The Charge of the Light Brigade

The Charge of the Light Brigade Review

Sometimes a film tries to do too much and thus is criticized for over-reaching. This is certainly the case with the wonderful film "The Charge of the Light Brigade". The film attempts to give a full commentary on military life under Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. This was fascinating and well done for we see fellows going through every step; from recruitment through training and on to warfare. The recruiters would come into coal mining villages, inner city slums, and poor factory towns and recruit men and boys into the military. They were given a one shilling piece as a recruitment bonus but they had little idea of the hardships ahead. The aristocracy made up the officers and the wealthy were able to purchase military commissions and for a fee change regiments. The film tries to teach history as well as tell a story, a task that is difficult to achieve. The history of the Crimean War is often told with political cartoons showing the bear of Tsar Nicholas' Russia invade the Crimean peninsula, which is part of the crumbling Ottoman Empire in Turkey. England, France, and a few other states and principalities then declare war on Russia and attempt to drive Russia from the Crimean. The film also is a history lesson in poor leadership for the leadership of the British troops under Commander Lord Ragland, Lord Cardigan, and Lord Lucan.

Tony Richardson's direction is masterful and the battle scenes are well filmed so that a viewer can make sense of the chaos. John Gielgud is superb as Commander Lord Ragland. Ragland makes every leadership mistake possible including underestimating the enemy, poor timing, poor use of military intelligence, inability to stop power struggles among the officers under his command, and an odd philosophy that competence is dangerous. Trevor Howard is equally superb as Lord Cardigan. Cardigan is a pompous egotistical narrow-minded abuser of power who is highly threatened by competence in younger officers. Harry Andrews plays Lord Lucan, Lord Cardigan's competitive advisory who interestingly enough is about as incompetent as Ragland and Cardigan. David Hemmings plays the bright innovative young officer, Captain Nolan, who runs head first into this military incompetence trio. Mark Burns and Vanessa Redgrave play a young married couple who are friends with Captain Nolan. Jill Bennett plays an officer's wife who has accompanied her husband on the campaign.

The Crimean war was a disaster. Almost half the British troops died of cholera from contaminated drinking water. Lord Ragland takes 30,000 men onto the Crimean peninsula where he not only loses most of his men but also loses vast amounts of military equipment to the Russians and horses to mismanagement. The films is actually one of the finest anti-war films ever produced for it depicts how easily war becomes horrible nonsense in the face of disease and mismanagement.

The Charge of the Light Brigade Overview

From director Tony Richardson (Tom Jones) comes this brilliant retelling of tragic events during the Crimean War. Starring Trevor Howard, John Gielgud, David Hemmings and Vanessa Redgrave, this epic political satire is an "impressive achievement" (Boxoffice) that will forever be revered as movie making at its best. British Captain Nolan (Hemmings) is a devoted officer disgusted with his commander, Lord Cardigan (Howard). Lord Raglan (Gielgud) is a foolish officer with misguided war strategies and a fading memory. Together, they are sent to Turkey in response to a Russian invasion. Driven by arrogance and ineptitude, they send hundreds of cavalry to certain death in aclimax that is both "harrowing [and] magnificent" (Time).

The Charge of the Light Brigade Specifications

Tony Richardson's film about the colossal Crimean War blunder combines his sociopolitical anger with the splendors of a David Lean epic for a fascinating artifact of that boiling-point protest year, 1968. Like America's contemporaneous Vietnam War, Britain's mid-19th-century conflict with Russia in defense of Turkey made less sense the deeper they sank into it; John Gielgud's Lord Raglan keeps referring absentmindedly to the enemy as "the French"! Aside from a peripheral romantic triangle involving apparently the single sane officer in Her Majesty's army (David Hemmings), his friend (Mark Burns), and the friend's wife (Vanessa Redgrave--Mrs. Richardson), the film is really about the profoundly jingoistic Victorian imagination; transitional animation sequences by Richard Williams seem to plunge us directly into the British national psyche. Somewhat muddled as drama, but irresistibly persuasive in its historical detail and stunning camerawork (David Watkin, Chariots of Fire), The Charge of the Light Brigade is a prime candidate for rediscovery. --Richard T. Jameson

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