The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936 film)

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This article is about the 1936 film. For the 1968 film, see The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968 film).
The Charge of the Light Brigade

Original Film poster
Directed by Michael Curtiz
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date(s) 20 October 1936
Running time 115 min
Country Flag of the United States United States
Language English
IMDb profile

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).

Contents

[edit] 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).

The regiment is betrayed by a treacherous local tributary rajah, Surat Khan (C. Henry Gordon), who massacres the inhabitants of Chukoti (mainly the dependents of the lancers), and allies with the Russians, whom the British are fighting in the Crimean War.

The love triangle and the quest for vengeance are both resolved at the Battle of Balaklava. Aware that Surat Khan is hidding among the Russian and are present at the Russian positions 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 orders 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.

[edit] Cast

[edit] 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", by which he meant "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,[citation needed] 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.[1]

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

[edit] 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 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.

The Battle of Balaklava did not result in the fall of Sebastopol, as is erroneously stated in the film.

Surat Khan is the leader of the fictional country of Suristan. Suristan is in fact an ancient Persian name for Syria.

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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The films of Michael Curtiz
1910s
The Last Bohemian • Today and Tomorrow • Captive Souls • My Husband's Getting Married • The Exile • The Borrowed Babies The Princess in a Nightrobe • Prisoner of the Night • Bánk Bán • Golddigger • One Who Is Loved By Two • Seven of Spades • The Strength of the Fatherland • The Karthauzer The Black Rainbow • The Wolf • The Medic • Mr. Doctor • Master Zoard • The Red Samson • The Last Dawn • Spring in Winter • Tartar Invasion Secret of St. Job Forest • Nobody's Son • The Charlatan • A Penny's History • The Fishing Bell • Earth's Man • The Colonel • Peace's Road Jean the Tenant • The Merry Widow • Magic Waltz • A Skorpió I. • The Devil • Lulu • Lu, the Coquette • Júdás • The Ugly Boy • Alraune (with Edmund Fritz) • 99 • The Sunflower Woman • Liliom • The Lady with the Black Gloves
1920s
Boccaccio • The Star of Damascus • The Scourge of God • Miss Tutti Frutti • Good and Evil • Mrs. Dane's Confession • Labyrinth of Horror Sodom and Gomorrah • Young Medardus • Avalanche • Nameless • A Deadly Game • General Babka Harun al Raschid • Moon of Israel • Red Heels • Cab No. 13 • The Golden Butterfly • The Third Degree • A Million Bid • The Desired Woman Good Time Charley • Tenderloin • Noah's Ark • Glad Rag Doll • Madonna of Avenue A • The Gamblers • Hearts in Exile
1930s
Mammy • Under a Texas Moon • The Matrimonial Bed • Bright Lights • A Soldier's Plaything • River's End • Demon of the Sea God's Gift to Women • The Mad Genius • The Woman from Monte Carlo • The Strange Love of Molly Louvain • Doctor X • The Cabin in the Cotton • 20,000 Years in Sing Sing • Mystery of the Wax Museum • The Keyhole • Private Detective 62 • Goodbye Again • The Kennel Murder Case • Female • Mandalay • Jimmy the Gent • The Key • British Agent • The Case of the Curious Bride • Black Fury • Front Page Woman • Little Big Shot • Captain Blood • The Walking Dead • The Charge of the Light Brigade • Stolen Holiday • Mountain Justice • Kid Galahad • The Perfect Specimen • Gold Is Where You Find It • The Adventures of Robin Hood (with William Keighley) • Four's a Crowd • Four Daughters • Angels with Dirty Faces • Dodge City • Daughters Courageous • The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex • Four Wives
1940s
1950s
Young Man with a Horn • Bright Leaf • The Breaking Point • Force of Arms • Jim Thorpe -- All-American • I'll See You in My Dreams The Story of Will Rogers • The Jazz Singer Trouble Along the Way • The Boy from Oklahoma • The Egyptian • White Christmas • We're No Angels The Scarlet Hour • The Vagabond King • The Best Things in Life Are Free • The Helen Morgan Story • The Proud Rebel • King Creole • The Hangman • The Man in the Net
1960s
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn • A Breath of Scandal • Francis of Assisi • The Comancheros
Short films
Productions
Bright Lights (1935)