The film preceded MGM's more famous Mutiny on the Bounty, starring Charles Laughton and Clark Gable, by two years.

Chauvel's film uses introductory enacted scenes showing the mutiny, followed by documentary footage, anthropological style, of the mutineers' descendants on Pitcairn Island.

[6] The use of long sections of documentary footage with a voice over, combined with acted scenes, is similar to the hybrid silent and talking pictures that were produced during the transition to sound.

It also represents the combination of interests of the director, and he returned to documentary toward the end of his career with the BBC television series Walkabout.

[12] In March 1932, Chauvel left Australia with his wife Elsa and cameraman Tasman Higgins and sailed to Pitcairn Island.

They were there for three months shooting footage under sometimes extremely dangerous conditions, having to travel around the coast in whaleboats and climb up cliffs on ropes.

[23] According to Filmink magazine the movie: Manages the considerable feat of turning one of the great sagas of maritime history into a barely watchable slog.

The dramatic sequences are pure amateur hour, like watching a small town community theatre production; Flynn’s physicality is awkward, he is uncomfortable even standing around, and his acting is all over the shop… but you can see why he was cast – he’s already got the profile, the voice, and flashes of the charisma.