A Carga de Cavalaria Ligeira

Anyone who is expecting a factual retelling of the famous charge at the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War had better look to Tony Richardson's film from 1968. This particular Charge of the Light Brigade is a nice action adventure tale from the British Raj in the Kipling mold.

Of course this is all fictional. There's no such person as the evil Moslem ruler played by C. Henry Gordon who massacred a British garrison at a place called Chukoti in 1854. The reason for the famous cavalry charge did not happen so that the regiment could get to nail this dude for his crimes. Yet one thing I found contained more than an element of truth about British rule in India and some of our problems today.

At the very beginning Errol Flynn is accompanying E.E. Clive on a goodwill mission to Gordon. It seems as though there was a treaty with a promised subsidy from Her Majesty that expired with the death of his father. Even though they're not paying him any more to be the British friend, Clive still hopes for Gordon's friendship.

This in fact was how the British acquired 'friends' all over India, they ruled very little of it outright. They won a bidding war that was as acrimonious as the military conflict with other European powers which concluded with the French out of there altogether after the Seven Years War and the Portugese left with a couple of enclaves on the coast.

Clive in fact is one very large fathead, Flynn knows it only too well. In fact though this is how we're still acquiring 'friends' in that region which is now Pakistan.

Thrown into the politics is the rivalry between Errol Flynn and his brother Patric Knowles for Olivia DeHavilland. Originally Anita Louise was supposed to be slated for the part. But after the rave notices started coming in from Captain Blood before some of the romantic stuff was to be shot, Louise was substituted for Olivia DeHavilland and poor Olivia was typecast as the crinolined heroine until she left Warner Brothers.

Jack Warner spent a lot of money on this film. The whole garrison at Chukoti where the massacre took place was built from the ground, up; no miniatures were used. Thousands of horses were bought and about 200 were destroyed in the making of the final charge. So many animals were hurt the ASPCA stepped in and Charge of the Light Brigade got a lot of bad publicity among animal lovers. It did receive an Oscar for Best Assistant Director for the second unit work in depicting the charge when that was a category at the Academy Awards.

Errol Flynn said it was the roughest film he ever made in terms of pure physicality. It was pretty rough on Olivia DeHavilland as well who Flynn accidentally cold-cocked during a scene. These crinolined heroines do have it rough.

One of my favorite character actors, Henry Stephenson, plays the fictional Charles Masefield in this film. Stephenson in every film he did always embodied the stiff upper lip, attention to your duty ethic that the United Kingdom prides itself in. He's always a man of class and refinement. And he firmly believes in the John Ford mantra, when the legend becomes fact, print the legend.

Which is what Alfred Lord Tennyson gave us when he wrote that poem extolling the young men of that generation who died at Balaclava. We're watching the legend here.

Errol Flynn says to heck with orders and leads his men into battle against villainous Surat Khan (C. Henry Gordon) to avenge Khan's massacre of men, women, and children. Highly enjoyable adventure yarn, loosely based on historical events. Superb action scenes, fine Max Steiner score, and great Michael Curtiz direction. It's always nice to see Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland together, although this has the surprising twist of Olivia preferring Patric Knowles to Errol. Exceptional Warner Bros. supporting cast includes David Niven, Donald Crisp, Henry Stephenson, J. Carrol Naish, and many other familiar faces. Judging by some of the reviews here, it would appear the history police have written many tickets for this one. At the risk of incurring their terrifying wrath, I'm gonna say nerts to them! Just enjoy the movie. If you want to learn about the history behind the movie, read a book.

Well, if you want to learn about crimean war or the famous attack, put into immortal words by Tennyson's poem, this one is definitely not for you. Turn to the 1968 GB movie of the same title for this. If you want thrilling entertainment and great battle scenes, this one is right for you. Errol Flynn at his usual best except loosing his usual love interest (O.d. Havilland) to his younger brother and his life to his revenge. The war scenes are staged perfectly alike Custer's fight in They died with their boots ... and the acting is good, also for younger side kicks like David Niven. Taking for the entertainment it is, not for anything serious and you will love it.

Director Michael Curtiz went all out in this 1936 version of "The Charge of the Light Brigade", and considering the era, he made a darn good job of it - sure, he threw history out of the window, and created a very fictitious story, but when it came to the actual Charge, it was a masterpiece of staging and direction. He was aided by that great pair - Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland (lovely as usual!) who kept the interest all the way through. The supporting cast was really star-studded, with Donald Crisp, Henry Stephenson, Nigel Bruce and Spring Byington, and in a very early role in his career, David Niven. If you had to pinpoint a weak link, it was Patric Knowles as Flynn's brother. But all that aside, it is a couple of hours of excitement and sheer entertainment while waiting for the Charge and what is going to happen to the nasty Surat Khan!! The remakes since, while having the benefits of far greater technical tools, falls way short of this epic.

In the mid 1930s and well into the 40s, Warner Brothers made many fine films starring Errol Flynn that were very high on production values and fun but also of dubious historical value. While historically speaking this is not the worst of the lot (that honor goes to SANTA FE TRAIL), this film doesn't seem to have a lot to do with the Tennyson poem or the Crimean War and in fact, much of the movie is set around the same region of the world as GUNGA DIN--around Pakistan or Afghanistan. So, assuming you aren't looking for a history lesson, the film is packed full of excellent acting, sets and fast-paced fun. Part of the reason I particularly liked it was because it teamed Errol Flynn with Olivia de Havilland--a wonderful combination that began with CAPTAIN BLOOD and lasted for seven films. So, if you like this film, check out all their other films together--especially CAPTAIN BLOOD and THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD. Their chemistry was always excellent and it is further enhanced by such wonderful supporting actors as Henry Stephenson, Nigel Bruce, Donald Crisp and David Niven.