He's seen action in India, wrote a book on cavalry tactics and is shown to be infinitely smarter and more sensible than his superiors. Not to be confused with the 1936 film starring Errol Flynn, with which it only shares a title. While the movie bombed in its original release, it's gained a strong critical reputation in subsequent decades. The movie is also noteworthy for animated sequences provided by Richard Williams. It mixes often comic scenes of Cardigan, Lucan and Raglan's ineptitude with violent battle scenes and anger at aristocratic bigotry. Light Brigade is a vicious satire of both the British class structure and military incompetence. Nolan, now an aide to commander-in-chief Lord Raglan (Gielgud), grows disgusted with mismanagement of the war and helps initiate the titular charge. Both men serve in the war, where Cardigan leads the Light Brigade under division commander (and hated brother-in-law) Lord Lucan (Andrews). Nolan also carries on an affair with Clarissa (Redgrave), the wife of another officer. He immediately clashes with Lord Cardigan (Howard), the regiment's arrogant Colonel, who fans a minor disagreement with Nolan into a national scandal (the "black bottle affair"). Its protagonist is Captain Louis Nolan (Hemmings), a dashing young Cavalry Officer assigned to the 11th Hussars. The movie depicts the circumstances surrounding the famous Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava (October 25th, 1854) during The Crimean War. It takes its title from the famous poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The cast includes Trevor Howard, Vanessa Redgrave, David Hemmings, Jill Bennett, John Gielgud, and Harry Andrews. What is abundantly clear is that this is a superb motion picture that deserves to be more widely seen.The Charge of the Light Brigade is a 1968 film directed by Tony Richardson, loosely adapted from Cecil Woodham-Smith's 1953 nonfiction book The Reason Why: The True Story of the Fatal Charge of the Light Brigade. The charge occurs during the last part of the film and you'll want to watch it again to determine what really went wrong and who was at fault though let me warn you, those answers aren't at all clear. The only significant female role is handled well by Jill Bennett. One weak spot in the movie is that the role played by Vanessa Redgrave seems rather tacked-on without great purpose. Of course John Gielgud also excels as Lord Raglan, the tired old soldier who leads the brigade. Harry Andrews is also excellent as Lord Lucan, Cardigan's brother-in-law and fierce rival.
Shining brightest among a stellar cast is Trevor Howard as Lord Cardigan, who despite his high social position and the finery he surrounds himself with is a brute and a boor. This leads to disaster for him and his regiment.
He believes that war, the main reason for a soldier's existence, is a proud undertaking that is best fought aggressively. He is revolted by the brutality and stupidity of the officers towards the men, but he has a tragic fatal flaw. David Hemmings as Captain Nolan has his own definite ideas about fighting wars and improving the army. It's a strong anti-war film but not strident or unfair. Seeing it again after a quarter century only made it seem even better. This overlooked masterwork of director Tony Richardson seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth until resurfacing on video a few years back.
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