The Critics' Corner on THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE

"Stephen Crane's "The Red Badge of Courage" has been transformed by John Huston into a striking screen close-up of a young man's introduction to battle...The dialogue is sparing but acute, and the camera work is a procession of visual effects detailing most vividly the progress of a Civil War battle. Except for a redundant narration that clutters up the sound track from time to time explaining facts already clear in the images, there are no concessions made to movie conventions in this film." - The New York Tribune.

"A brilliant emotional drama, a memorable war saga...It's a wonderful example of modern film art." - The New York Mirror.

"The picture does not become a fully realized experience, nor is it deeply moving. It is as if, somewhere between shooting and final version, the light of inspiration had died." - The New York Post.

"The Red Badge of Courage bids fair to become one of the classic American motion pictures." - Newsweek.

"If Stephen Crane's "The Red Badge of Courage" is considered a classic of American nineteenth-century literature, John Huston's adaptation of it for the screen may well become a classic of American twentieth-century film-making." - Saturday Review of Literature.

"Audie Murphy plays the youth as if he were living every moment of the role, suffering every step as he advances against the enemy, wondering if he will stay to fight like a man or if he will run in cowardice. (I met Mr. Murphy recently, and I was surprised to find that he has in real life the same boyish face and fresh, polite attitude that he displays in the movies. It is almost incredible that this youthful, untroubled face belongs to the man who won so many medals in World War II.)" - Commonweal.

"Audie Murphy, who plays the Young Soldier, does as well as anyone could expect as a virtual photographer's model upon whom the camera is mostly turned. And his stupefied facial expression and erratic attitudes when grim experiences crowd him suggest what goes on in his mind. These, coupled with the visual evidence of all that surrounds him and all he sees, plus the help of an occasional narration that sketchily tells us what he feels, do all that can be expected to give us the inner sight of Mr. Crane's book." - Bosley Crowther, The New York Times.

"Huston's direction -- with its sparse narrative, unusual camera angles and shadowy black and white imagery -- shows the influence of film noir, a genre he helped create. He augments this with a mobile camera -- lots of panning, tracking, and dolly shots -- to mirror the pace of the war scenes. The fall and redemption of the protagonist, while clearly predictable, is still intelligently and effectively executed." - Dan Jardine, All Movie Guide.

"Despite the mutilation...some 70 minutes remain of John Huston's film version....and much of it is breathtaking." - Pauline Kael, 5001 Nights at the Movies.

"Red Badge remains as a series of gracious battle scenes, a noble aspiration, but a folly and a mess." - David Thomson, The New Biographical Dictionary of Film.

"This is not a lyrically pessimistic film; its conclusion is rather a positive stoicism, an active scepticism that is not devoid of humor. Its emphasis is on interior development. This is not psychological but romanesque; not a spectacle but a narrative wedded to a critical intelligence." - Andre Bazin.

Awards & Honors

The National Board of Review ranked The Red Badge of Courage second on its list of the ten best films of 1951.

The film was nominated for Best Film From Any Source by the British Film Academy.

Compiled by Frank Miller & Jeff Stafford