Title: Mutiny on the Bounty

Director: Lewis Milestone

Screenwriter: Charles Lederer

Subject: Mutiny on the Bounty by Nordhoff and Hall (1932)

Year: 1962

Cast: Marlon Brando, Trevor Howard, Richard Harris, Hugh
Griffith, Richard Haydn, Duncan Lamont.

Duration: 178’

Production Company: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Production Country: USA

Plot: The story begins with HMS Bounty leaving Britain
under the command of Captain Blight, tasked with retrieving
breadfruit saplings and transport them to Jamaica. The
voyage proves to be a harsh one for the crew, both for
logistic reasons and for Captain Blight’s cruelties.
Eventually, the second in command Fletcher Christian
decides to take control of the ship with other mutineers,
casting adrift the captain and the other loyalists on a
boat. Whilst the Captain manages to return to Britain and
is found not guilty for the loss of the ship, the mutineers
take refuge on a remote island. Fletcher has second

thoughts and wishes to return to Britain to testify in
regard to Blight’s actions. In order to prevent this, the
rest of the mutineers set the ship on fire. Fletcher dies
trying to save the vessel from the flames.

Main Source Language: English

Target Dubbed Language: Italian

Target Title: Gli ammutinati del Bounty

Dubbing Director:

Dubbing Actors: Nando Gazzolo (Fletcher Christian), Emilio
Cigoli (William Blight) Renato Turi (John Mills), Bruno
Persa (Alexander Smith), Gino Baghetti (William Brown),
Mario Pisu (John Williams).

Language Varieties in ST: Received Pronunciation.

“Brando’s English accent in this film is routinely regarded
as risible, but, in the early 1960s, ‘mumbling’ was
generally admitted to be the hallmark of his acting style.
Here, his precisely articulated diction is the absolute
opposite of mumbling, and the accent with which it is
inflected is the most potent sign of the class to which the
film assigns him. It is also, incidentally, a sign of
historical accuracy, for it acknowledges the fact that
Christian was an Englishman, a significant advance on 1935,
in which neither Gable nor Franchot Tone (Byam) attempted
an English accent.”

“Unusually for the time among Hollywood actors, Brando was
perfectly capable of producing a standard (Received
Pronunciation) English accent, as he had shown in Julius
Caesar (1953) and would show again in Burn! (1969) and A
Dry White Season (1989). So, why should he choose to speak
in this clearly artificial and affected way? One answer is
that the accent is an affectation for the character, one of
many that constitute his persona as no mere fop, but a
dandy with the full force that 19th-century artists and
20th-century philosophers have given to that term.”

http://press-
files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n4467/pdf/ch06.pdf

Function of Language Varieties in ST: time and place,
portrayals of real people, idiolect.

Dubbed Language Rendition: Standard Italian

Instance Description: The mutiny is taking place. Blight is
the last one to join those loyal to him on the boat to be
cast away at sea. A last confrontation takes place on the
main deck between him and Christian.

Instance Start Time: 0’00’’

Instance Duration: 1’32’’

Instance Web Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyEHIOZf5yE
ST Instance Transcription:

Blight: The king’s navy will not rest until every mutineer
is captured and executed. Wherever you go, wherever you
hide, a thousand ships will search you out.
Quintall: Well, let ’em try! If it weren’t for Mr.
Christian, I’d give ’em more reason to look for me!
Christian: Will you step into the boat or will you be
thrown, Mr. Blight?
Blight: I’m not leaving you Mr. Christian. Not ever. Go to
the dirtiest little corner of the world, I’ll be there
right behind you with a rope in my hand.
Christian: One moment. Quintall.
[Quintall hands Christian the whip]
[Christian prepares for a whiplash, then gently rests the
whip on Blight’s shoulder]
Christian: Take your flag with you.
Blight: I don’t need a flag, Mr. Christian. Unlike you, I
still have a country. What a big price to pay for a little
show of temper.

TT Instance Transcription:
Blight: Tutta la marina non avrà tregua finche ogni
ammutinato non sarà catturato e impiccato. Ovunque andrete,
ovunque vi nasconderete, migliaia di navi vi daranno la
caccia.
Quintall: Che ci provino! Non fosse per il signor Christian
gli fornirei un altro motivo!
Christian: Volete scendere in barca o devo buttarvici
dentro, signor Blight?
Blight: Non pensate che io vi lasci, signor Christian. Non
vi illudete. In qualunque sudicia tana vi nascondiate, ci
sarò io dietro di voi con una corda in mano.
Christian: Un momento. Quintall.

[Quintall passa il frustino a Christian]
[Christian si prepara a dare una frustata, poi poggia il
frustino sulla spalla di Blight]
Christian: Portatevi la bandiera.
Blight: Non mi serve la bandiera, signor Christian. Al
contrario di voi, ho ancora una patria. A quale prezzo
pagate uno sciocco scatto di rabbia.