The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936 film)

Infobox Film
name = The Charge of the Light Brigade


caption = Original Film poster
director = Michael Curtiz
producer =
writer =
starring =
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor = Warner Bros.
released = 20 October 1936
runtime = 115 min
country = USA
awards =
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0027438

"The Charge of the Light Brigade" is a 1936 historical film made by Warner Bros. It was directed by Michael Curtiz and produced by Samuel Bischoff, with Hal B. Wallis as executive producer, from a screenplay by Michael Jacoby and Rowland Leigh, from a story by Michael Jacoby based on the poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred Lord Tennyson. The music score was by Max Steiner and the cinematography by Sol Polito.

The film starred Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. The story is very loosely based on the famous Charge of the Light Brigade that took place during the Crimean War (1853-56).

Plot summary

In 1854, Major Geoffrey Vickers (Errol Flynn) and his brother, Captain Perry Vickers (Patric Knowles), are stationed at the fictional city of Chukoti in India, with the 27th Lancers of the British Army during the British Raj. Both love the same woman, Elsa (Olivia de Havilland).

During an official visit to local tributary rajah, Surat Khan (C. Henry Gordon), Geoffrey saves the rajah's life. Later, Surat Khan massacres the inhabitants of Chukoti (mainly the dependents of the lancers), and allies himself with the Russians, whom the British are fighting in the Crimean War. He spares Elsa and Geoffrey as they flee the slaughter to repay his debt to Geoffrey.

The love triangle and the quest for vengeance are both resolved at the Battle of Balaklava. Aware that Surat Khan is inspecting the Russian position opposite the 27th Lancers, Geoffrey Vickers secretly replaces the written orders of Sir Charles Macefield (Henry Stephenson) to the commander of the Light Brigade, Sir Benjamin Warrenton (Nigel Bruce). Vickers orders the famous suicidal attack. He writes a note to Macefield explaining his actions and forces his brother to deliver it, sparing him from almost certain death. Just as in real life, the attack succeeds in reaching the Russian artillery positions. There, Vickers finds and kills Surat Khan, at the cost of his own life.

After receiving Vickers' note, Macefield takes responsibility for the charge and burns the note to protect Vickers' good name.

Cast

*Errol Flynn as Major Geoffrey Vickers
*Olivia de Havilland as Elsa Campbell
*Patric Knowles as Captain Perry Vickers
*C. Henry Gordon as Surat Khan
*David Niven as Captain James Randall
*Nigel Bruce as Sir Benjamin Warrington
*Spring Byington as Lady Warrington
*Donald Crisp as Colonel Campbell
*Henry Stephenson as Sir Charles Macefield
*G. P. Huntley as Major Jowett
*E. E. Clive as Sir Humphrey Harcourt
*Robert Barrat as Count Volonoff
*J. Carrol Naish as Singh

The Charge sequence

The film comes to a climax at the Battle of Balaclava, subject of Lord Tennyson's poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade". The lancers charge into the valley and brave the Russian cannons, and many are killed. Text from Tennyson's poem is superimposed on the screen, coupled with Max Steiner's musical score.

Director Michael Curtiz, who did not have an excellent command of English, shouted "Bring on the empty horses", meaning "riderless horses". David Niven used this as the title of his autobiography.

The battlefield set was lined with trip wires to trip the cavalry horses. 200 horses were killed during filming,Fact|date=June 2008 which forced U.S. Congress to ensure the safety of animals in motion pictures. The ASPCA banned trip wires from films as well.

One horseman, Bill Meade, was killed instantly when he fell on his sword. [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=gb2MJdqN2owC&pg=PA138&lpg=PA138&dq=bill+meade+stuntman&source=web&ots=Xutqu2kFQG&sig=lMttx1WYWyJKrd0dsqDUjuy8EqE&hl=en#PPA138,M1]

Clips of the charge sequence were included in the music video of Iron Maiden's "The Trooper."

Inaccuracies

The film originally featured the Siege of Cawnpore during the Sepoy Rebellion. When someone pointed out that the Sepoy Rebellion took place three years after the Battle of Balaklava, the name of Cawnpore was hastily changed to Chukoti, and the rebellion was turned into a fictional uprising led by the fictional Surat Khan, the leader of the fictional country of Suristan, a vaguely Turkish country. Suristan is in fact an ancient Persian name for Syria. Niven comments on the change in his autobiography.

The reason for the Charge of the Light Brigade was shown in the film as being because the 27th Lancers changed the direction of the manoeuvre so as to invade the Russian camp to kill Surat Khan. It was actually as a result of a dispute between Lord Cardigan and Lord Raglan. Moreover, the Battle of Balaklava did not result in the fall of Sebastopol, as is erroneously stated in the film.

Finally, the 27th Lancers are fictional as well. The 17th Lancers, 8th and 11th Hussars, and the 4th and 13th Light Dragoons made the real charge. A "27th Lancers" were not a part of the British Army until 1941.

Awards

Jack Sullivan won the Academy Award for Best Assistant Director for his work on the film, and the film was also nominated for the Academy Award for Sound and the Academy Award for Original Music Score.

External links

*
* [http://www.crimeantexts.org.uk/topics/movie36.html A historical assessment]