It’s not too fancy, just an authentic Bounty

Some legends are just meant to endure. Consider the story of the mutiny on the HMS Bounty, the many movies inspired by it, and the mid-Wilshire bar of the same name.

The HMS Bounty is a bar, a lounge and a restaurant, but mostly a relic of ‘60s lounge culture that’s occasionally invaded by hipsters seeking “authenticity.” With its dark wood paneling, nautical decor, deep red vinyl booths and throwback menu, the Bounty is where regulars from neighborhood offices and apartment buildings rub elbows and trade war stories (sometimes from a real war!) with skinny, aspiring adults in leather jackets and trucker caps.

You don’t just create the scene at the Bounty. You join it. That means at 5 p.m., you slide up to the wood-topped bar, acknowledge the adjacent patrons and order your usual. Nothing fancy. Bud Lite, Knob Creek neat, a Bacardi cocktail or some Kentucky bourbon. You watch the news and you help the old-timer complete the crossword in the newspaper, which he is illuminating by flashlight.

You pay attention to the weather forecast, venture answers to “Jeopardy!” and don’t complain when the gang tunes in the Lakers, when you’d rather check out the jukebox (full of Frank Sinatra and groovy cocktail culture ballads).

It’s friendly here, like someone’s home. It practically is home for the owner, Ramon Castaneda. He walked in 42 years ago as a 17-year-old kid needing a job. He did every job there -- waiter, bartender, captain, maitre d’ -- and six years ago bought the bar. It hasn’t changed.

“If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” he says. “It’s a nice little place. A cozy atmosphere.” And you can get a thick cut of steak for $10.50, morning, noon or night.

The Bounty is at once a drinking establishment, a community center and an ode to the most infamous tale in maritime history.

Don’t know the story of the Bounty? Well, in 1789, 1st Lt. Fletcher Christian and other really fed-up crew members forced the evil Capt. William Bligh and 18 of his nasty pals off of the 215-ton British Bounty and into a 23-foot boat with no cover and few provisions. Set adrift in the South Pacific, they floated for 49 days and somehow survived. The mutineers set up house on Pitcairn Island, where direct descendants live today.

The fascinating Hollywood tale is this: Marlon Brando’s second wife, the actress Movita, played the island girl Tehanni in the 1935 version of “Mutiny on the Bounty,” starring Clark Gable. And in 1962, Brando married the actress Tarita, who portrayed the island girl Miamiti in that year’s remake of “Mutiny on the Bounty.”

Trivia, sure. But someday, those are going to be clues in the crossword puzzle you’ll be doing by flashlight at the Bounty. Try to commit it to memory.

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HMS Bounty

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Where: 3357 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles

When: 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily

Price: Cocktails, $3 to $7; beer, $2.75 to $5; wine, $3.50 to $5.

Info: (213) 385-7275