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IMDbPro

The Charge of the Light Brigade

  • 19681968
  • PG-13PG-13
  • 2h 19m
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
3.7K
YOUR RATING
The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968)
A chronicle of events that led to the British involvement in the Crimean War against Russia which led to the siege of Sevastopol and the fierce Battle of Balaclava which climaxed with the heroic, but near-disastrous calvary charge made by the British Light Brigade against a Russian artillery battery in a small valley. An error of judgement and rash planning by the inept British commanders resulted in the near-destruction of the brigade.
Play trailer3:16
1 Video
99+ Photos
DramaHistoryWar
In 1854, during the Crimean War, poor planning leads to the British Light Brigade openly charging a Russian artillery position with tragic consequences.In 1854, during the Crimean War, poor planning leads to the British Light Brigade openly charging a Russian artillery position with tragic consequences.In 1854, during the Crimean War, poor planning leads to the British Light Brigade openly charging a Russian artillery position with tragic consequences.
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
3.7K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Tony Richardson
  • Writers
    • Charles Wood(screenplay)
    • Cecil Woodham-Smith(additional source material "The Reason Why")
    • John Osborne(uncredited)
  • Stars
    • Trevor Howard
    • Vanessa Redgrave
    • John Gielgud
  • Director
    • Tony Richardson
  • Writers
    • Charles Wood(screenplay)
    • Cecil Woodham-Smith(additional source material "The Reason Why")
    • John Osborne(uncredited)
  • Stars
    • Trevor Howard
    • Vanessa Redgrave
    • John Gielgud
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 68User reviews
    • 23Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 7 BAFTA Awards
      • 7 nominations total

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 3:16
    Watch Official Trailer

    Photos124

    Corin Redgrave chatting with his sister, Vanessa, as they wait to shoot a scene for the movie "The Charge of the Light Brigade"
    The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968)
    The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968)
    John Gielgud in The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968)
    The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968)
    The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968)
    The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968)
    John Gielgud and Harry Andrews in The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968)
    John Gielgud in The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968)
    The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968)
    The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968)
    Trevor Howard and Harry Andrews in The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968)

    Top cast

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    Trevor Howard
    Trevor Howard
    • Lord Cardigan
    Vanessa Redgrave
    Vanessa Redgrave
    • Clarissa Morris
    John Gielgud
    John Gielgud
    • Lord Raglan
    Harry Andrews
    Harry Andrews
    • Lord Lucan
    Jill Bennett
    Jill Bennett
    • Mrs. Duberly
    David Hemmings
    David Hemmings
    • Capt. Lewis Nolan
    Ben Aris
    • Lt. Maxse
    Micky Baker
    • Trooper Metcalfe
    Peter Bowles
    Peter Bowles
    • Paymaster Capt. Duberly
    Leo Britt
    • Gen. Scarlett
    Mark Burns
    Mark Burns
    • Caplt. Morris
    John J. Carney
    John J. Carney
    • Trooper Mitchell
    • (as John Carney)
    Helen Cherry
    Helen Cherry
    • Lady Scarlett
    Christopher Chittell
    Christopher Chittell
    • Trooper
    Ambrose Coghill
    • Lt. Col. Douglas
    Howard Marion-Crawford
    Howard Marion-Crawford
    • Lt. Gen. Sir George Brown
    • (as Howard Marion Crawford)
    Christopher Cunningham
    • Farrier
    • (as Chris Cunningham)
    Mark Dignam
    Mark Dignam
    • Gen. Airey
    • Director
      • Tony Richardson
    • Writers
      • Charles Wood(screenplay)
      • Cecil Woodham-Smith(additional source material "The Reason Why")
      • John Osborne(uncredited)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Filming was immensely problematic. Director Tony Richardson fired a stunt coordinator whose manic swordplay killed several horses. An earthquake destroyed the hotel used by the production. David Hemmings was extremely temperamental on-set. The crew and extras, many of whom were Turkish soldiers, fought verbally and physically with local villagers who resented their incursion into the area. Richardson's strange mixture of perfectionism and historical flippancy grated on both his crew and advisers. While filming the final battle, the soldiers were called away for a NATO war exercise, forcing Richardson to shoot the scene with only a few dozen stuntmen.
    • Goofs
      The character called Featherstonehaugh (played by Corin Redgrave) has his name pronounced more or less as it is written, with four syllables. An upper-class Englishman of the mid-19th century (or, indeed, today) would pronounce it "Fanshawe".
    • Quotes

      Lord Raglan: It will be a sad day for England when her armies are officered by men who know too well what they are doing- it smacks of murder.

    • Crazy credits
      In the animation over the opening credits, the English lion roars just as "A Woodfall Film" appears onscreen (mimicking Leo the Lion at the start of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movies).
    • Alternate versions
      Although the cinema version was complete the 1993 UK video release was cut by 7 secs to edit footage of horse-falls. The 2008 Optimum DVD has the cuts length extended to 14 secs and features the 6 minutes shorter print as mentioned below.
    • Connections
      Featured in Otley (1969)
    • Soundtracks
      The Girl I Left Behind Me
      (uncredited)

      Traditional

      Arranged by Trevor L. Sharpe

      Heard before the Battle of the Alma

    User reviews68

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    10/10
    These three stooges thoroughly deserve the censure of history.
    First, it should be noted that Tony Richardson's "The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968) is not a remake of the Errol Flynn classic adventure film of 1936; rather it is based on the Cecil Woodham-Smith work of military history, "The Reason Why". Both book and film are a debunking of the Tennyson poem. And hard as it is to believe, Richardson's film actually tones down the absurdities of the three principle figures responsible for the debacle at Balaclava. And these three stooges thoroughly deserve the censure of history, for never were the lives of six hundred brave men thrown away more senselessly than with the charge of the Light Brigade.

