of the island. Strings and woodwinds energico propel their desperate evacuation. At 1:47:18 Christian says goodbye with regrets to friends Tommy and Roger who choose to remain behind. Stothart supports with a sentimental rendering of the “Love Song of Tahiti” tinged with regret as the mutineers depart to the Bounty, with Roger realizing he will never see his friend again. At 1:47:58 nativist drums resound as script reveals the wait for the British to arrive in the morning. At 1:48:30 strings romantico support Roger’s departure from Tehani, intent on guiding the ship in past the reefs. At 1:49:03 grim horns support the approach of the ship around the bluff. Byam and Stewart board and report for duty, only to be arrested and charged with mutiny by Captain Bligh. They protest, but are imprisoned to await trial in England.

At 1:50:34 we segue into “The Hunt” atop a grim rendering of the Mutiny Theme as script reveals Bligh’s unrelenting hunt for the Bounty. At 1:52:26 an eerie misterioso of suspense supports the Bounty sailing through dense fog. Bligh’s obsession to bring Christian to justice causes him to recklessly crash the Pandora on the reef. Bligh evacuates the prisoners and boats to nearby Australia, intent on bringing the mutineers to trial in England. In “The Trial” it has been a week and relatives wait for news of a verdict. The trial is unscored and the men all found guilty.

At 2:08:17 we segue into “Paradise Found” atop portentous horns as Christian returns from a reconnoiter and brings news that the island of Pitcairn is their new home. It has, food, water, fertile land and a rocky coastline unreceptive to searching ships. They evacuate the ship and then Christian drives the Bounty into the rocks propelled by horns bellicoso. They salvage what they can and then burn the vessel to hide evidence of their presence. At 2:09:50 in “End of the Bounty” the crew and Tahitians watch the end of their former life and the beginning of their new life as the Bounty is consumed in a huge conflagration. Stothart supports the burning of the HMS Bounty with a heartfelt elegiac rendering of the Bounty Theme. At 2:10:32 we segue into “The Pardon” a score highlight. We see Sir Joseph and the Lord of the Admiralty pleading to King George III that he should pardon Midshipman Roger Byam. The King consents and we close with sentimental strings full of thankfulness. We shift to Portsmouth harbor where sailors sing a “Yo Ho!” sea shanty as they pull up anchor. Spirited woodwinds animato carry Byam to his new ship where his captain and fellow officers warmly welcome him aboard. We close with patriotic vigor with a proud rendering of a choral supported “Rule” Britannia”! “End Cast” is supported by a proud rendering of the Bounty Theme, which ends in a grand flourish atop a coda of “Rule Britannia”.

I present yet another classic film score, that after eighty-six years inexplicably lacks a commercial release. Stothart was provided a broad canvass, which hosted a sea faring adventure to the idyllic south seas. Yet within the story’s narrative lay an epic battle of wills between two men – Captain William Bligh and First Officer Fletcher Christian. He understood that he would need to speak musically to Bligh’s cruelty, brutality and imperiousness, yet he did so not from Bligh’s perspective but rather from the crews. The aching strings sofferenza of his Suffering Theme never resolve as Bligh’s floggings are unrelenting and merciless. Kindred is the Mutiny Theme, which resides as a dire, lurking menace festering within the abyssal depths of the orchestra. The film’s primary identity, the Bounty Theme, is one for the ages. It supported the ship’s voyage, offering a proud and confident nautical air, empowered with strings grandioso filling her wind filled sails as she sails to her destiny. Secondary, but equally important was the fact that the Bounty was a British flag ship, and what could be more patriotic than the inspired naval anthem “Rule Britannia”? Juxtaposed to the British themes were the two Tahitian identities. The Tahitian Theme drew upon Polynesian cultural sensibilities and consisted of nativist drums, wood block percussion, woodwinds and chorus. The Love Theme uses the song “Love Song of Tahiti” by Bronislau Kaper and Walter Jurmann whose languorous melody speaks to the idyllic love borne by the gentle paradisal sea breezes of Tahiti. Folks, Stothart provided a classic soundscape, which has lost none of its luster during the intervening years. In scene after scene, he speaks to the sea faring adventure and paradisal love realized on the idyllic isle of Tahiti. But he also fleshed out the suffering, deprivation and simmering rage of a crew brutalized by the sadistic Captain Bligh. I believe this score merited its Academy Award nomination, stands as one of the finest in Stothart’s canon, and is a masterpiece of the early years of the Golden Age. I entreat the labels committed to rerecording classic film score for new generations, to take on this fine score, which must find voice. Until that time, I encourage you to hear the score in film context as I believe the 1935 film is also the best of the many retellings that have been made.

For those of you unfamiliar with the score, I have embedded a YouTube link to a four minute suite; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzUS-HTEdyU

Track Listing:

• NOT AVAILABLE

Unreleased (1935)

Music composed and conducted by Herbert Stothart. Orchestrations by Charles Maxwell and Leonid Raab. Love Theme written by Bronislau Kaper. Recorded and mixed by XXXX. Score produced by Herbert Stothart.