The Charge of the Light Brigade (Warner Bros.) (1936)

ee. " THE | HARGE of the LIGHT BRIGADE row BL An Incident In Empire Building Thrilling battle scenes, exciting clashes and breathtaking cavalry charges feature the new Warner Bros. film master ptece, ““The Charge of the Light Brigade.’’ which is now playing At ENE .....cccccccccccecceessseecees Theatre with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, the lovers of ‘‘Captain Blood,’’ reaching new heights in the stellar roles. Above is a bit of action showing how Indian tribesmen scales the garrison walls. Mat No. 3083—30e Walled City Is Built For ‘Charge Of Light Brigade’ British Garrison In India In 1850 Is Reconstructed For Film High on a plateau thirty miles from Hollywood there was constructed the biggest motion picture set since 1928. Covering four city blocks, it represented one of the British garrisons which in 1850 stood on the northern borders of India. Art Director Jack Hughes designed it for Warner Bros.’ ‘Charge of the Light Brigade,’’ starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland and now showing at the ................ Theatre. Hundreds of players, including the stars made the trip to the location daily for the production. Two hundred workmen labored for a month to build the garrison. Thousands of feet of lumber and hundreds of barrels of cement were used in erecting it. And when it was completed, thirty set dressers, under the direction of Fred McLean, worked two weeks to get it ready for shooting. The setting was not visible from Ventura Boulevard. A dirt road led up hill and down dale to it. A twelve foot wall, with a tremendous gate at the west side, surrounded it. And within that wall was a complete city. The wall was pierced with holes and through them protruded the muzzles of cannon. High watch towers were spaced at intervals and wooden steps led up to them. The massive gate, twenty feet tall, opened on a parade ground. From the high pole in the center of the field flew the British flag. Off to the left were the huts: occupied by the Sepoys and their families. They were low, mud _ covered structures that resembled inverted pots and around each was a wicker fence. Near the village was a big water wheel and though there was no water for miles, the wheel was practical. When it was turned, water poured from the buckets into troughs. Beyond were the stables for the cavalry horses, a long row of them, with the racked lances in front. From each lance fluttered a little blue flag. Back of the parade ground was the long, low building which serves as a barracks for the lancers. This was a practical building for not only was the exterior used but also the interior. To the right of the barracks was the commandant’s headquarters which was also practical. From the inside of the set, one looked through the gates across a valley to the camp of the border chieftain on a neighboring hill. One of the high spots of the film is the fight between the border chieftain, played by C. Henry Gordon, and his men, and the British and Sepoys in the garrison, and the subsequent massacre of the inhabitants of the garrison. The actual charge was filmed several miles from the big set where the Russian gun emplacements were built, ‘‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’’ is a dynamic drama produced on a mammoth scale with a large and distinguished cast and thousands of extra players. The support includes Patrie Knowles, Henry Stephenson, Nigel Bruce, Donald Crisp, David Niven, and G. P. Huntley, Jr. Michael Curtiz directed the production from the screen play by Michel Jacoby and Rowland Leigh, based on an original story by Jacoby. Use Candle Lighters 5820 Times Daily Candle lighting and snuffing has been added to the long list of odd occupations — such as turban-winding and cobweb-making — of movie studio property men who must be masters. A number of important scenes in “The Charge of the Light Brigade,” the Warner Bros. picture, starring Hrrol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, which comes to the Se eres Phoatre ONES Sens take place at a military ball in India in 1854, An enormous candelabrum in the center of the ballroom contained 280 wax tapers. Twelve niches at the sides of the room held nine tapers each, a_ total of 108. Before each ‘take, property men had to light all 388 candles and later extinguish them. They did this 15 times one day, climbing ladders for the operation, thus using their lighting and snuffing sticks 5,820 times. Nigel Bruce This noted English screen star has an important role with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland in ‘‘The Charge of the Light Brigade,’’ the Warner Bros. picture coming tO the ....0.0........00008 ENC QUCZON a ee stage and Mat No. 114—10¢ ‘Charge Of Light Brigade’ Filmed As Poet Wrote It Warner Bros. Make Good On Tennyson’s 90 Year Advance Publicity By FRED E. RUSLANDER Some curious reporter in the far distant future, may undertake a new debunking crusade and inquire