Thrown into the politics is the rivalry between Errol Flynn and his brother Patric Knowles for Olivia DeHavilland. In fact though this is how we're still acquiring 'friends' in that region which is now Pakistan. Clive in fact is one very large fathead, Flynn knows it only too well. They won a bidding war that was as acrimonious as the military conflict with other European powers which concluded with the French out of there altogether after the Seven Years War and the Portugese left with a couple of enclaves on the coast. This in fact was how the British acquired 'friends' all over India, they ruled very little of it outright. Even though they're not paying him any more to be the British friend, Clive still hopes for Gordon's friendship. It seems as though there was a treaty with a promised subsidy from Her Majesty that expired with the death of his father. At the very beginning Errol Flynn is accompanying E.E. Yet one thing I found contained more than an element of truth about British rule in India and some of our problems today. The reason for the famous cavalry charge did not happen so that the regiment could get to nail this dude for his crimes. Henry Gordon who massacred a British garrison at a place called Chukoti in 1854. There's no such person as the evil Moslem ruler played by C. This particular Charge of the Light Brigade is a nice action adventure tale from the British Raj in the Kipling mold. Looks good, great garrison sets (actually built for real) amid the scorching heat, costumes are superb as expected and acting is solid from all the cast with solid direction from Warner stalwart Curtiz, its just a bit boring to be honest.Anyone who is expecting a factual retelling of the famous charge at the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War had better look to Tony Richardson's film from 1968. This is where it gets more exciting and our swashbuckling hero Errol begins to shine.but not for long. Despite the fictional sub plots and characters this does play well if you can take all the talking, as with modern films you are waiting for the final big push and charge. The usual contracted players as mentioned, they all go well together and shows why Warner stuck them together for many more pictures. The final charge sequence is very good for a film of the this time but its clear where horses have died for the screen, impressive stunts and action but is it worth it?Īs for the film its pretty dull throughout, much loving between Havilland and Knowles, much war talk with Flynn and plenty of the 'stiff upper lip old boy'. Yes an earlier time for sure, animal rights stepped in to halt filming with the horrendous horse massacre on location but the fact they still got away with it and were able to even start shows a different attitude which does cast a nasty spell over this film. The stunt men must have earned their pay, yikes!! I was surprised how much of the film is quite dark to be honest, the massacre at Chukoti (made up) is not bloody of course but its pretty graphic as is the final charge where horses are clearly throw all over the place (200 actual horses were killed during filming). One of Errol's early films in a time when shooting wild cats or even pretending to was seen as fine and displayed with glee.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |