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The Red Badge of Courage novel Stephen Crane author Home pages: The Greatest Literature of All Time |
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The Red Badge of Courage We'll never know how good John Houston's The Red Badge of Courage is, as the great director's adaptation of the great Civil War novel was cut nearly in half by the studio. The trimmed footage was apparently destroyed. No director's cut will ever be available. But those Hollywood butchers must have had some sensitivity because we still have a pretty good film of the book left. The studio also added a voice-over (by James Whitmore) to introduce and conclude the film, quoting from the book directly to stress the connection with the literary classic. Even at just sixty-nine minutes, the 1951 Red Badge catches the essence of Stephen Crane's meditation on war and individual valour. "Meditation" is maybe too high-falutin' a word. Like the novel, the film is deceptively simple. We follow a group of soldiers, one in particular—Henry Fleming—who obsesses about how he'll act under fire. And we're with him all the way, through the fearful anticipation, the exhilaration, the desperation and shame, and the manic overcompensation that passes as bravery. Most surprising for me is that the central acting job is pulled off by Audie Murphy. As America's most decorated soldier of World War Two, Murphy is an heroic choice to play the cowardly youth of Red Badge. In his other movie roles he always seemed earnestly appealing but a barely adequate actor. In Houston's hands, he's everyman. The camera in close-up loves his every twitch, swagger and hollow stare. And around him is an army of mainly unknown but skilled actors who bring home the ordinary recruit's personal perspective on fighting—both trivially and movingly. A Gary Cooper or Jimmy Stewart in this film would never have been able to give us this experience. If only they all had more time though. The story is raced through too quickly in this heavily edited version. Fleming's flight from the battlefield and his wandering around in the chaos behind the lines is especially condensed. We have hardly time for the impact of each scene to sink in. But still, all the scenes that we do get are staged brilliantly and filmed dramatically. No wonder Houston thought this was going to be his greatest cinematic achievement yet. We cannot know for sure, but we can imagine how the greater sweep and emotional effect allowed by a little longer running time could have raised this film from being the minor classic it is now recognized as, to being one of the three or four masterpieces of war movies. — Eric |
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© Copyright 2009 Eric McMillan. All rights reserved.
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