The Charge Of The Light Brigade - Re-issue Trailer 1936

Of the many film versions of Alfred Lord Tennyson's narrative poem, 1936's Charge of the Light Brigade has the least relationship to the facts concerning the famous 19th century British military blunder in the Crimea. Reflecting the popularity of 1935's Lives of A Bengal Lancer, the film uses the climactic charge as the culmination of events which begin in British India. Errol Flynn and Patric Knowles are cast as cavalry officers who are also brothers; both love Olivia De Havilland, but it is Knowles who wins out (this should tip us off that the rest of the film is pure fantasy). Indian potentate C. Henry Gordon, angered that the British government has cut off his subsidy, stages a revolt against the English settlements. Ordered on maneuvers, Flynn is unable to bring rescue troops to the besieged fort commanded by De Havilland's father. Gordon supervises the slaughter of every man, woman and child at the fort, then leaves India in the company of his Russian advisors. Flynn and his fellow Light Brigade lancers are then transferred to the Crimea--where, as luck would have it, Gordon is now ensconced with the Russians. Thirsting for revenge, Flynn falsifies an official order so that he and the Light Brigade can battle Gordon and his allies at Balaclava (thus are Britons Lord Cardigan and Lord Ragan, the actual instigators of the doomed charge, exonerated). As passages from the Tennyson poem are superimposed on the action, Flynn leads a suicidal charge against the Russians; he manages to kill the treacherous Gordon before being slain himself. Its dozens of historical inaccuracies aside, The Charge of the Light Brigade is rousing entertainment. Animal lovers be warned, however: several horses were killed during the climactic charge, a fact that compelled Hollywood (under the auspices of the ASPCA) to install safer and more stringent standards concerning the treatment of animals. Errol Flynn - Maj. Geoffrey Vickers Olivia de Havilland - Elsa Campbell Patric Knowles - Capt. Perry Vickers Henry Stephenson - Sir Charles Macefield Donald Crisp - Col. Campbell David Niven - Capt. James Randall Nigel Bruce - Sir Benjamin Warrenton Robert H. Barrat - Count Igor Volonoff Spring Byington - Octavia Warrenton E.E. Clive - Sir Humphrey Harcourt Lumsden Hare - Col. Woodward J. Carrol Naish - Subahdar Major Puran Singh Walter Holbrook - Cornet Barclay Princess Baigum - Prema's Mother Charles Sedgwick - Cornet Pearson Scotty Beckett - Prema Singh George Regas - Wazir Colin Kenny - Maj. Anderson Gordon Hart - Col. Coventry Helen Sanborn - Mrs. Jowett Jimmy Aubrey - Orderly Dick Botiller - Native Phyllis Coghlan - Woman at Ball Jack Curtis Denis D'Auburn - Orderly George David - Suristani Herbert Evans - Major Domo Martin Garralaga - Panjari Henry C. Gordon - Surat Khan Holmes Herbert - Gen. O'Neill G.P. Huntley - Maj. Jowett Brandon Hurst - Lord Raglan Boyd Irwin - Gen. Dunbar Crauford Kent - Capt. Brown Charles Croker King - Lord Cardigan Frank Lackteen - Panjari Wilfred Lucas - Captain Lal Chand Mehra Carlyle Moore, Jr. - Junior Officer Georges Renavent - Gen. Canrobert Carlos San Martin - Court Interpreter Harry Semels - Sepoy chief Reginald Sheffield - Bentham Ram Singh C. Aubrey Smith George Sorel - Surwan Arthur Thalasso David Thursby Michael Visaroff - Russian General