THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE
DIRECTED BY JOHN HUSTON
PRODUCED BY GOTTFRIED REINHARDT/ DORE SCHARY
METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER (MGM)
Information from IMDb
Plot Summary
Plot centers around how a young recruit (Audie Murphy) faces the horrors of war.
Character vascilates between wanting to fight and doubting his own courage.
In midst of first bloody encounter, Youth runs away.
After seeing dead and wounded, sense of shame leads him back to his unit,
where he distinguishes himself in the next battle.
Having overcome his fear of "the great Death" he knows e can face whatever comes.
Somewhat sentimental "coming of age" tale was pet project of John Huston,
who fought MGM over casting of Murphy and Bill Mauldin in lead roles.
Written by Rita Richardson
Full Cast
Audie Murphy ... The Youth
Bill Mauldin ... The Loud Soldier
Douglas Dick ... The Lieutenant
Royal Dano ... The Tattered Man
John Dierkes ... The Tall Soldier
Arthur Hunnicutt ... Bill Porter
Tim Durant ... The General
Andy Devine ... The Cheery Soldier
Robert Easton ... Thompson (as Robert Easton Burke)
Smith Ballew ... Captain (uncredited)
Albert Band ... Union Soldier Fording River (uncredited)
Gregg Barton ... Soldier (uncredited)
Whit Bissell ... Wounded Officer (uncredited)
Robert Board ... Soldier (uncredited)
Edwin Breen ... Confederate Flag Bearer (uncredited)
Joe Brown Jr. ... Soldier (uncredited)
Benny Burt ... Union Soldier (uncredited)
Robert Cavendish ... Wounded Soldier (uncredited)
Mack Chandler ... Veteran (uncredited)
Robert Cherry ... Singing Soldier (uncredited)
Jimmy Clark ... Stevens (uncredited)
Lyle Clark ... Union Soldier (uncredited)
David Clarke ... Corporal by Campfire (uncredited)
John Cliff ... Soldier (uncredited)
John Crawford ... Soldier (uncredited)
Dick Curtis ... Veteran (uncredited)
Bert Davidson ... Union Soldier (uncredited)
Bob Davis ... Confederate Soldier (uncredited)
Dennis Dengate ... Lieutenant (uncredited)
Billy Dix ... Soldier (uncredited)
James Dobson ... Soldier (uncredited)
Gloria Eaton ... Southern Woman at Farm (uncredited)
Lynn Farr ... Confederate Soldier (uncredited)
Robert Fisher ... Confederate Soldier (uncredited)
Eugene Gericke ... Soldier (uncredited)
William Grueneberg ... Union Soldier (uncredited)
Bill Hale ... Confederate Soldier (uncredited)
James Harrison ... General's Aide (uncredited)
Joe Haworth ... Soldier (uncredited)
Dick Haynes ... Confederate Soldier (uncredited)
Jim Hayward ... Soldier (uncredited)
Ed Hinton ... Corporal (uncredited)
Shep Houghton ... Union Soldier (uncredited)
John Huston ... Grizzled Union Veteran (uncredited)
Tennessee Jim ... Confederate Soldier (uncredited)
I. Stanford Jolley ... Veteran (uncredited)
Todd Karns ... Soldier (uncredited)
Norman Kent ... Veteran (uncredited)
Fred Kohler Jr. ... Veteran (uncredited)
Herb Latimer ... Corporal (uncredited)
Norman Leavitt ... Union Soldier (uncredited)
Emmett Lynn ... Jake - Veteran (uncredited)
Casey MacGregor ... Veteran (uncredited)
Joel Marston ... Union Soldier (uncredited)
Strother Martin ... Corporal (uncredited)
Frank McGrath ... Captain (uncredited)
Frank Melton ... Confederate Soldier (uncredited)
Robert Nichols ... Fat Union Soldier (uncredited)
Lou Nova ... Veteran (uncredited)
Allen O'Locklin ... Union Soldier (uncredited)
George Offerman Jr. ... Union Soldier (uncredited)
Ivan Parry ... Soldier (uncredited)
House Peters Jr. ... Passing Soldier - Veteran (uncredited)
William 'Bill' Phillips ... Veteran Officer (uncredited)
William Phipps ... Officer (uncredited)
Obed 'Bubb' Pickard Jr. ... Confederate Soldier (uncredited)
John Piffle ... Confederate Soldier (uncredited)
Dixon Porter ... Union Army Lieutenant (uncredited)
Lee Roberts ... Union Soldier (uncredited)
William Roberts ... Soldier (uncredited)
Buddy Roosevelt ... Veteran (uncredited)
William Schallert ... Union Soldier (uncredited)
Mickey Simpson ... Veteran (uncredited)
Glenn Strange ... Colonel (uncredited)
Frank Sully ... Veteran (uncredited)
Hugh Thomas Jr. ... Soldier (uncredited)
Arthur Tovey ... Soldier (uncredited)
Dan White ... Sergeant (uncredited)
James Whitmore ... Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Guy Wilkerson ... Veteran (uncredited)
Wilson Wood ... Union Soldier (uncredited)
Duke York ... Veteran (uncredited)
Writing Credits
Stephen Crane (novel "The Red Badge of Courage")
John Huston (screenplay)
Albert Band (adaptation)
Original Music
Bronislau Kaper
Cinematography
Harold Rosson
Trivia
Director John Huston lost control of this picture when, over his objections, his bosses at MGM recut it, editing out over 20 minutes. Whole scenes, including one featuring Royal Dano, were discarded. Huston did not waste any time fighting over it, as he was focused on the pre-production of his next picture, The African Queen. Lillian Ross wrote about the trials of producing "The Red Badge of Courage" in her book "Picture".
