10 Great Films That Lost Money On Ambitious Sets

What do Gone With the Wind, Ben Hur, and Dr. Zhivago have in common besides being epic historical dramas? They made lots and lots of money. It's so surefire: giant stars, big budget, and extended running time, and then wait for the money to roll in. But even with Marlon Brando, the success of the source novel, as well as the popularity of an earlier film adaptation of the 1930s, Mutiny on the Bounty sank.

The films mentioned above have one other thing in common: they're all MGM productions, and Mutiny was too. The studio had little cause for insecurity. Therefore, the utter failure of this film was unforgivable. Though its director, Lewis Milestone, had an illustrious career beginning at the start of the century, he would never make another movie.

The Bounty itself was reconstructed faithfully for the film and sailed to Tahiti. Furthermore, the village and other sets constructed on land were regularly subject to violent storms, and had to be rebuilt. Naturally, Brando's eccentricities didn't make matters any easier: he actually started bullying and practically directing the film himself.

Its true Mutiny is not a good movie, but it's Brando, and it's vibrant, wide-screen MGM. It's also enjoyable knowing what a mess things were behind the scenes. One can try and guess in which scenes a principal actor is completely blotto. Brando elected to perform his death scene on a mattress filled with ice, having to take breaks when his skin turned blue.