The Charge of the Light Brigade

"Theirs is not to reason why..."

1968 2h 19m EN

😐

6.2

MID

★6.2TMDB · 80

DramaHistoryWar

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

During the Crimean War between Britain and Russia in the 1850s, a British cavalry division, led by the overbearing Lord Cardigan, engages in an infamously reckless strategic debacle against a Russian artillery battery.

“Theirs is not to reason why...”

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Cast

Trevor Howard
Lord Cardigan
Vanessa Redgrave
Mrs Clarissa Morris
John Gielgud
Lord Raglan
Harry Andrews
Lord Lucan
Jill Bennett
Mrs. Fanny Duberly
David Hemmings
Capt. Louis Edward Nolan
Ben Aris
Lt. Maxse
Micky Baker
Trooper Metcalfe

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Tony Richardson
Writers: John Osborne, Charles Wood, Cecil Woodham-Smith
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

58 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Tony Richardson, shot by David Watkin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Addison. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Kevin Brownlow shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Trevor Howard and Vanessa Redgrave and John Gielgud carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Theirs is not to reason why...".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0062790 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 80 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Tony Richardson directs. David Watkin behind the camera. John Addison scores. Kevin Brownlow cuts. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

158 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Tony Richardson, shot by David Watkin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by John Addison. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Kevin Brownlow shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Trevor Howard and Vanessa Redgrave and John Gielgud carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Theirs is not to reason why...".
7IMDB entry: tt0062790 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 80 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
9Classified under 16 themes, including "hero", "politics", "british army", "british empire".

The technical file

Cinematography: David Watkin
Original score: John Addison
Editing: Kevin Brownlow
Costume design: David Walker
Makeup / hair: Linda DeVetta
Sound: Gerry Humphreys
Stunt coordinator: Richard Graydon
Runtime: 139 min · 2h 19m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968)

Also by

Tony Richardson

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-06-07
★ 6/10
If you’re looking for Errol Flynn and David Niven here, then you’ll be disappointed. Unlike the Hollywood version of the story from 1936, this one focuses far more on a critique on the command and control structures in the British Army at the start of the Crimean War. It’s principle target is Lord Cardigan (Trevor Howard) who is portrayed as an arrogant and frequently drunken sot without the skills to command himself much less others and one reeking with upper-class entitlement. Unfortunately for the young “Capt. Nolan” (David Hemmings), he manages to upset his commanding general and with a dishonourable discharge looming is praying for some sort of intervention. Rather drastically, that comes in the form of the war into which he is to be despatched. Under the overall command of Lord Raglan (Sir John Gielgud) the cavalry are to be led by Lord Lucan (Harry Andrews) with Cardigan in charge of the Light Cavalry. The Russians are entrenched above the vital port of Sebastopol and so with battle lines drawn, a perilous game of chess now ensues. That game is played with astonishing foolhardiness and bloody-mindedness by a group of men whose rank in society (an Earldom was usually most useful) dictated their qualifications to order the lives of thousands of private soldiers who were at best treated with disdain, at worst - well floggings were just one of the weapons available to these autocratic idiots. I suppose my difficulty with this was that once it had made it’s point - in no small measure thanks to an enthusiastic Howard - it proceeded to labour it, time and time again, to the point where it became a little bit sterile and preposterous. Could they really have been that ridiculous and inept? All of them? There is a bit of bawdy comedy now and again and that language of the gutter was not limited to those of street-rank, and that’s also the source of some of the more entertaining banter as it’s clear Lucan and Cardigan would cheerfully have slaughtered each other rather than their foes. It looks great and much effort has gone into keeping the costumes and locations authentic looking, but at well over two hours long and the vast majority of that reinforcing the politically established preamble, I struggled to remain engaged until the sharp end. Unfortunately, it’s not as if we don’t know what happens at the conclusion even if we’re not so up on our Tennyson.

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