The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936)

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Alfred Lord Tennyson (poem)
Michael Jacoby (story)
(more)

Release Date:

20 October 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Romance | War

Tagline:

The reckless lancers sweep on and on - so that a woman's heart might not be broken! You're not fighting a single legion - you're fighting the entire British army, Surat Khan!

Plot:

A major countermands orders and attacks to revenge a previous massacre of men, women and children.

Plot Keywords:

British Raj | Death Of Hero | Leopard Hunt | Horse | Cavalry Charge

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Errol Flynn	...	Maj. Geoffrey Vickers
Olivia de Havilland	...	Elsa Campbell (as Olivia De Havilland)
Patric Knowles	...	Capt. Perry Vickers
Henry Stephenson	...	Sir Charles Macefield
Nigel Bruce	...	Sir Benjamin Warrenton
Donald Crisp	...	Col. Campbell
David Niven	...	Capt. James Randall
C. Henry Gordon	...	Surat Khan
G.P. Huntley	...	Maj. Jowett (as G.P. Huntley Jr.)
Robert Barrat	...	Count Igor Volonoff
Spring Byington	...	Lady Octavia Warrenton
E.E. Clive	...	Sir Humphrey Harcourt
J. Carrol Naish	...	Subahdar-Major Puran Singh (as J. Carroll Naish)
Walter Holbrook	...	Cornet Charles Barclay
Princess Baba	...	Prema's mother (as Princess Baigum)
Charles Sedgwick	...	Cornet Lawrence Pearson
Scotty Beckett	...	Prema Singh
George Regas	...	Wazir
Helen Sanborn	...	Mrs. Jowett
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jimmy Aubrey	...	Orderly (uncredited)
Frank Baker	...	Officer (uncredited)
Dick Botiller	...	Native (uncredited)
David Cavendish	...	Orderly (uncredited)
Phyllis Coghlan	...	Woman at ball (uncredited)
Charles Croker-King	...	Lord Cardigan (uncredited)
Jack Curtis	...	Sepoy (uncredited)
George David	...	Suristani (uncredited)
Herbert Evans	...	Majordomo (uncredited)
Martin Garralaga	...	Panjari (uncredited)
Lumsden Hare	...	Col. Woodward (uncredited)
Gordon Hart	...	Col. Coventry (uncredited)
Ben Hendricks Jr.	...	Officer (uncredited)
Holmes Herbert	...	General O'Neill (uncredited)
Shep Houghton	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Brandon Hurst	...	Lord Raglan (uncredited)
Olaf Hytten	...	Officer (uncredited)
Boyd Irwin	...	Gen. Dunbar (uncredited)
Colin Kenny	...	Major Anderson (uncredited)
Crauford Kent	...	Capt. Brown (uncredited)
Jon Kristen	...	Panjari (uncredited)
Frank Lackteen	...	Panjari (uncredited)
Wilfred Lucas	...	Captain (uncredited)
Lal Chand Mehra	...	Sepoy (uncredited)
Carlyle Moore Jr.	...	Junior officer (uncredited)
Stephen Moritz	...	Sepoy (uncredited)
Georges Renavent	...	Gen. Canrobert (uncredited)
Carlos San Martín	...	Court Interpreter (uncredited)
Harry Semels	...	Sepoy chief (uncredited)
Reginald Sheffield	...	Bentham (uncredited)
R. Singh	...	Orderly (uncredited)
George Sorel	...	Surwan (uncredited)
Arthur Thalasso	...	Sepoy (uncredited)
David Thursby	...	Orderly (uncredited)
Michael Visaroff	...	Russian general (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Curtiz

Writing credits
Alfred Lord Tennyson		(poem)
Michael Jacoby		(story) (as Michel Jacoby)
Michael Jacoby		(screenplay) (as Michel Jacoby) &
Rowland Leigh		(screenplay)

Produced by
Samuel Bischoff	....	associate producer (uncredited)
Hal B. Wallis	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Max Steiner

