utgard14 Errol Flynn says to heck with orders and leads his men into battle against villainous Surat Khan (C. Henry Gordon) to avenge Khan's massacre of men, women, and children. Highly enjoyable adventure yarn, loosely based on historical events. Superb action scenes, fine Max Steiner score, and great Michael Curtiz direction. It's always nice to see Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland together, although this has the surprising twist of Olivia preferring Patric Knowles to Errol. Exceptional Warner Bros. supporting cast includes David Niven, Donald Crisp, Henry Stephenson, J. Carrol Naish, and many other familiar faces. Judging by some of the reviews here, it would appear the history police have written many tickets for this one. At the risk of incurring their terrifying wrath, I'm gonna say nerts to them! Just enjoy the movie. If you want to learn about the history behind the movie, read a book.

blanche-2 Unfortunately for "The Charge of the Light Brigade," I am an animal lover, so I was somewhat repulsed by the battle scenes in this film. Killing 200 horses and a stuntman to make a movie is unacceptable - it was even considered bad in 1936. For this reason, unlike Errol Flynn's other adventure movies, it was not re-released. The film also did nothing for Olivia de Havilland's career, typecasting her with Warner Brothers as a typical ingénue, when in fact, she was a fantastic actress.Errol Flynn, Patric Knowles, Henry Stephenson, and Nigel Bruce star in the film, along with the aforementioned de Havilland. Knowles was sort of a B-movie Flynn, so it's good casting that he plays Flynn's brother. Both of them are in love with Elsa Campbell (de Havilland), whose father is a colonel (Donald Crisp).This is a highly fictionalized version of the actual battle and the events leading up to it. No expense was spared. The battle scenes are very graphic, and you can really see why horses would have died. I've seen thousands of films, and I've never seen horses falling and ending up on their backs.Flynn is at his handsomest best; the still up and coming Niven has a supporting role.Not recommended - by me, anyway.

wes-connors While British lancer Errol Flynn (as Geoffrey "Geoff" Vickers) is out leopard hunting with his elephant and gun, his fiancée Olivia de Havilland (as Elsa Campbell) and brother Patric Knowles (as Perry Vickers) are falling in love. Alas, that love triangle has little to do with the film's intent - to depict "The Charge of the Light Brigade" in Alfred Lord Tennyson's famous poem. Leading the charge, Mr. Flynn determined to advance the brigade of six hundred men. The film is famous for its explosive climactic sequence, which helped end the use of "trip wires" in the movies. These wires would trip the horse, indicating they had been shot. This was preferable to actually shooting the horse. As you'll see, many were so wounded, they had to be shot. C. Henry Gordon has the most lip-smacking supporting role (as Surat Khan). Combining good-looks, action, and romance, Flynn and the studio won big at the box office.***** The Charge of the Light Brigade (10/20/36) Michael Curtiz ~ Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Patric Knowles, C. Henry Gordon

secondtake Charge of the Light Brigade (1936)Michael Curtiz is a director with a beautiful sense of place, of interiors especially, and of night scenes. Sol Polito, the cinematographer, knows how to make even boring scenes visually rich, and is known for some first rate film noirs. And Olivia de Havilland, the lead woman in this historical drama, is an actress with extraordinary nuance to her psychological portrayals.On that score, this is a really well made film, an achievement. But it is one that doesn't use any of its main contributors to their absolute best. What they give is quite amazing--the direction is fast and smart, the photography sharply seen and nuanced, and de Havilland gives a moving, if minor and intermittent, performance. The last of the main contributors is Errol Flynn, who is charming, and gives this action adventure movie some good action and adventure. In a way, he's the only one in his element.Not that movies can be reduced to their parts this way. But I've been straining to see why this movie struggles, even with the best of credentials. The story itself might be partly to blame, or more exactly the way the historical aspects of this famous military tragedy were forced to fit a romance of de Havilland's character with two brothers in the military. The telling of this tale fails to do what Gone with the Wind did three years later, layering a moving personal fictional story into a great war.Curtiz does make it solid, given the story line he has to work with. An impressive, ambitious movie, overall. The bright, sunlit battle scenes are kinetic, for sure, and the actual "charge" that gives the movie its name takes up only the last ten minutes of the movie. The rest is a lot of foreshadowing.