into the relationship between famous generals of: history and the poets who extolled them. He may indeed find that the bards were in reality the first, and greatest, of press agents, even though they. probably were unattached to the payroll of those whose glories they sune. It is most unlikely that either Homer or Virgil were hired as public relations counsel for the houses of Achilles or Aeneas, but it might be worth while investigating their original sources of information. Julius Caesar handled his own publicity and made no bones about the matter, but since his time, much of the glory and fame of legendary war heroes is due less to their own exploits than to laudatory bards. In more recent times, General Philip H. Sherman acknowledged his debt to Thomas B. Read who wrote ‘‘Sheridan’s Ride,’?’? much to the embarrassment of the Union commander and the confusion of historians who found that the distance between Winchester and Ceder Creek, where the engagement took place, was considerably more than 20 miles and that poetic fancy had taken many liberties with fact. Certain it is that Lord Cardigan had no publicity stunt in mind when he led his brigade of 673 cavalrymen against the Russian cannons at Balaclava on July 25, 1854, and in the 20 minutes the engagement lasted lost 247 men and 497 horses in what is now regarded as a futile gesture. Poem Inspired Picture But this daring feat inspired Alfred, Lord Tennyson, to write his famous ‘‘Charge of the Light Brigade,’’ which in its turn has been the inspiration of the Warner Bros. picture of the same title that Wille OVEN Quine mee an asc a CHCatTS ONY se jocn inc. cae eee » with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland in the stellar roles. Tennyson naturally was not present at the battle, and his description of the cavalry charge is most inaccurate. Nevertheless, the poem has kept the memory of the Light Brigade alive in a world that has forgotten not only the battle of Balaclava but the entire Crimean War. Tennyson could have held a job with any motion picture company, simply for his flair for titles. ‘‘Sheridan’s Ride,’’ for instance, doesn’t evoke instant response. Nor does the phrase ‘‘ Lafayette, we are here’’ attributed to, but disclaimed by, General Pershing, offer much in box office appeal. But ‘‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’’ could not be improved upon by all the experts connected with the Warner Bros. studios, so the name was retained as the picture title, although the charge itself is simply the climax of what is claimed to be one of the most thrilling romances of adventure to come out of Hollywood. Of course no press agent of today would attempt to describe a movie scene in these words: ‘“Flashed all their sabres bare ‘«Flashed as they turned in air, ‘‘Sabring the gunners there, ‘Charging an army, while all the world wondered.’’ Tennyson did, and for more than half a century the idea of the 600 riding into the valley of death, sabering as ‘‘Cossack and Russian reeled shatter’d and sundered’’ has grown into the public consciousness. Thus it happened in Hollywood, where such things do happen, that a picture director had to make good on his advance publicity. Debt to Literature The world has visualized the ‘““Charge of the Light Brigade’’ as Tennyson wrote it, and so Director Michael Curtiz filmed it. The picture, however, is not wholly dependent upon Tennyson as a guide. There was Rudyard Kipling, who wrote much about British army life in India. The difference between Tennyson and Kipling — quite apart from their literary styles, was that Kipling actually lived in India and knew his army, while Tennyson drew on his imagination for details. Much of the action of the play takes place in India, and Kipling readers will be familiar with many of the types introduced, for they are typical of the army of that period. The rolling hills back of Calabassas, California, furnished an ideal location for both the British garrison in India in the 50’s and Balaclava in the Crimeas. There Curtiz and his thousands of players, including the 36 principal actors spent weeks and weeks in intrigue, battle, romance, plot and counter plot, and there it was that Errol Flynn rode gallantly to his death at the head of his shattered Light Brigade. Flynn died gaily enough. He had lost Olivia de Havilland, whom he loved and he had killed C. Henry Gordon, the villain. Day after day sabres flashed and cannon thundered, and when it was all over ‘‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’? had been transferred to the screen exactly as Tennyson had dreamed it, despite the fact that cavalrymen of today stand aghast at such military tactics. Perhaps poets have more license than press agents. Donald Crisp Donald Crisp was himself an Eng lish officer which may account for his remarkable portrayal of a Brit ish colonial regiment commander in ‘*The Charge of the Light Bri gade,’’ which is now at the ............ iio eee Theatre. Mat No. 108—10c Page Fifty-five