The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968 film)
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| The Charge of the Light Brigade | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Tony Richardson |
| Produced by | Neil Hartley |
| Written by | Charles Wood John Osborne |
| Starring | Trevor Howard John Gielgud Vanessa Redgrave Harry Andrews Jill Bennett David Hemmings Alan Dobie Norman Rossington |
| Music by | John Addison |
| Cinematography | David Watkin |
| Editing by | Kevin Brownlow Hugh Raggett |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) |  11 April 1968 |
| Running time | 139 min |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Charge of the Light Brigade is a British film made in 1968 by Woodfall Film Productions and distributed by United Artists. It was directed by Tony Richardson and produced by Neil Hartley.
The screenplay was written by Charles Wood from a first draft (uncredited) by John Osborne. It aimed to be brutally authentic, based in part on the research in Cecil Woodham-Smith's The Reason Why (1953). The film included animations by Richard Williams, based on the contemporary graphic style of Punch Magazine, in order to explain the political events surrounding the battle.
The music score was by John Addison and the cinematography by David Watkin.
The film starred Trevor Howard as Lord Cardigan, John Gielgud as Lord Raglan, and Vanessa Redgrave, Harry Andrews, Jill Bennett, David Hemmings, Ben Aris, Peter Bowles, Helen Cherry, Howard Marion-Crawford, T.P. McKenna and Donald Wolfit. It was also the movie debut of Natasha Richardson, who was aged four at the time of filming.
The film is about the famous foolishness of a military engagement during the Crimean War by the 'Light Brigade': a division of the British Army's cavalry which consisted of the 4th and 13th Light Dragoons, the 17th Lancers, and the 8th and 11th Hussars, and was commanded at the time by Major General the Earl of Cardigan.
The Brigade's aristocratic officers are depicted as incompetents who were more concerned with appearances than with substance, and who disdained doing the real work of training and leading their men.
The Charge of the Light Brigade was nominated for six BAFTA Film Awards, but failed to win in any category. It contains a number of short animated segments featuring Richard Williams, who explains the international situation in an amusing but clear way. These use, for example, a bear to represent Imperial Russia and a lion to represent the United Kingdom.
The barracks scenes in the first half of the film were filmed at Aldershot in Hampshire, while the 'Crimea' scenes, including the Charge itself, were filmed in Turkey.
[edit] Cast
| Trevor Howard | The Lord Cardigan |
| Vanessa Redgrave | Clarissa |
| John Gielgud | The Lord Raglan |
| Harry Andrews | The Lord Lucan |
| Jill Bennett | Mrs. Fanny Duberly |
| David Hemmings | Capt. Nolan |
[edit] External links
- The Charge of the Light Brigade at the Internet Movie Database
- Julia Trevelyan Oman Archive University of Bristol Theatre Collection, University of Bristol