Cinematography by
Sol Polito

Film Editing by
George Amy

Art Direction by
John Hughes

Costume Design by
Milo Anderson		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Ray Romero	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Robert J. Schiffer	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
B. Reeves Eason	....	second unit director (uncredited)
Jack Sullivan	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Nathan Levinson	....	sound (uncredited)
C.A. Riggs	....	sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Fred Jackman	....	special photographic effects
Hans F. Koenekamp	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Buddy Mason	....	stunt double: Errol Flynn
Frank Baker	....	stunts (uncredited)
Yakima Canutt	....	stunt double: Errol Flynn (uncredited)
Iron Eyes Cody	....	stunts (uncredited)
John Epper	....	stunts (uncredited)
Herbert Holcombe	....	stunts (uncredited)
Leo J. McMahon	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack Montgomery	....	stunts (uncredited)
Spike Spackman	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tom Steele	....	stunts (uncredited)
Don Turner	....	stunts (uncredited)
Buster Wiles	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Jack Williams	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Cliff Shirpser	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
R.H. Bassett	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Maurice De Packh	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Hugo Friedhofer	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
George Parrish	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Sam Harris	....	technical advisor: military drills and tactics (as Major Sam Harris Ret. A.L.H.)
Stanley Logan	....	dialogue director
E. Rochfort-John	....	technical advisor (as Captain E. Rochfort-John)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1936) (USA) (theatrical)
• Dominant Pictures Corporation (1957) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• CBS/Fox Home Video (198?) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1991) (USA) (VHS)

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #2156) | Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | Portugal:M/12 | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Agoura Hills, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

During the filming of the charge sequence, a stuntman was killed when he fell off his horse and landed on a broken sword that was lying on the field where the charge was being shot, and was unfortunately wedged in such a position that its blade was sticking straight up.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the first ambush scene, some individuals on both sides were armed with single shot Sharps Carbines, which were American made and didn't exist at that time.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Sir Humphrey Harcourt: How do you fellows manage to look so comfortably, Vickers?
Maj. Geoffrey Vickers: We may look it Sir, but we're not. They say the first 40 years are about the hottest up here on the frontier, after that you get used to it.
Sir Humphrey Harcourt: Really?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Boy Meets Girl (1938)

And what a charge it was!

The movie starts of as your average period drama with a love triangle and formulaic, typical '30's dramatic moments. However about halve way through the movie its story takes a turn and turns into a delicious action filled epic, with the charge of the light brigade at the ending as the icing on the cake.

I watched this film without really knowing what to expect of it. I knew Errol Flynn was in it, so I expected an adventurous movie with lots of memorable action sequence. The movie started of just like Michael Bay's "Pearl Harbor", with a love triangle story between the Errol Flynn character, his brother played by Patric Knowles and Olivia de Havilland. Flynn and de Havilland surely are one of the best screen couples of all time, so those moments are still better and more enjoyable than your average '30's love filled drama. But just like "Pearl Harbor" the best moments of the movie are in the second part, in the action sequences. The movie takes epic proportions in its action sequences, which are big and spectacularly brought to the screen. It makes the first part of the movie feel kind of obsolete and yes, it is definitely true that you can basically skip the whole first part of the movie, with the exceptions of a few sequences maybe, which are important for the development of the story and certain characters.

The story itself is quite fascinating, with the exception of the whole love triangle thing of course. It's based on true events, although the movie takes lots of liberties with the story but this really does the movie no harm. It doesn't make the actions of the light brigade seem any less noble or heroic, so the movie does the true story justice in my opinion. The several plot lines of the story are well developed in the story. I especially like the sequences with the political game between Surat Khan and the Russians with the British. There are some subtle sequences with some very well written and clever dialog. The drama in the movie is also surprisingly heavy. When you watch an Errol Flynn action flick you expect to see some lighthearted fun action sequences but in this movie the action is heavy, powerful and dramatic.

The cast is great! Errol Flynn is in his element as the popular and noble gentleman Maj. Geoffrey Vickers. Olivia de Havilland is also fine as always and it also was great to see David Niven in one of his first roles before he received real fame as an actor. It's amazing to see that he basically already looked the same in this movie as he did in movies that were made 40 years later. His role is quite small and not really significant but his presence is notable. Also really great was C. Henry Gordon as the cold-hearted villain Surat Khan, which starts of like a much warmer character. As the movie progresses he becomes more and more ruthless and he turns into almost a James Bond like villain, which works actually very well for such an adventurous action filled epic like this movie.

Based purely on all those things I just mentioned I would had rated this movie an 7 out of 10. But then came the ending...

Quite honestly, I was blown away by the ending. I simply did not expected to see such a large scale, complex action sequence in a 1936 movie. The charge in which literally hundreds of cavalry men, attack a Russian stronghold which is supported with numerous cannons is impressive to say the very least. Seeing all those hundreds of cavalry men, with Errol Flynn of course in front, riding up through the valley of death to an almost certain doom is extremely powerful. These are not CGI horses like for most part was the cast in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, this is the real thing! Horses and men flying around by the firing cannons and Errol's friends dying around him, as they come more and more closer to the Russians and Surat Khan. It such a arousing and spectacular filmed sequence that it still holds up by todays standards. Unfortunately also hundreds of horses and one stunt person got killed during the filming of the end charge. But to be honest, 1 person seems so few when you look at that sequences. I mean, men are flying and dropping from their horses like puppets, while horses ride around them within close range!

A classic epic. See this movie, if already alone for the unforgettable, arousing end charge of the light brigade.

8/10