Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), based on the popular namesake novel by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, and starring Charles Laughton and Clark Gable as Bligh and Christian, respectively. The film's story was presented, says Dening, as "the classic conflict between tyranny and a just cause"; Laughton's portrayal became in the public mind the definitive Bligh, "a byword for sadistic tyranny". The two subsequent major films, "Mutiny on the Bounty" (1962) with Trevor Howard and Marlon Brando, and "The Bounty" (1984) with Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson, largely perpetuated this image of Bligh and that of Christian as tragic hero. The latter film
Mutiny on the Bounty examined all on board for signs of venereal disease and found none. "Bounty" came to anchor in Matavai Bay, Tahiti on 26 October 1788, concluding a journey of . Bligh's first action on arrival was to secure the co-operation of the local chieftains. The paramount chief Tynah remembered Bligh from Cook's voyage 15 years previously, and greeted him warmly. Bligh presented the chiefs with gifts and informed them that their own "King George" wished in return only breadfruit plants. They happily agreed with this simple request. Bligh assigned Christian to lead a shore party charged with establishing a compound in