The Red Badge of Courage

stephen crane's best work. audie murphy's best work. any serious student of the civil war will recognize this film as the best, most honest portrayal of civil war action. it captures the fear and dread of deadly combat like no other film on the american civil war. during bloody battles, if your side was not having a successful day, the usual way out was "skedaddling" or running like the wind. both sides did it. a great little film that all civil war students and scholars should own and view every so often.

This is really a very fine film and after seeing it on has to wonder why Audie Murphy never had more substantial roles in his career, as he was quite good in this film. As was mentioned in a previous post he was playing himself in the movie To Hell and Back and was essentially a B-Western actor the remainder of his career. This films shows that he was much more talented than one would ever know from watching the bulk of his films.

Deserves more credit than it currently receives. The directing alone is awesome, with the number of unique and different shots that Huston came up with really takes this Pic away from the norm.

Some of the realism in the portrayals that would be lost on some American viewers include the scene where the General talks to the troops before the battle, asking them what they are going to eat for dinner. He goes from group to group asking the same questions - why? Remember (duh), no radios, no public address system. Commanders had to spread their message by repeating it over and over - inspiring a different group each time.

A very enjoyable 69 minutes. Sad that the studio had to meddle with the original cut (what else is new?).

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Those who think Audie Murphy was not a very good actor haven't seen him in this film. Perhaps some of his later Western films didn't give him as much to work with, but in Red Badge of Courage he shines. Just a few of many great scenes which come to mind: early in the film when he hears that his group will finally be going into action, he writes a letter to his pa 'in case you are told that I have fallen', and you can see the remains of tears drying on his face; later on when his friend Jim dies after the first real battle, in Murphy's reaction you can see how wrenching it is for him to realize the human cost of war. Bill Mauldin, the famous cartoonist, plays the role of Murphy's closest friend in his fighting group, and does a superb job as well. Both Murphy and Mauldin seem perfectly suited to the age of their characters. While they were not originally actors by trade and had little if any acting experience, their performances in this film should shame many of today's 'actors' who draw multi million dollar paychecks and whose 'work' pales in comparison to that of Murphy and Mauldin in this film.

My only real disappointment was that due to massive editing the film is only 69 minutes long! I figured it was at the midway point when 'the end' came on the screen. Apparently this film became a sort of political football within the studio when it was made, yet I can't understand how anyone could justify cutting it down to this length. I was thoroughly enjoying this film all the way through and was nowhere near ready for it to end. Even so, even if you're not a Civil War buff, this is an excellent film with very engaging performances. It's more about the people than it is the war. Highly recommended.

The original cut of THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE has never been seen--and probably does not exist--but this is the truncated version of the John Huston film and it's still powerful stuff.

It's an examination of courage among men under intense fire--such as the infantry men in the Civil War, about whom writer Stephen Crane wrote with almost poetical finesse. So that some of Crane's writing is maintained on screen, we get a narration by James Whitmore that succeeds in helping us understand the central character (AUDIE MURPHY) and his motivations.

Judging from photographs of the Civil War, the film has a gritty, realistic look as it goes from battle to battle with a group of men we get to know and recognize as vulnerable human beings caught in the tragedy of impossible battle situations.

AUDIE MURPHY is not noted for being an actor capable of deep characterization, but he's been guided by Huston to give a very effective, deeply felt performance, no doubt helped by the fact that he's been in the midst of battle before (he's a real life war hero), and must know the inner conflicts that face any man in battle.

The supporting cast of actors are fine, especially BILL MAULDIN as Audie's friend, both of them confessing moments of cowardice during battle fatigue and then able to go on with their mission.

But the real credit has to go to John Huston for writing and directing a film that he was never especially proud of, but which is stunningly photographed and directed with great skill.