This production amounted to a power struggle between Louis B. Mayer and producer Dore Schary. Mayer rejected the production (partly on account of it lacking women and thus a romance angle) and Schary insisted. Mayer appealed to Loew's Inc. chairman Nicholas Schenck and was rebuffed. This and other ego-bruising incidents that occurred during the same period resulted in Mayer's ouster from the company he helped found in 1924. As Mayer predicted the $1.6 million film flopped badly but by the Summer of 1951 he was out.
James Whitmore's narration was added after several disastrous previews and extensive editing.
A huge chunk of Royal Dano's role was removed from the final print.
John Dierkes, who plays 'The Tall Soldier', also narrates the trailer.
John Huston considered this his best film. After a power struggle at the top of MGM management, the film was cut from a 2 hour epic to the 69 minute version released to theaters. It was never released as a A-list movie but was shown as a 2nd feature B-list movie. Both Houston and star Audie Murphy tried unsuccessfully to purchase the film so that it could be re-edited to its original length. The studio claiming that the cut footage was destroyed. Unless there is an undiscovered copy of the uncut version, this movie will never be viewed as John Huston intended.
Early in the film, Henry Fleming ('Audie Murphy') is shown writing a letter to his family. The date at the top of the letter is 10 September, 1862. This makes the battle depicted in the film either Turner's Gap, South Mountain, Maryland, on Sept 14; or Antietam Creek (Sharpsburg), Maryland, on Sept 17. Scholarship generally agrees that the battle in the novel is more like Chancellorsville, Virginia, May 1863. The novel never names a place or gives a date. One year after the publication of the novel, Stephen Crane had a short story entitled "The Veteran," published in McClure's magazine. In the story Henry Fleming is an old man telling the story of his first battle in the Civil War. There Fleming identifies the battle as being Chancellorsville
Goofs
Anachronisms
Beginning at 14:28, several Union soldiers wading across the waist-deep river and later climbing out of the river are carrying the U.S. Rifle Model 1903, also known as the Springfield Model 1903. Note especially the soldier who climbs out of the river holding his rifle above his head. The Model 1903 is a bolt-action, magazine-fed rifle that was adopted by the US Army in 1903 and used in World Wars I and II, but not the American Civil War which was fought from 1861-1865.
All the soldiers in Audie's infantry outfit have crossed rifles on their forage hats. The crossed rifle insignia was not adopted by the US army until the year 1876, before this it was a hunter's horn.
The drilling and action center around one platoon. While the platoon did exist in Civil War regiments (as half of a company), in practice it was rarely used. Units quickly lost enough personnel to to illness (if not combat) that companies were the smallest practical unit.
Character error
There was no 304th infantry regiment in the Civil War. No state assigned a regimental number over the mid-100s.
Factual errors
The enlisted soldiers in the film are shown wearing the rectangular Model 1851 belt plate instead of the brass oval "US" belt plate worn by enlisted soldiers.
None of the soldiers is wearing the proper cartridge box which would have been slung over the shoulder and which had a round "Eagle" breastplate.
The flags carried by the regiment are incorrectly shown as rectangular. Both national and regimental flags carried by Union infantry in the Civil War were square.
Filming Locations
Bidwell Park - Manzanita Avenue, Chico, California, USA
Chico, California, USA
John Huston Ranch, Tarzana, Los Angeles, California, USA
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA
Watch the Final Battle Scene
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