In the middle are those who have seen actual conflict and are calling for professionalism of the army. At the other end of the scale, the officers and generals are drawn from the ranks of the ruling class, with assorted Lords able to just buy senior command, despite knowing nothing. The ranks live in squalor and are brutally treated. We see a British army, idle and led by officers desperate for ‘adventure’. The first part of the film takes place in the year leading up to the war. It is both stirring, yet hinting at a darkness to come. As the Russian bear attacks ‘poor old’ Turkey, the English lion wakes, roars and…puts on a British Bobby’s hat.Īs the film credits roll, we see scenes of industry and trade, including sweatshops and child labour in the mines – all watched over by a hand-waving Queen Victoria and set against a mock-heroic score by John Addison. The animated sequence which opens the film demonstrates this to great effect. But, in reality, it was an imperialist fight for control over the territories of the fading Ottoman Empire.įrom the start, the film makes great use of Richard Williams’ extraordinary animation, done in the style of the old newspaper and Punch magazine illustrations of the time. The excuse for the war was religious persecution and the need to ‘defend’ Turkey. This was a conflict between Britain and France on the one side, and Russia on the other. The Charge took place during the Battle of Balaklava, at the height of the Crimean War (1853- 56). Tony Richardson’s 1968 film, now released on Blu-ray and on streaming platforms, was an attempt to show what really happened and, more to the point, to highlight some of the similarities to more recent military excursions, particularly the Vietnam War. The Charge has entered into heroic mythology, showing British ‘spirit’ up against terrible odds. So too with the Charge of the Light Brigade of October 1854 – a major military failure, duly immortalized in Tennyson’s famous poem. Particularly those that come under the category of huge blunders, be it Dunkirk, or Scott of the Antarctic. There has long been an odd tradition in England of glorifying defeats and disasters. This comes at a very timely moment, given the humiliation inflicted upon Western imperialism in Afghanistan. No this one is only must-see for Flynn fans or Curtiz completists.Tony Richardson’s classic film about Britain’s disastrous battle in the Crimean War has recently been re-released. Curtiz’s cruel methods (which, it should be noted, he didn’t invent) would forever change the handling of animals on movie sets. Flynn, to his endless credit, was so appalled by what he was seeing he secretly contacted the ASPCA and implored them to come to the location. Note: This film is historically significant for sad reasons as noted in TCM’s article:Ĭurtiz so abused the use of trip-wires in pulling supposedly wounded horses to the ground during the sequence, animals were regularly breaking their necks and legs. (Aren’t Flynn and de Havilland supposed to be cinematic lovers? And if so, why has she authentically fallen for his brother instead?) The battles scenes are all impressively filmed and edited, and Sol Polito’s cinematography is impeccable however, this one is only must-see for Flynn completists.Īnd now for a little bit of the original poem, which it was a true treat to revisit: Unfortunately, it comes across these days as little but an over-long ode to British colonial powers, and is dominated by an entirely unnecessarily romantic subplot that simply confuses viewers about who to root for. Henry Gordon), ultimately leading to “the charge of the light brigade”.Īfter achieving success with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland in Captain Blood (1935), director Michael Curtiz teamed up with the gorgeous duo once again for this “loosely inspired by” adaptation of Sir Alfred Tennyson’s classic poem. Meanwhile, after a devastating massacre of women and children at a garrison, Flynn vows revenge on a duplicitous rajah (C. In 19th century colonial India, a cavalry major (Errol Flynn) and his brother (Patric Knowles) vie for the love of the daughter (Olivia de Havilland) of their commander (Donald Crisp). “In this treacherous life, it’s difficult to know which is friend, and which is foe.”
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