Awesome, Dear Boy: Richard Harris agreed to take a third-billed role in this film purely to work with Marlon Brando. However, Brando's on-set behavior soured his adoration of the star.
Marlon Brando was offered the role of Captain Bligh.
Richard Harris was originally offered a different role, which he rejected, because it was too small. When he was offered the role of John Mills, he demanded star billing with Brando. That was declined, but he did get more money.
Richard Harris had such a miserable time on the film that he refused to attend the premiere. He later described the shoot as "nightmarish" and called the film "a total fucking disaster".
Lewis Milestone said later he thought Brando's performance "was horrible" and called the experience of making the film "like being in a hurricane on a rudderless ship without a captain...By the time it was finished I felt as though I had been shanghaied."
Creator Killer: This was Lewis Milestone's final film. He only did two television episodes afterwards.
Dawson Casting: Trevor Howard was initially reluctant to play Bligh, because he felt he was far too old for the part. The real life Lieutenant William Bligh was 33 when the Bounty set sail, and 35 at the time of the mutiny. After all the problems filming, Howard said he wished he had turned the film down.
Hostility on the Set: Marlon Brando didn't endear himself to his costars. He was standoffish with the British cast. Moreover, he alienated several of them with his chronic lateness on the set and his habit of changing his interpretation of scenes after rehearsing them.
Trevor Howard described Brando as "unprofessional and absolutely ridiculous. He could drive a saint to hell in a dogsled". On the day they shot the scene where the natives welcome the Bounty to their island, he repeatedly ignored calls to the set while he was talking to some local women. When he finally showed up, Howard, who had been sweltering in the hot sun waiting, lost his temper and walked off the set, making Brando wait for him. Brando later wrote a letter to Howard apologising for his behaviour on the film. Howard was largely responsible for helping the American star win a libel action against a British newspaper concerning the film. He also agreed to appear with Brando in Morituri and Superman: The Movie.
The scene where Christian strikes Mills was problematic. On the first take, when Brando struck Richard Harris, it was a damp squib. Harris responded with a mock curtsy and waggled a limp wrist in the air. Brando didn't get the joke. On the second take, the blow was weak. Harris thrust his chin forward and said, "Come on, big boy, why don't you fucking kiss me and be done with it!" Brando glared, white with rage. Then Harris kissed him on the cheek, hugged him, and said "Shall we dance?" Angry and embarrassed, Brando stormed off the set. From that point on, the two refused to speak to each other, Brando acting to a stand-in, while Harris acted to a packing case with Brando's face on it. When it came to film Brando's death scene, Brando attempted reconciliation by asking Harris to give him his lines. Harris threw the case at him and said, "Here, you'll get as much out of that as I got out of you".
Method Acting: Marlon Brando filmed his death scenes on a bed of ice to simulate dying from severe burns. The crew could only shoot three takes at a time as Brando's skin would turn blue as the result of the chill.
Money, Dear Boy: Part of the reason Richard Harris accepted a third-billed role was that it was his highest paycheck to date.
Role-Ending Misdemeanor: Hugh Griffith was fired during filming when his alcoholism became unmanageable. That is why his character disappears for large portions of the film. Indeed, his behavior was considered so bad that he was not allowed back onto the island for the final scenes.
Troubled Production: The shoot went overtime and budget primarily due to Marlon Brando's off-screen antics. He constantly undermined the authority of director Lewis Milestone, and got the crew to obey his every whim. His behavior irritated his co-stars, including Trevor Howard and Richard Harris, and eventually damaged his career. One problem not related to Brando was co-star Hugh Griffith, who had to be fired when his alcoholism became unmanageable.
Uncredited Role: Many writers did uncredited re-writes on the screenplay, including Eric Ambler, William L. Driscoll, Borden Chase, John Gay, and Ben Hecht.
Marlon Brando wrote in his memoirs that around the same time he was offered the lead in Lawrence of Arabia but chose this film because he preferred to go to Tahiti, a place that had long fascinated him, rather than film six months in the desert.
Lean was a very good director but he took so long to make a movie that I would have dried up in the desert like a puddle of water.
Wag the Director: Marlon Brando constantly undermined the authority of director Lewis Milestone, and got the crew to obey his every whim. Brando had so much clout by this point that he got MGM to green-light virtually every outrageous idea he had. At one point, he pulled people off the film crew to decorate and design a friend's wedding in Tahiti. Another time he had airplanes filled with cases of champagne, turkeys and hams flown to Tahiti for parties. He also threatened to quit the film if the Bounty ship was burnt and demanded repeated re-writes to meet his ever-changing vision of the film. Things got so bad that when the studio demanded the reshoot of several key scenes (notably Christian's death), Milestone refused to return to the set and George Seaton filmed them instead.
What Could Have Been: Carol Reed was originally attached to direct, but a combination of ill health and "creative differences" with Marlon Brando forced him to bow out. According to Lewis Milestone, Reed did film a few early scenes with Trevor Howard as Bligh that were used in the finished movie.
Peter O'Toole turned down the role of Seaman John Mills, as he was busy starring in Lawrence of Arabia. Ironic, since Brando himself had turned down the lead role in that film.
Miscellaneous Trivia
The replica of the Bounty would become a commonly used prop for other films and events, becoming a tourist attraction throughout much of the US. The ship eventually sank in 2012 due to extensive damage received from Hurricane Sandy — in a bizarre coincidence, one of the last movies it appeared in was 2004's The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, which features a character named Sandy Cheeks.
