''Lily'' was a two-masted

schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

(1882) which in 1934 was modified for use as the 18th century

full-rigged ship A full-rigged ship or fully rigged ship is a sailing ship, sailing vessel with a sail plan of three or more mast (sailing), masts, all of them square rig, square-rigged. Such a vessel is said to have a ship rig or be ship-rigged, with each mas ...

in the 1935 film ''

Mutiny on the Bounty The mutiny on the ''Bounty'' occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship, , from their captain, Lieutenant (navy), Lieutenant William Bli ...

'' with

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American actor often referred to as the "King of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". He appeared in more than 60 Film, motion pictures across a variety of Film genre, genres dur ...

and

Charles Laughton Charles Laughton (; 1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British and American actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play wi ...

Origin

''Lily'' was designed by the shipyard Dickie Brothers in San Francisco and built in 1882 for the shipping company J. C. Hawley. She had a sister ship named ''Ivy''. United States west coast newspapers reported about the career of ''Lily''. Right after the vessel's launch, it was noticed that her rigging was too large. So, were taken off her main mast, and the foremast was shortened accordingly. In 1895, she was converted from a sealer to a society racer. In January 1909, coming from

Umpqua River The Umpqua River ( ) on the Pacific coast of Oregon in the United States is approximately long. One of the principal rivers of the Oregon Coast and known for bass and shad, the river drains an expansive network of valleys in the mountains west ...

, Oregon, she had to weather a storm outside San Francisco. ''Lily'' had more than one movie "career". The first ended in1921, when another sale was announced. After a short stint in Mexico, a man named Captain All acquired the schooner for business in Nicaragua. It appears that this business, including liquor transport, was not all legal; Captain All lost the vessel to the state of Canada.

Film business

In the late 1920s, ''Lily'' was active in the film business again. Amongst others, she appeared in the movies ''

The Single Standard ''The Single Standard'' is a 1929 American synchronized sound romantic drama film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer directed by veteran John S. Robertson and starring Greta Garbo, Nils Asther and Johnny Mack Brown. The film has no audible dialogue but ...

'', a silent film with

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress and a premier star during Hollywood's Silent film, silent and early Classical Hollywood cinema, golden eras. Regarded as one of the g ...

, and '' The Ship from Shanghai'', still in schooner rig. ''Lily'' was eventually acquired by the film production company

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

who had her rebuilt by the Wilmington Boat Works in Wilmington, California in 1934 to resemble the three-masted full-rigged ship ''Bounty'' in ''Mutiny on the Bounty''. For film shoots at the original locations, ''Lily''/''Bounty'' sailed to

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

and back, together with the second ship of the production, '' Nanuk'', which represented the historic frigate HMS ''Pandora''. Only in 1946, there is a report stating that her "film career" came to an end: Several photos and sketches of ''Lily'' can be found in JaySea's blog ''The First Bounty Replica''.

Origin

Film business

References

Further reading