The Charge of the Light Brigade

Into the valley of death rode the 600.

The Charge Of The Light Brigade is a good military film boasting quality action sequences, it's not a true account of the actual event, and it should be noted there is a disclaimer of sorts at the film's beginning.

This telling begins in India in 1850 and leads us up to what would become the Crimean War. Indian chief Surat Khan (C. Henry Gordon) is plotting to sever his ties with the British and pitch his lot in with the Russians in readiness for a total revolt against the Empire. Khan oversees a sneaky bloody massacre of British troops that also see the slaughter of innocent women and children. Pumped up with revenge, Major Vickers (a dashing Errol Flynn) decides to take matters into his own hands and leads a brave charge on the Russians at Balaclava Heights which is where Khan has fled into hiding.

That's all you need to know as regards the plot, there is a love tryst sub-plot between Vickers, his brother Perry (Patric Knowles) and Elsa Campbell (a radiant Olivia de Havilland), but this is merely a side issue to add impetus to the bravery of the men in the charge. It's a rousing picture that provides a quite breath taking final reel as the charge is brought vividly to life by director Michael Curtiz.

Sadly many horses and a stuntman were killed during the shooting of the famous charge, the then legal use of trip wires to impact falling horses taking its toll with very tragic results. The practice was brought into the public eye the following year as congress raised the issue about the treatment of animals in motion pictures, thankfully the practice has long since been outlawed. A bit of a sad taint to the film for sure, but it was a golden age for cinema and nobody was doing anything deemed illegal at the time, and lets not hide the fact that the result is truly dynamite. 8/10

Errol Flynn leads a workmanlike cast in this tale immortalised by Alfred, Lord Tennyson about a seemingly suicidal charge at the battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War. This story is really about empire - British and Russian - and of the manipulation, tactics (and/or, downright bribery) employed by both on those whom they needed to protect it. C Henry Gordon plays one such character "Surat Khan" who longs to rid his nation of the British and the story revolves around his actions so to do. This is a good boys-own action film with a strong supporting cast: Olivia de Havilland as the daughter of the doughty Colonel (Donald Crisp) who shares her fickle affections between Flynn and his brother (Patric Knowles) and a good team effort from Nigel Bruce and Spring Byington. Mostly fiction, but fun to watch nonetheless.