    Richardson depicts the insanity of the Crimean War and Victorian society's glorification of militarism with a death's head sense of humor which makes the horrors of the conflict all the more potent. And he is unsparing in his condemnation of the culture that could glorify so unmitigated a disaster as Balaclava. The film was made at the height of America's involvement in the Vietnam War and it is an implicit critique of that conflict and war in general in that all countries regardless of time and place indulge in the pastime of National Lying. The greater the calamity, the greater the need to lie or glorify, for always the dead must count for something. In that sense the film is universal as well as timeless.

    Using animation in the style of the Victorian newspaper caricaturists, during the opening credits, the film quickly details the events that led up to the war. This is also one of the few films to hold the media, in this case the English newspapers of the time, accountable for their actions. Instead of calling for deliberations and a halt to the madness that must inevitably lead to war, the press is shown whipping the British nation into war frenzy. These animated sequences which appear throughout the film to forward the exposition are both wonderfully inventive and wickedly delicious.

    Throughout the film which is satiric and misanthropic in tone, the lower classes are shown to be stupid, ugly, and easily led, while the upper classes are shown to be stupid, beautiful, and utterly incapable of leading. Indeed the only decent individuals portrayed are either destroyed or trampled under foot by events and/or the arrogant stupidity of their superiors. Yet Richardson is never judgmental; rather he takes a Kubrickian detached point of view, allowing the viewers to observe the era and its foibles/morals and judge for themselves. And England of the mid-nineteenth century is beautifully recreated here. Hairstyles and uniforms and sets are rendered in exquisite detail. It takes its rightful place along side "Barry Lyndon" and "The Duelists" as among the most successful period recreations.

    The film also uses a lot of period colloquialisms such as, "My cherry-bums!" and "All this swish-n-tits has made me randified!" and "You tell that stew-stick of a brother-in-law, that Brudenell to fetch off!" Wonderful, though some first time viewers may have difficulty understanding exactly what has just been expressed. And what a cast! Trevor Howard, Harry Andrews and especially John Gielgud give career topping performances. Gielgud as Lord Raglan, the slightly befuddled commander-in-chief, steals every scene he is in. Aging, tired in mind and body, missing one arm, continuously mistaking the French, ("Our allies, My Lord...") for the enemy, never quite grasping the situation whether in his office or on the field of battle, ("England is pretty, babies are pretty, some table linen is very pretty!") Its a delightful comic turn. And who wouldn't feel sorry for anyone unfortunate enough to be caught between Trevor Howard as the choleric Lord Cardigan, ("The melancholy truth was that his golden head had nothing in it.") and Harry Andrews as the equally bilious Lord Lucan? From the moment we see his saturnine countenance striding up the marble steps of the War Office we know this is a humorless, flint-hearted martinet. Both Lords had a long running personal feud which they quickly placed on an official level as well with unfortunate consequences for the Light Brigade.

    David Hemmings and Vanessa Redgrave are the young romantic leads. Hemmings is Captain Lewis Nolan, a forward thinking career officer with very definite ideas how war should be conducted. He has returned to England after service in India to join Cardigan's regiment, and quickly runs afoul of the Lord in the affair of the "Black Bottle". In reality it involved another officer, who Cardigan placed under arrest for serving porter, (it was actually Moselle) when he had given strict orders that only champagne be served at the mess. Nolan the professional is unstinting in his criticisms or the three amateur Lords conduct of the war, and yet he too will play an unwitting part in the final destruction of the Brigade. A man of honor, whose honor however does not prelude having an affair with his best friends wife. Redgrave as the wife is as always, luminescent. The supporting cast sparkles as well. Mark Dignam as General Airey, Raglan's Chief of Staff, ("Speak up Nolan, he's a bit hard of hearing, and that statue doesn't help!") Howard Marion-Crawford as Lt. General Sir George Brown, Peter Bowles as Captain Henry Duberly, Norman Rossington as Sergeant Major Corbett, ("Right foot, straw foot!") and especially Jill Bennett as a lascivious Fanny Duberly all are very effective. This was also one of the last appearances of the great English classical actor, Sir Donald Wolfit, who would die later that year.

    Finally enough cannot be said of Charles Wood's wonderful screenplay. With its exquisite use of the period vernacular it does a superb job of combining characters while paring history down to the essential to reconstruct the chain of events that led up to the destruction of the Light Brigade.
    helpful•142
    14
    • GulyJimson
    • Mar 30, 2004

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 11, 1968 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Languages
      • English
      • French
      • Russian
    • Also known as
      • Juris lake konjice
    • Filming locations
      • Pecenek, Turkey(charge in the Valley of Death)
    • Production company
      • Woodfall Film Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Budget
      • $8,000,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      2 hours 19 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • 4-Track Stereo
      • 6-Track Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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