Trivia / The Charge of the Light Brigade

• Box Office Bomb: Budget: $6.5 million. Gross: $1 million (US/ Canada rental); $3.2 million (total).
• Creator's Favorite: John Gielgud considered this his best film and film performance.
• Creator Killer: Tony Richardson's career suffered a major blow following the film's failure. It also crippled his production company, Woodfall, as Richardson fell out with longtime collaborator and friend John Osborne during the movie's long production.
• Deleted Role: Laurence Harvey purchased the rights to The Reason Why in the early '60s but couldn't procure funding. He engaged Woodfall Productions in a bitter legal dispute over this film. As part of a settlement, Harvey demanded a role in the movie, being cast as Prince Radziwell, an officer in the Heavy Brigade. Virtually all of his scenes were cut from the finished film.
• Not Screened for Critics: The film was not screened to critics in advance of its release with Tony Richardson writing to The Times criticizing English critics as "spoilt and demanding children" and that they were "the most personal, the most superficial and with the least good will in the world". Despite this, the film received generally positive reviews but proved a box office bomb.
• Real-Life Relative: The film was a family affair for Tony Richardson, featuring his then-wife Vanessa Redgrave, their children Joely and Natasha Richardson, his then brother-in-law Corin Redgrave, and his then mother-in-law Rachel Kempson.
• Star-Derailing Role: Along with Alfred the Great, the film's failure killed David Hemmings' career, though his difficult behaviour didn't endear him, either.
• Troubled Production: Like many epics, the film encountered numerous obstacles getting to the screen.
  • The film began as a Michael Powell project, but Powell gave up after his preferred screenwriter (John Witham) died during pre-production. After Tony Richardson took over, Laurence Harvey sued Richardson and screenwriter John Osborne for using Cecil Woodham-Smith's book The Reason Why as a source; Harvey owned rights and was keen on adapting it himself. The lawsuit dragged out for years until the parties reached a settlement; one of the terms was finding Harvey a role in the movie - a cameo excised from the finished film. Richardson sacked Osborne for refusing to rewrite his script, leading to an acrimonious falling out between the longtime partners. Charles Wood took over the screenplay, only to produce a 300+ page work that had to be painstakingly whittled down. Richardson then spent years negotiating with the Turkish government to allow filming in Turkey and use of military extras, relying on the help of American and French diplomats.
  • Actually shooting the film wasn't any easier. Richardson fired a stunt coordinator whose manic swordplay killed several horses; an earthquake destroyed the hotel used by the production; star David Hemmings proved extremely temperamental on set; the crew and especially the soldier-extras fought (both verbally and physically) with local villagers who resented their incursion into the area. Richardson's strange mixture of perfectionism and historical flippancy grated on both his crew and advisers.^note The most obvious example comes with Richardson outfitting the entire British cavalry in the 11th Hussars' trademark red trousers. Historical adviser Boris Mollo put his foot down when Richardson suggested dressing British infantry in blue uniforms for the Battle of the Alma, threatening to quit the production. This time, Richardson relented. While filming the final battle, the soldiers were called away for a NATO war exercise, forcing Richardson to shoot the scene with only a few dozen stuntmen. The film was also significantly edited by United Artists in post-production, forcing Richardson to cut several subplots and action scenes, including the Charge of the Heavy Brigade. Richard Williams' animated sequences were added to bridge some of the narrative gaps.
  • By the time Charge wrapped up, it was the most expensive British film ever - yet its tumultuous production generated negative press. Richardson's refusal to screen the movie for critics (a rarity in that time), and insulting them in print as "intellectual eunuchs," helped ensure a poor reception. Critics considered the film choppy and erratic, while audiences disliked the blend of satirical humor and antiwar drama. Charge became a notorious flop, damaging Richardson's career (and ruining Hemmings'), though it's gained in critical stature over time. Charles Wood satirized the film's production in his play, Veterans, featuring Flanderized versions of stars David Hemmings and John Gielgud (amusingly, played by Gielgud in the show's original production) as his protagonists.
• What Could Have Been:
  • In his memoirs, Tony Richardson mentions approaching Rex Harrison to play Lord Cardigan. However, a newspaper erroneously reported that George C. Scott was being cast in the role. This news infuriated Harrison and he dropped out of the project, leaving Trevor Howard to be cast. Richardson originally wanted Sean Connery.
  • Peter O'Toole was considered for the role of Capt. Louis Edward Nolan when producer Joseph E. Levine tried to buy out Laurence Harvey's interest.
  • According to his memoirs, Ian Holm was considered for a role in the film.
  • Michael Powell hoped to cast James Mason as Lord Lucan in his version of the story.
  • Editor Kevin Brownlow claims that the film's original cut was close to four hours, including significantly expanded subplots and extra battle scenes (notably the Charge of the Heavy Brigade, of which only stills still exist). Though Brownlow and Tony Richardson wanted to preserve the deleted footage for archival purposes, it's since been either lost or destroyed.

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