Mutiny (1952) [DVD]

Mark Stevens stars as an American sea captain hired to transfer 10 million dollars in gold from France to the United States during the War of 1812 to help fight the British,his job becomes more difficult when his crew finds out about the gold and try to sabatoge the ship.Also starring Angela Lansbury and Gene Evans which makes it a great classic movie!!

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MUTINY, director Edward Dmytryk's Technicolor sea adventure set during the War of 1812, suffers greatly from a rushed shooting schedule of only 2½ weeks. This UNITED ARTISTS distributed costume drama (which long ago fell into the public domain) is notable for a fine villainess in Miss Lansbury and for a subcast of well-known uncrediteds. The score is by Dimitri Tiomkin.

Cinematographer is Ernest Laszlo. His long and distinguished Hollywood resumé includes WINGS (silent-1927), D.O.A. (1950), STALAG 17 (1953), HOUDINI (1953), INHERIT THE WIND (1960), JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG (1961), IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD (1963), FANTASTIC VOYAGE (1966), AIRPORT (1970), LOGAN'S RUN (1976) and many others.

In this colorful costumer that even includes a sailor with a hook, Stevens portrays the captain of a blockade runner who recruits Knowles as 1st mate. Lansbury is the mate's avaricious ex-girlfriend. Events get explosive when the duplicitous mate's buddies (and his ex) learn they're transporting a fortune in gold "unofficially" borrowed from the French.

Parenthetical number preceding title is a 1 to 10 imdb viewer poll rating.

(5.1) Mutiny (1952) - Mark Stevens/Angela Lansbury/Patric Knowles/Gene Evans/Rhys Williams/Morris Ankrum (uncredited: Clayton Moore/Denver Pyle/Gene Roth/Norman Leavitt)

Mutiny, 1952 film

The movie begins with a ship under sail on the ocean. A British man-of-war fires a shot to stop them for boarding. The British seek their subjects on American ships. Congress declared war on Great Britain June 18, 1812. French citizens will lend $10 million in gold to build American ships, but a fast ship is needed to run the blockade. They want an officer skilled in naval techniques for this. Captain Marshall seeks Walters for his second in command. Their ship silently slips out on the tide. Can they escape the British ship? Only if it is disabled. They hoist all the sails to make good time. Does the captain spill the beans? The gun crew considers their options; they keep apart from the rest of the crew. Captain Walters returns from France with a passenger: his wife Leslie. The gold has been smuggle aboard in disguise! Trouble seems to be developing aboard.

Can they escape the British 74-gun warship? Yes, if they lighten the ship by tossing their cannon overboard. Captain Marshall saves a gunner. Will Walters' wife tempt him? At 8 bells the gun crew break into the armory for pistols and begin the mutiny. Walters is in command now. Or is he? [Nobody hears those splashes?] Captain Marshall nears land and is rescued by the Navy. They sail towards Havana and hope to intercept Walters. The crew trades for grog. Walters hears their singing. The Navy sends a boarding crew to the `Concord' and takes the ship. Will Walters and Leslie make a deal? Can that submersible be used to attack the British warship and save their ship and cargo? Captain Marshall and Walters try to do so. It works! Marshall escapes alone.

This movie is less than average. What was the intent of this story? It is not based on a true story. The use of toy ships is appropriate for a low budget production. A submersible "turtle" was tried in New York in the Revolutionary War, but it was a failure. So too the Civil War version. Did Angela Lansbury play a villainess in other films? Given the situation in 1812 it seems unlikely that Frenchmen would risk a tremendous sum of $10 million in gold on a loan to a small country. That is an incredibly high amount for 1812. The whole story seems to be adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island".