They are Special Forces. Crack troopers, whose motto is, "Quis Super Abit." They are following the orders of the Coalition. Somewhere between Calcutta and the Mediterranean is a Muslim war criminal and his retainers whom the Coalition has sworn to bring to justice. The origins of the conflict lie in a dispute over holy places in Jerusalem, but within the hearts of one unit in the Special Forces is a personal reason to smoke out this devilish figure. However hard it may be, they have sworn eternal vengeance for innocent men, women and children massacred by the war criminal in their homeland.

A future history of the hunt for Osama bin Laden, you ask?

No, it is roughly the plot of Michael Curtiz's THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE (1936), set in the time of The Crimean War, 1854-56.

The ostensible cause of the Crimean War developed some years earlier, when a group of Russian Orthodox Monks argued with French Catholics over the keys to various Holy Places in Jerusalem and Nazareth. Violence followed, people were killed. The affair became a pretext for Czar Nicholas I to occupy what is now Rumania in the Balkans, then part of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, and to subsequently sink the Turkish fleet in the Black Sea. Great Britain, long suspicious of Russian movements in Afghanistan, Central Asia and in the Dardanelles, supported the Turks, and Napoleon II of France, hoping to emulate his illustrious (or infamous) uncle, declared his intention to protect the French Monks in Jerusalem. He joined the British and Turks in a coalition against Russia. The war went well for the Coalition in early 1853, as two expeditionary forces drove the Russians back in the Balkans. They did not leave well enough alone, however, and on September 14, 1854, over 60, 000 allied soldiers were landed on the Crimean Peninsula with orders to occupy Sevastopol, Russia's Black Sea base, which potentially endangered British and French sea routes,

There occurred after the successful Battle of Alma, and the stand of the 93rd (Sutherland) Highlanders ("The Thin Red Line" referred to in Zoltan Korda's 1939 THE FOUR FEATHERS), a muddle-headed operation known as The Charge of the Light Brigade. Even now, widely conflicting accounts exist of how a force made up of four (or five) regiments of Light Cavalry, some 600+ men, was directed into a crossfire from 25 to 30 thousand entrenched Russians with well emplaced cannon. As in a number of such actions, how many men actually took part, how many were killed, how many horses were lost is not indisputably certain. The blame is laid on Captain Lewis Nolan who relayed orally Lord Raglan's written order for Lord Lucan to flank the Russian guns at Balaclava. Captain Nolan who appeared to be indicating a Left Wheel after the action began was killed in the act by the first Russian cannonade, and the Brigade went directly onto the guns.

Although the Charge was seen as somehow a turning point for the Coalition, the War crippled along for another two years before a treaty was signed. Britain's only major European war between the defeat of Napoleon in 1815 and the opening of hostilities in 1914 had come to an end. But several of the issues raised were not dealt with -- and evidently have not been dealt with yet.

[The way in which this war, World War I and the War on Terrorism began is remarkably similar, even though each time the stakes were raised, extending beyond the Balkans.]

Confusing?

Yes, and so it may not be so astonishing that Hollywood became confused, too. Originally, Warner Brothers had two scripts, one about with the Charge, and a second concerning the Sepoy Rebellion in India. The former was based on British Poet Laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson's splendent ode, "The Charge of the Light Brigade," which had made phrases like "to do or die" commonplace in the English speaking world. The latter script dealt with a bloody revolt, triggered by the introduction in 1857 of a new cartridge for the Lee-Enfield rifle among the 200,000 South Asian troops, who under 40,000 British and East India Company soldiers, were expanding the Raj in the Indian States. Resentment over the introduction of Western culture, anger at the arrogant attitudes of British officers, friction between Muslim and Hindu troops, and a general fear of Christianity were exploited by local ruler Nana Sahib, among others, on the rumor that pig fat was used to grease the new cartridge, the top of which had to be bitten off to use. Nana Sahib took umbrage that he was not allowed to inherit his stepfather's title of Peshwa (Prime Minister) for the Kingdom of Marathas, and was enraged that his pension had been rescinded. Before the rebellion was savagely put down by British forces, Nana Sahib was held responsible for a treacherous massacre of defenseless soldiers, women and children under safe passage at Cawnpore.

Financial contractions within Warner Brothers dictated that these two stories, one already partially shot, be combined in one movie of epic scope. As Writers Michael Jacoby and Rowland Leigh sat down to make the elision, their task was complicated by the fact that story-wise, the events of the Rebellion (1857) should occur before the Charge (1854). Another consideration was that members of Russian Imperial Family (in exile) had just won a large settlement against MGM for using their name without permission in RASPUTIN AND THE EMPRESS (Boleslavsky, 1932). Because both stories had reference to Russia, and considering other legal or historical objections, the producers decided fictionalize the events and characters wherever possible.

Thus, as THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE begins in 1853, Captain Nolan becomes Cornet Geoffrey Vickers (Errol Flynn) of the 27th Lancers, escorting the mission of Sir Humphrey Harcourt (E. E. Clive) to the State of Suristan in Northern India. Sir Humphrey informs the ruler of Suristan, Surat Khan, that Her Majesty's Government must regretfully cancel financial support of 150, 000 pounds per annum granted his late foster father. In an atmospheric scene employing drums and the shadows of dancing girls, Surat Khan (C. Henry Gordon), a fictionalized Nana Sahib, ruefully observes: "Confidence is an admirable quality. We seldom appreciate it fully until it is withdrawn."

