The Charge of the Light Brigade

The first of three film versions of Britain's glorious cock-up is quite impressive given the era in which it was made. Only a passing effort is made to get to know the characters involved - the film only runs 12 minutes, so there isn't the time - but a large cast takes to the battlefield, and the charge is filmed well by director J. Searle Dawley. Pretty sure this would have gone down a storm in 1912.

I started watching this movie thinking it would be a fairly typical one-reeler of the time, shot on the cheap, with a few perfunctory action scenes, a lot of smoke, some horses running around, and that would be pretty much it.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

This is an extremely impressive little film, and while I might not call it the "masterpiece" that the previous reviewer did, I do have to say that I was very, very pleasantly surprised by what I saw. This film is in no way, shape or form "cheap"--the producers put a lot of money into this little epic, with hundreds of extras and horses, elaborate (and apparently period-correct) costumes and equipment, batteries of cannons and exciting battle scenes. For an action picture the acting is actually rather subdued, as opposed to the often over-the-top ham that was common in pictures of the time, especially D.W. Griffith's. It had almost a documentary feel to it that I found quite effective.

I had heard of director J. Searle Dawley but, as far as I know, have never seen any of his films. Based on what I've seen in his work here, I've been missing out on a lot. I'll have to start looking out more for his pictures.

This film is much better than the quaint oddity which one might expect.

Directorially it is a masterpiece of economical story-telling. In its 12 minutes there are only 28 scenes, each of which is a single continuous take. In 27 of them the camera is static - no zooms, no tracking shots, no cuts to close-up, etc. In only one scene does the camera pan, and that is to follow the charging cavalry. The shot is made all the more effective by the absence of camera movement elsewhere.

More than half a century before the Tony Richardson 1968 film, the writer of this version came up with the idea of establishing a cosy domestic relationship between Captains Nolan and Morris at home in Britain before their Crimean service. This is not an obvious idea, and is not based on any contemporary account. One wonders if Richardson saw this film before making his own.

The action sequences are lavishly staged. It is said that 800 troopers of the US Cavalry took part, and there are scenes in which that many appear to be engaged at once.

The film is available as an extra on the DVD of the British Film Institute edition of the 1968 movie. The visual quality of the film is very good for its age - an excellent job of restoration. It is scratched, but not at all faded.