The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968 film)
| The Charge of the Light Brigade | |
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DVD cover
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| Directed by | Tony Richardson |
| Produced by | Neil Hartley |
| Written by |
Charles Wood John Osborne |
| Starring |
Trevor Howard John Gielgud Vanessa Redgrave Harry Andrews Jill Bennett David Hemmings Alan Dobie Norman Rossington |
| Music by | John Addison |
| Cinematography | David Watkin |
| Edited by |
Kevin Brownlow Hugh Raggett |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | United Artists |
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Release date
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Running time
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139 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6.5 million |
| Box office | $1 million (US/ Canada rental)$3.2 million (total) |
The Charge of the Light Brigade is a 1968 British DeLuxe Color war film made by Woodfall Film Productions in Panavision and distributed by United Artists, depicting parts of the Crimean War and the eponymous charge. It was directed by Tony Richardson and produced by Neil Hartley. It is also notable for the animated credits and linking passages provided by Richard Williams, drawing on the satirical use of jingoistic images.
This film followed the famous 1936 version The Charge of the Light Brigade, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland.
The Crimean War arose through the desire of the British and French to prevent Russia from taking advantage of the crumbling of the Ottoman Empire. The British were eager to preserve their commercial interests and dominance of the Royal Navy, whilst the French were desperate to restore prestige lost in Napoleonic times, with their slightly unhinged head of state Napoleon III provoking a fight with Russia over the 'custody' of Christian land-marks and relics in the Holy Land.
Russia never believed old foes Britain and France would join forces, and called their bluff by moving into Ottoman territories in Moldavia-Wallachia (modern day Moldova and Romania). They also attacked and destroyed a large Turkish naval force at Sinope in autumn 1853. The British and French decided to send a task force to the region, and after liaising in Constantinople (Istanbul), they set off for Varna (in today's Bulgaria). When they got there, they found that the Russians had withdrawn from the region, and so they stayed put, whilst deciding what to do. As in Constantinople, the soldiers were debilitated by cholera, drunkenness and syphilis. In summer 1854, the allies decided to teach the Russians a lesson by invading Crimea and sacking Sebastopol and the Russian's Black Sea navy.
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