Showing posts with label Mutiny on The Bounty (1962). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mutiny on The Bounty (1962). Show all posts

Sunday 25 June 2023

The Law of Christian

 


You remarkable pig
You can Thank 
whatever 
Pig-God you Pray to 
that you haven't 
turned 
Me into a Murderer.









Mates, there's only one thing missing : Captain Bligh.


Oh, yes. I'd give a leg or two
if he could see us now.
Eating away to our heart's content
without a care in the world.


Yeah, I like him better 
where he is.
I like him going away 
in his little boat,
with the hot sun 
beating down
on his hot 
little head.


Well, God grant 
him a dry mouth —
Do You remember when 
he bid us goodbye,
all blown-up like 
a toad?
"I'll never leave you, 
Mr. Christian. Not ever
No matter where you go,
I'll always be at 
your shoulder, with 
a rope in Me-Hand."


Of course, he's a man of 
His Word, is Captain Bligh.


So perhaps we ought 
to set him a plate.
"Why, hello there. 
Captain Bligh, sir.
Sit down, sir. Sit down.
Here have a bird wing or two.
And kindly explain why 
you ain't here."

Christian :
There's no doubt about it --
Nobody's glad 
to see A Captain
who comes Home 
without His Ship.


You know, I'd give 
a stick of tabaccy to 
see his ruddy report.
Those Admiralty Lords 
will look at him like 
he was a piece of 
rotten biscuit.

Christian :
I'm afraid your laughter is unwarranted, gentlemen.
Captain Bligh will be acquitted.
He'll be given another ship.
A larger cat-o'-nine-tails to run it with.


You're forgetting 
there's mates of ours
went along with Bligh, sir.
They'll tell what the old pig did.
And they'll tell how he was out
to execute all of us, one by one.

Christian :
Sure. Your Friends are under 
The Shadow of arraignment 
themselves for Mutiny,
if Bligh chooses to charge that 
They Failed to Rally 
to His Calls,or to 
Protect him properly.
Why should they 
invite His Anger?


They won't be given any choice, sir.
They'll be asked questions, 
and The Facts will speak 
for themselves, right?

Christian :
The bare facts alone 
will not indict Bligh.
It's The Privilege of 
every Captain to decide 
when An Emergency warrants the 
reduction of water rations.
Who can deny there 
was an emergency?
The Bounty carried breadfruit.
Vital to the Economic Life
of The British Empire.
Do you suppose it'll 
be acceptable that 
Bligh should return after 
a two-year voyage with 
His Ship laden with dead plants?


Better than with dead men, sir.

Christian :
You're forgetting The Traditional Answer, Mills :
Mission comes Firstand 
Lives of Men second.

Well, it's all the one to us now.
Let them make Captain Bligh
King of China if they want to.
We can forget him, Thank God.
And I move we start 
forgetting him right now --
Bligh, Guilty, or Bligh, Not Guilty,
it makes no difference 
to our lovely little island.
And if it did, we could 
write out papers telling our side 
of the story, seal them in bottles and 
send them floating on the sea.

Hey, That's a Thought.
One of them might even bob along
and reach England ahead of Bligh.
That'd put a spike in his coffin.

Christian :
We can make certain that 
his coffin is spiked.

What do you mean, sir?

Christian :
By returning to England ourselves.


Well, what the holy hell for?

You're not serious, Mr. Christian.

It's a joke he'll be after 
having, that's all.

Well, it was a joke to 
spoil me dinner.

Hold it, hold it -- Mr. Christian is 
Meaning what he says, I'm afraid.

Christian :
Yes, I am, Mills.

Then I've got a better idea, sir.
Why don't we hang each other
from the yardarms in the morning?
It'll save us a trip!

Yes.

Christian :
Listen to Me for one moment, gentlemen, please --
I put it to you that we shall never 
find contentment on this island.


Sir, it sounds like you've 
gone Out of Your Mind.
There's no chance for people 
like us to go back to England,
give Bligh a bad name and 
walk free men ourselves.
And anyone who thinks otherwise
 hasn't got the sense that 
God gave geese!

Christian :
You're right, Mills.
We may all very well be hanged.
But Decency is worth fighting for.
You can't live without it.
And hiding here, shivering 
like convicts, when we've a just case 
to present to the courts,
is just another way of Dying.
And a far less bearable one.

I didn't know until 
this moment, what 
the rightful course to pursue was.
But I know it now.
Will You Trust Me?

Look, supposing Bligh's 
been picked up already.
Supposing he's been 
Tried and Acquitted
by the time we get there.
Let it Be So.
Our court martial will be 
Bligh's court martial over again.
Our jeopardy will be Bligh's' jeopardy as well.
And our acquittal will be Bligh's defeat.
It'll mean no more Captain William Bligh
or any like him in His Majesty's Service.
We need only persuade 
The British People
of something they 
already knowthat 
Inhumanity is its 
poorest servant.
Gentlemen, I beg you : 
Help me to carry 
that word back to England.



That's a big Thought for 
People Like Us.
Do you mind if we take 
the night to talk about it?


Christian :
Certainly.