Mutiny on the Bounty (1962 film) performance is intended either as a travesty or a lark." "Variety" called the film "often overwhelmingly spectacular" and "generally superior" to the 1935 version, adding, "Brando in many ways is giving the finest performance of his career." Brendan Gill of "The New Yorker" wrote that the screenwriter and directors "haven't failed, but a genuine success has been beyond their grasp. One reason for this is that they've received no help from Marlon Brando, who plays Fletcher Christian as a sort of seagoing Hamlet. Since what Fletcher Christian has to say is so much less interesting than what Hamlet has to
Mutiny on the Bounty (1962 film) was announced Paramount would make a rival Bounty film to be written and directed by James Clavell called "The Mutineers", which would focus on the fate of the Muntineers on Pitcairn Island. However this project was not made. Brando eventually was signed, with Carol Reed to direct. It was decided to shoot the film in Tahiti itself to take advantage of color and widescreen, being shot in Cinema 65. Robert Surtees would be the cinematographer, The film was to start 15 October 1960 and the film was called "MGM's "Ben Hur" of 1961." A replica of the "Bounty" was built