Editing Mutiny on the Bounty (section)

===In film and theatre===
[[File:Poster - Mutiny on the Bounty (1935).jpg|thumb|A promotional poster for the 1935 film [[Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)|''Mutiny on the Bounty'']] starring [[Charles Laughton]] as Bligh and [[Clark Gable]] as Christian]]

In addition to books and poems, five feature films have been made on the mutiny. The first was a [[The Mutiny of the Bounty|1916 silent Australian film]], subsequently [[lost film|lost]].{{sfn|Dening|1992|p=344}} The second, also from Australia, titled ''[[In the Wake of the Bounty]]'' (1933), was the screen debut of [[Errol Flynn]], in the role of Christian.{{sfn|Dening|1992|p=344}} The impact of this film was overshadowed by that of the [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]] version, [[Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)|''Mutiny on the Bounty'']] (1935), based on the popular [[Mutiny on the Bounty (novel)|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";{{sfn|Dening|1992|p=346}} Laughton's portrayal became in the public mind the definitive Bligh, "a byword for sadistic tyranny".{{sfn|Lewis|2003}} The film, [[Mutiny on the Bounty (1962 film)|''Mutiny on the Bounty'']] (1962) with [[Trevor Howard]] and [[Marlon Brando]], largely perpetuates this image of Bligh and that of Christian as tragic hero. ''[[The Bounty (1984 film)|The Bounty]]'' (1984) with [[Anthony Hopkins]] and [[Mel Gibson]], attempts a nonjudgmental portrayal of Bligh and a less sympathetic image of Christian.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}} 

In 1998, in advance of a [[BBC]] documentary film aimed at Bligh's rehabilitation, the respective descendants of Bligh and Christian feuded over their contrary versions of the truth. [[Dea Birkett]], the programme's presenter, suggested that "Christian versus Bligh has come to represent rebellion versus authoritarianism, a life constrained versus a life of freedom, sexual repression versus sexual licence."{{sfn|Minogue|1998}} In 2017, [[Channel 4]] undertook a recreating of the voyage of Bligh featuring the former soldier [[Ant Middleton]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.channel4.com/programmes/mutiny |title=Mutiny |website=[[Channel 4]] |access-date=28 April 2020 |archive-date=24 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424192456/https://www.channel4.com/programmes/mutiny |url-status=dead }}</ref>

A musical ''Mutiny!'' played at the [[Piccadilly Theatre]] in [[London]]'s [[West End theatre|West End]] for sixteen months from 1985.{{sfn|Mutiny! (Essex)}} It was co-written by [[David Essex]] based on the novel ''Mutiny on the Bounty'' and starred Essex as Christian. [[Morecambe and Wise]] produced a spoof "play what Ernie wrote" called ''Monty on the Bonty'', starring [[Arthur Lowe]] as Bligh.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/classic/morecambe_wise/intro.shtml|title = BBC – Cult – Classic TV – Morecambe and Wise}}</ref>