Surat Khan, a sportsman, esteems Coronet Vickers' marksmanship, and he graciously arranges for Sir Humphrey's mission a leopard hunt from the backs of elephants. When the cinch on his howdah is broken and he is dragged in the path of a leopard, the Khan is saved by an astounding shot by Vickers, which catches the beast in mid air. The Khan swears eternal gratitude and repayment. They will have an opportunity to discharge the debt.

Back in Calcutta, at a ball given in the honor of Surat Khan, the rest of the plot falls into place. The Khan is accompanied by the Russian envoy, Count Igor Volonoff (Robert Barrat), and Sir Charles Macefield (Henry Stephenson), in elevating Vickers to a captaincy, confides that Britain may be drawn into a war with Russia. He is sending Captain Vickers across India, Afghanistan, Persia, and Arabia for an arduous roundup of horses (in case they should be needed), which he is to deliver to the port of Batum, on the Black Sea.

Matters are made worse by the careless, snobbish attitudes of the young officers at the party, which affront Surat Khan, driving him further into the Russian camp.

Meanwhile, the other major plot strand is established, when we learn that Vickers' fiancee, Elsa Campbell (Olivia De Havilland), has fallen in love with his brother, Captain Perry Vickers (Patric Knowles), a political officer seconded to Macefield's staff. For the rest of the film the lovers try to tell Geoffrey, but events always interrupt their attempts. Other characters like Elsa's father, Colonel Campbell (Donald Crisp) discourage their love while his counterpart, bibulous Sir Benjamin Warrenton (Nigel Bruce), shows a laissez-faire attitude, and his gushing wife, Lady Octavia (Spring Byington) actively encourages the match. While Geoffrey is on his expedition, it is deemed wise that Elsa and Perry be separated, and so she goes with her father to Chokoti, and Perry is attached to Sir Benjamin's staff at Lohora.

Following an episode on the Afghan plain, presumably encouraged by Surat Khan, in which Captain Vickers and his comrades come under fire from Pathans (Pashtuns), the Lancer detachment returns to Chokoti, where a bloody event similar to the historical Cawnpore Massacre sets up the final half hour of THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE, under the guns on Balaclava Heights. The betrayal and murder of their families by Surat Khan, now "taking refuge" as military advisor to Count Volonoff in the Crimea, provides an irresistible motive for the 27th Lancers [the 17th, really] to take part in a charge on the Khan's position.

Whether there were 247 or 503 casualties in the actual charge, the last half hour of the Movie is one of the great action sequences in Motion Pictures. Now Major Vickers spares his brother and brings a false message to the Brigade, and to bugles, we can observe the Light Brigade forming up from the 27th (17th) Lancers, the 13th Dragoons, the 11th Hussars, with the 4th Dragoons in support. (There were really two regiments in support, which may be a source of confusion in the Movie and in the Historical Record.) Paced by Max Steiner's classic score, which starts at a walk, moves to a trot, then a canter and finally into a full gallop -- quoting both "Rule Britannia" and the old Czarist Anthem -- with Vickers and his Lancers on their mission of revenge against War Criminal, Surat Khan -- the Charge goes on for nearly 12 minutes:

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.

Michael Curtiz and his Cameraman, Sol Polito, spare nothing to involve us in the action, and although the under-cranked camera is a little obvious at moments, the sequence remains impressive. There is nothing of its kind to equal it, except perhaps for Laurence Olivier's briefer Charge of the French Knights before Agincourt in HENRY V (1945).

Flynn came into his own as a star in THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE. He appears a superb physical specimen, a better actor than some give him credit, and he moves like Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. Young Olivia De Havilland makes an entrancing partner for Flynn, in a different kind of a triangle, showing the kind of fondness the two had for each other in real life. Knowles is a bit stolid, but David Niven is excellent as Vickers' sidekick. And solid character actors like Stephenson, Crisp, Bruce, Barrat and Byington -- not to mention J. Carol Nash as a Bengali Subahdar-Major -- add the weight of their experience. C. Henry Gordon, as the surrogate of Nana Sahib (and, we may imagine, Osama bin Laden), dominates every scene that he is in.

[Interestingly, characters representing controversial Lords Cardigan and Raglan, who figured in the event of the title, appear in the film, but nowhere near the battle, and they are played uncredited by Charles Kroker-King and Brandon Hurst.]

Curtiz had a reputation for ruthless efficiency, both on and off the set, so much so that people went to the hospital suffering from exposure during his filming of NOAH'S ARK (1928), and a female extra actually drowned in "The Flood." THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE was no exception. Two hundred horses, by estimate, were killed or had to be put down. (The extent of the scandal, extraordinary even for Hollywood, caused legislation, which prevents the use of trip wires and other cruel practices to extract realistic performances from animals.) Numerous riders were also injured, and Flynn claimed he never forgave Curtiz for requiring one more take of the Charge, near sunset, which took the life of one of his friends among the stuntmen.

Whether the result justifies the cost is up to you.

Best not pretend THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE is a history lesson, but it is interesting to view the film as a kind of psychodrama which shows that nearly 150 years ago, the murderous clash of religions, cultures, ambitions, arrogance and greed were causing the same problems in the same places as they are today.

Similar issues, similar results perhaps, somewhat different players.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older