8 / 10
The Red Badge of Courage exists in two versions, neither of them quite the film John Huston intended to make. Huston directed it. The studio, MGM, cut roughly forty minutes after disastrous preview screenings. The final theatrical version runs sixty-nine minutes and is missing most of Huston’s longer dramatic scenes. Audie Murphy plays Henry Fleming, the young Union soldier whose first experience of combat is the subject of Stephen Crane’s 1895 novel. Bill Mauldin plays Tom Wilson. Casting Audie Murphy, who in real life was the most decorated American soldier of the Second World War, as a soldier learning what combat does to a person was the choice the film is structured around.
Lillian Ross’s book Picture, a long-form New Yorker series about the making of the film, has become more famous than the film itself. The book documents in detail how Huston’s intended version was destroyed by studio interference. It is one of the foundational documents of American film criticism and is still worth reading.
The Murphy Casting
Audie Murphy in 1951 was thirty-six years old, almost too old for Henry Fleming, and had spent five years dealing with what would later be called PTSD from his actual war service. Casting him to play a fictional young man’s first combat experience was a creative decision that paid off in unexpected ways. Murphy plays Fleming’s panic during the first battle with a familiarity that no other actor could have brought. He had lived it.
Murphy himself was uncomfortable with the role and uncomfortable with his real-life fame. He continued making films but mostly cheap westerns. His best dramatic work is in this film. He had the talent for a serious career and did not get one, partly because the industry did not know what to do with him and partly because he did not know what to do with himself.
For Writers
Real biography can give a performance or a character a foundation that imagination cannot construct. Audie Murphy’s Henry Fleming carries the weight of Murphy’s actual war. The audience does not need to know the biography to feel it. The lesson is that casting and character construction benefit from underlying truth. If you have a character who has experienced something, give them an experience that the writer or the reader can recognize as adjacent to real. The unspoken weight reaches the audience.
The Studio Interference
Louis B. Mayer hated the film. Dore Schary, who replaced Mayer as head of MGM, fought to release it but lost the post-production battle when preview audiences found the film too dark and confusing. The studio cut Huston’s longer dramatic scenes, added a heroic voice-over narration, and trimmed the runtime to under seventy minutes. What remains is a film with the bones of Huston’s vision and most of the muscle removed.
The original cut has never been recovered. The trimmed footage was reportedly destroyed. What exists now is the studio-imposed version. It is still good. It is not the film Huston shot.
For Writers
A piece of writing belongs to the writer until it does not. Huston lost The Red Badge of Courage to the studio after delivery. The cut version is what survives. The lesson is that creative control is contractual and ends at delivery unless the contract says otherwise. Writers and filmmakers working with companies that own the work need to know what they have given away. Sometimes the best version of the work is the one that exists only in the creator’s intended version, which the audience will never see.
What Survives
The combat sequences are extraordinary. Huston shot them with documentary attention to confusion and noise. The soldiers do not know what is happening. The lines break and reform and break again. The score is restrained. The film looks like a black-and-white photograph from the period coming to life, which was Huston’s stated goal.
The psychological tracking of Fleming’s transformation from terrified boy to combat veteran is preserved in the cut version even if it is less developed than Huston intended. The famous Crane phrase “the red badge of courage,” referring to the wound a soldier earns, is allowed to land without explanation. The film trusts the audience.
For Writers
Even compromised work can preserve what matters most. The Red Badge of Courage in its current form is not the film Huston made. The film’s central argument about what combat does to young men survives anyway because the central scenes were strong enough to outlast the cuts. The lesson is that strong scenes can carry a damaged structure. The work that matters most should be the most carefully built, because it is the work that will have to hold up if the rest is lost.
Craft Note
John Huston directed and wrote, adapted from Stephen Crane’s 1895 novel. Audie Murphy as Henry Fleming. Bill Mauldin as Tom Wilson. Andy Devine as the cheerful soldier. Royal Dano as the tattered soldier. James Whitmore as the lieutenant. Cinematography by Harold Rosson. Released October 1951. Originally screened at approximately ninety minutes, cut to sixty-nine for general release. Lillian Ross’s New Yorker series, later collected as Picture, documents the production.
The Verdict
8/10. A damaged great film. The cut version is still better than most contemporary war films. Huston’s intended version would have been a 10. Watch it. Read Lillian Ross’s Picture afterward.
FAQ
Is it based on Stephen Crane?
Yes. Stephen Crane’s 1895 novel is one of the foundational American war novels. Huston’s adaptation is faithful in spirit if compressed in execution.
Why did the studio cut it?
Preview audiences were confused. Louis B. Mayer thought the film was un-American. The studio cut to reduce the runtime and add reassuring narration.
Is the original cut available?
No. The cut footage was reportedly destroyed. What survives is the studio version.
Who was Audie Murphy?
The most decorated American soldier of the Second World War. Medal of Honor recipient. Twenty-one combat decorations from the Army, Navy, and Coast Guard. After the war he became a film actor, mostly in westerns. The Red Badge of Courage is his best dramatic role.
What is Picture?
Lillian Ross’s book about the making of the film, originally serialized in The New Yorker in 1952. Considered one of the foundational works of long-form film journalism.
How does it compare to other Civil War films?
Different. The Red Badge of Courage is psychological rather than historical. It is closer in spirit to All Quiet on the Western Front than to Glory or Gettysburg.
Should I watch this?
Yes, especially if you are interested in either Stephen Crane’s novel or in the history of how Hollywood studios destroyed serious work.