Pop Culture 101 - THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE

The Red Badge of Courage was released during the Korean War and, with its questioning attitude about war and heroism, captured America's growing cynicism as that conflict was followed by a more ambiguous war (Viet Nam) that promised to produce no clear cut victory.

Journalist Lillian Ross wrote a series of articles on the film's production for The New Yorker. Later collected in the 1952 book Picture: A Story About Hollywood, her work is considered one of the definitive treatments of the filmmaking process. In particular, it offers rare insight into the way Hollywood worked (and often didn't work) in the years when the emergence of television adversely affected the movie business and studios were hurt by the Justice Department's ruling that they had to sell their theatre chains. Although she was quite critical of director John Huston's part in making the film a box-office disaster, he personally attested to the accuracy of her work, and they remained friends for years.

One benefit of the drastic re-cutting: The film's shorter length made it perfect for screening in high school history classes, where it gradually built up a devoted cult following.

In 1974, the film was remade as a television movie. Richard Thomas, the star of The Waltons, played Henry Fleming, with Charles Aidman as the Tattered Man. The film did well with critics and in the ratings.

by Frank Miller