STACK #136 Feb 2016

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original blonde bombshell, Jean Harlow, and his exquisite and imaginative lighting of the actress proved instrumental in her acsent to stardom. (Rosson fell in love with Harlow and became her first husband; the marriage lasted a mere six months.) Huston showed Rosson a book of photographs by Matthew Brady (Brady had been the first to undertake photographic documentation of the American Civil War). “I want the look of the film to resemble Brady’s bleached wet plate photography,” explained

J ohn Huston’s script adaptation of The Red Badge of Courage followed author Stephen Crane’s narrative practically to the letter. The excitement and false bravado of young enlisted men marching to the sound of the guns quickly dissolves into a nightmare of fear and terror with their first real taste of combat. The young introspective Union soldier, Henry Fleming (portrayed in the film by Audie Murphy), controls his fear and anxieties when he and his regiment repel the initial Confederate attack. But when the yelling enemy charge for the second time, the chaos of battle proves too much for him. Unable to summon the courage again, he throws down his rifle and runs to the rear. Wandering through the woods, the youth, plagued with shame and guilt, is knocked unconscious with a rifle butt from another retreating Union soldier. When he awakens, he struggles back to his unit and tells his comrades that the wound to his head (his red badge of courage) was received during the fight. Now lauded as a wound-carrying veteran, when the regiment returns to the battlefield, young Henry suddenly finds the courage he thought had forsaken him. Leading the charge, he carries the regimental colours into the Confederate trenches, triumphant over both his enemy and his fear. All of this was realistically transformed into Huston’s script, and with his cast in place, the

Huston. Rosson flipped through the book of old photographs and then simply replied, “OK, John”. Between them, Huston and Rosson would create a motion picture of incredible atmosphere, with vivid contrast between the chaotic, smoke- filled battle scenes and the quiet, almost idyllic, interludes between the skirmishes. In fact, this was a movie that under different circumstances

writer-director was now ready to begin filming. However, the ideological battle raging at MGM during the summer of 1950 was now directly affecting Huston’s ability to concentrate on making his Civil War picture. He firmly believed his film was being held hostage in a power struggle between Louis B. Mayer and Dore Schary. Huston did not trust Mayer but thought it prudent to confront him face-to-face in an attempt to get a clear way forward for his movie. A meeting was arranged between the director and the movie mogul. “L.B., if my picture is causing problems I’ll drop the whole project and set up another,” said Huston. “John Huston, I’m ashamed of you,” roared Mayer. “Do you believe in this picture?” Huston nodded. “Then stick to your guns and never let me hear you talk like this again”. But over the coming months, Huston’s distrust of Mayer would be well founded. Huston had requested the services of the cinematographer who had filmed his last motion picture, The Asphalt Jungle (1950). Harold Rosson’s photography had already garnered him five Academy Award nominations including one for The Wizard of Oz (1939). In the early 1930s, he had filmed a number of movies starring the

Director John Huston and cinematographer Harold Rosson filming a sequence from The Red Badge of Courage , September, 1950

One of the realistic battle scenes from RBoC

could quite possibly have been recognised today as a cinematic masterpiece. Location filming of the battle scenes was shot at Huston’s ranch and interiors on the MGM backlot. The director had invited Lillian Ross, a journalist for The New Yorker magazine, to come to Hollywood and observe him making “a great artistic picture that will also make money”.

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