The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968)

 

                        “The Charge of the Light Brigade” is a revisionist take on the famous charge.  It was directed by Tony Richardson, who was looking for a comeback after his career had gone down after “Tom Jones” in 1963.  He put a lot of effort and money into the film.  The effort included prying the rights from Laurence Harvey (who was given a small part that ended up on the cutting room floor!).  The film was based on the book The Reason Why by historian Cecil Woodham-Smith.  He was offering the true story of the storied battle.  Adapting it proved a problem as the original version by Richardson’s partner John Osborne was deemed too close to the book.  When Osborne refused to rewrite, he was replaced by Charles Wood (a comic writer known for the Beatles’ “Help!”) who got sole writing credit.  This, and giving a part intended for Osborne to Harvey, caused a breach in their friendship.  The production was fraught with problems.  It was filmed in Turkey with the cooperation of the Turkish army.  Turkish soldiers played the British cavalry and were told to grow their hair long to reflect the British style of the time.  Before filming, a Turkish general arrived on set and insisted they cut their hair.  This forced Richardson to bring in hair stylists at great expense to fake the look he wanted.  Later, before filming the climactic charge, the soldiers were called away for NATO maneuvers.  Richardson was left with a few dozen stuntmen.  During the shoot an earthquake destroyed the production’s hotel.  Other headaches included several horses being killed due to errant swordplay.  The stunt coordinator was fired.  Speaking of horses, star David Hemmings was a horses’ ass.  His behavior and the failure of the film at the box office damaged his career a lot.  But he left an indelible mark on New Wave music by giving his hussar coat to Adam Ant.  Richardson managed to find a site in Turkey that stood in very well for Balaclava.  The farmers were paid a lot to not cultivate their fields (although some cheated, causing problems for the horses).  Plus, there were numerous fights between the Turkish soldiers and the locals.  The movie got off to a bad start at the box office because Richardson refused to screen it for critics and had some disparaging remarks for them.  In truth, the non-screening was due to a hold-up on the animation scenes, but the critics were in a mood to bash the film.  It ended up being a bomb and a costly one as it was the most expensive British film up until then.

                        The movie opens with the recruiting and training of the brigade.  The training is depicted as insufficient for the current state of warfare.  But the hide-bound British army had not been in combat in Europe since Waterloo and was not interested in brooking traditions.  The enlisted are depicted as mistreated by the uncaring officer corps.  The movie is mainly officer-oriented and none of the main characters comes off well.  The main character is a Capt. Nolan (Hemmings) who is a hero only in comparison to his callous, incompetent peers.  Nolan is atypical because he is a veteran of combat (he served in India) and he rose from the ranks.  And he wants humane treatment for the men.  What, what?  Tut, tut.  His commanding officer Lord Cardigan (Trevor Howard) hates him.  Especially after Nolan commits the ultimate faux pas by offering a toast from a black bottle!  All the lords are pompous asses.  Lord Raglan (John Gielgud) is the overall commander. He served with Wellington in the Peninsular Campaign and seemingly models himself after the opposite of Wellington.  He appoints Lord Lucan (Harry Andrews) as the commander of the cavalry even though Lucan and Raglan are rivals and hate each other.  It’s a big soap opera.  Plus add in a love triangle involving Nolan and his best friend’s wife (Vanessa Redgrave – Richardson’s wife at the time).  And there is a combat groupie named Fanny (Jill Bennett) who is infatuated with Cardigan (yes, we are talking about Trevor Howard).  This dysfunctional crew is off to the Ottoman Empire to show those Russians how the British army defeated Napoleon.  The Light Brigade has a date with destiny.

                        We have now had two major movies about the Charge of the Light Brigade.  The 1936 version is the romanticized version and this is the revisionist version.  Neither is a great movie.  The Errol Flynn film sacrificed historical accuracy and this movie sacrificed entertainment.  It is mean-spirited, which might be warranted, but hardly puts fannies in the seats.  There are no positive characters.  Even Nolan is unappealing.  There is some development of enlisted characters, but the movie is very command-centric.  It would have been nice to have cared about some of the men who were led like sheep to the slaughter.  The script shoehorns in two female characters, but the love triangle goes nowhere and Bennett is not hot enough to be interesting.  What most people remember about the movie are the animation segments that give historical background.  The animation was designed to mimic the cartoons from Punch magazine.  This was creative and without it the movie is forgettable.

                        The movie is for the most part boring, but the action scenes are outstanding.  The first battle (Alma) is well-staged and done without pumped up music (as is the final charge).  The Charge is the highlight of the film, of course.  The looks on the men’s faces are realistic.  Howard gives Cardigan the look of a man who knows this is a mistake, but he keeps his stiff upper lip.   The Russian cannons recoil!  There is plenty of action, including hand-to-hand.  Richardson uses long distance shots to give an epic look at the start, but when the unit picks up the pace, we are with the men.  The visual and sound effects are great and it is one of the great battle scenes.  It’s appropriately chaotic to where it is hard to tell who is getting killed.  You definitely are made aware of how suicidal the charge was.  I suppose even a British audience needed to be reminded of this in 1968.  As far as Americans, the movie was a history lesson and had the added bump of having some allusions to Vietnam.  I am referring to the arrogant overextension of power and the cluelessness of the leaders.  However, the movie bears a closer resemblance to the Battle of Little Big Horn than to any battle in Vietnam.  And the overall vibe is closer to WWI than the Vietnam War.

                        As far as historical accuracy, the Charge itself is as good as you will get.  Its fidelity is amazing considering it is inspired by a poem.  Raglan did spot the Russians absconding with British artillery pieces and ordered an attack to recover them.  Nolan delivered the message, but for some reason pointed to the wrong valley.  The valley he sent Raglan charging up was one dominated by Russian artillery.  It was clear to everyone that it was suicidal.  Nolan apparently realized his mistake and was trying to get to Raglan when he was killed by a shell.  He was the first to fall.  Some of the horsemen got to the guns and mixed it up a bit before being forced to retreat.  Contrast this to the Flynn version which is more magnificent with astounding stunt work and a rousing score, but is weak historically.   Most of the characters are fictional including Flynn’s Vickers who forges an order calling for the charge so he can get revenge against a dastardly fictional villain.  The charge is much less suicidal and in fact, it is implied that it was a success.  Thus we see the difference between a 1930’s war movie and a 1960’s war movie.

                        I’m not a big fan of either film, but the 1936 version has some verve to it and you could not have expected it to be accurate.  The 1968 movie is certainly a better history lesson, just realize that when you watch the true story you are watching the story of lunacy, not bravery.  And do I need to tell you David Hemmings was no Errol Flynn?

GRADE  =  C