Great Moments in Cinema: “or they be not aboard”.

Your methods, so far as this court can discern, show what we shall cautiously term an excess of zeal. We cannot condemn zeal. We cannot rebuke an officer who has administered discipline according to the articles of war but the articles are fallible, as any articles are bound to be. No code can cover all contingencies. We cannot put justice aboard our ships in books. Justice and decency are carried in the heart of the captain, or they be not aboard. It is for this reason that the Admiralty has always sought to appoint its officers from the ranks of gentlemen. The court regrets to note that the appointment of Captain William Bligh was, in that respect, a failure.

Fictional addendum to the court-martial acquittal of Lieutenant William Bligh.

I have never considered Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) to be a great film.  It is marred by Marlon Brando’s bizarre interpretation of Fletcher Christian.  However the fictional rebuke given to Bligh at the end of the film has always struck me as great.  Actor Henry Daniell gives voice to the limitation of all law when it comes to specific circumstances of a case.  Unless laws are administered with justice and decency they can too often become a thin wrapper over injustice and indecency.

Brando:  There is one scene where Brando’s portrayal does shine: