The charge of the light brigade 196811/29/2023 An illegal duel that resulted in Cardigan's trial for attempted murder before the House of Lords in 1841 (he won acquittal on an aggravating quibble regarding the name of his dueling opponent) is not in this film. Ironically Errol Flynn's character would have not risen far in the Light Brigade under Cardigan! There were a series of scandals involving this snob, one of which (the "black bottle" affair) is shown in this film. But he sneered at non-aristocratic officers from India like Louis Nolan. He made the Light Brigade a crack fighting and riding group. Woodham - Smith pointed out that Cardigan was an insufferable perfectionist and snob. Between these five geniuses the blunder occurred. The villains were James Brudenell, Seventh Earl of Cardigan, his hated cousin George Bingham, Earl of Lucan (great grandfather of the missing Earl/murderer from the 1970s), Lord Raglan (the General-in-Chief), Lord Airey (Raglan's second in command), and Captain Louis Nolan. Their's but to do or die.") that documented the generally bad leadership of the Light Brigade and the British Army in the 1840s and 1850s, leading to the debacle at Sebastopol. I have put a copy of this poem down separately on the thread.) In the meantime, Cecil Woodham - Smith wrote THE REASON WHY, a book (whose title is lifted from Tennyson's line, "Their's not to reason why. It is a competent poem (one can hardly expect an incompetent poem by Tennyson), but it is totally without any merit in comparison to the earlier work. If you get his complete poems you can find it. Tennyson took it to heart, and wrote - believe it or not - a poem called THE CHARGE OF THE HEAVY BRIGADE. For a poetry lover the effect is not what one could wish.* (*Lord Tennyson was criticized about twenty years after writing this poem by a member of the larger unit, "the Heavy Brigade" that was also at the battles of the Alva and Balaclava in October 1854, but followed the correct orders, lost few members, and successfully carried out it's assignment. Yet the Tennyson poem is not totally quoted, and only pops up on screen during the last seven minutes, inter-cut in the background of shots of the charging British cavalrymen. The film is, of course, named for Tennyson's poem about the Charge. It holds a kind of stately dignity to most people because Flynn represents a type of bizarre honor at all costs type that we admire. Yet for all it's mush, most people in 1936, or even today, enjoy THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE with Flynn. Elements of the Sepoy Revolt were tacked on, to build up an understandable motive for the Russian - English confrontation in the Crimea. But the history presented about the most infamous blunder in British military annals during the Crimean War was mushed up. It was a box office smash, guaranteeing the greatness of Warners adventure star Flynn in a series of swashbuckling films that would last until 1941, and would remain imprinted on his career until he began to age too much from drink and debauchery. In 1936 Errol Flynn appeared in a film called THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE, directed (at Warner Brothers) by Michael Curtiz.
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