The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936)

Won 1 Oscar
- 4 wins & 3 nominations total

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Errol Flynn

Major Geoffrey Vickers

Olivia de Havilland

Elsa Campbell

Patric Knowles

Captain Perry Vickers

Henry Stephenson

Sir Charles Macefield

Nigel Bruce

Sir Benjamin Warrenton

Donald Crisp

Colonel Campbell

David Niven

Captain Randall

C. Henry Gordon

Surat Khan

G.P. Huntley

Major Jowett
(as G. P. Huntley Jr.)

Robert Barrat

Count Igor Volonoff

Spring Byington

Lady Octavia Warrenton

E.E. Clive

Sir Humphrey Harcourt

J. Carrol Naish

Subadar-Major Puran Singh
(as J. Carroll Naish)

Walter Holbrook

Cornet Barclay

Princess Baba

Prema's Mother
(as Princess Baigum)

Charles Sedgwick

Cornet Pearson

Scotty Beckett

Prema Singh

George Regas

Wazir

It really was "Bring on the Empty Horses"

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.

dougandwin
Jun 20, 2006
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The Charge of the Light Brigade

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Trivia
For the filming of the climactic charge, one hundred twenty-five horses were trip-wired. Of those, twenty-five were killed outright or had to be put down afterward. The resulting public furor caused the US Congress to pass laws to protect animals used in motion pictures. Star Errol Flynn, a horseman, was so outraged by the number of horses injured and killed during the charge, and by director Michael Curtiz's seeming indifference to the carnage, that at one point as he was arguing with Curtiz about it, he could contain himself no more and actually physically attacked him. They were pulled apart before any serious damage was done, but it put a permanent freeze on their relationship; even though they made subsequent films together, they despised each other and would speak only when necessary on the set.

Goofs
After the massacre, Flynn sympathetically listens to Major Singh crying over the body of his murdered son Prema who is clearly wiggling his toes in the foreground of the scene.

Quotes
[first lines]
Sir Humphrey Harcourt: How do you fellows manage to look so comfortably, Vickers?
Major Geoffrey Vickers: We may look it Sir, but we're not. They say the first forty years are about the hottest up here on the frontier, after that you get used to it.
Sir Humphrey Harcourt: Really?

Crazy credits
Opening credits: This production has its basis in history. The historical basis, however, has been fictionized for the purposes of this picture and the names of many characters, many characters themselves, the story, incidents and institutions, are fictitious. With the exception of known historical characters, whose actual names are herein used, no identification with actual persons, living or dead, is intended or should be inferred.

Alternate versions
Also available in a computer colorized version.

Connections
Featured in Hollywood and the Stars: The Swashbucklers (1964)

Soundtracks
God Save the Tsar
(uncredited)
Music by Alexis Lvov
[The Russian national anthem from 1833 to 1917 played as part of the score during the charge at Balaklava]