Mutiny on the Bounty (1962 film) The voyage gets off to a difficult start with the discovery that some cheese is missing. Bligh, the true pilferer, is accused of the theft by seaman John Mills (Richard Harris), and Bligh has Mills brutally flogged for showing contempt to his superior officer, to the disgust of his patrician second-in-command, 1st Lieutenant Fletcher Christian (Marlon Brando). The tone for the months to come is summarized by Bligh's ominous pronouncement that "cruelty with a purpose is not cruelty, it is efficiency." Aristocrat Christian is deeply offended by his ambitious captain. Bligh attempts to reach Tahiti sooner by attempting the shorter
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (film) over-runs of "Lady L" (which had been postponed) and the remake of "Mutiny on the Bounty", as well as the massive failures of "Cimarron", "King of Kings", "Mutiny on the Bounty", and this film, led to the resignation of MGM's head of production, Sol C. Siegel. The film had its world premiere in February 1962. MGM had become aware by April that the film was not going to be able to recoup its cost and started writing off the losses. Ultimately the movie earned $1,600,000 in the US and Canada and $2,500,000 overseas. Once costs of prints and advertising were