The Red Badge of Courage

"He regarded the wounded soldiers in an envious way. He conceived persons with torn bodies to be peculiarly happy. He wished that he, too, had a wound, a red badge of courage." (Narration)

"Anyway, dyin's only dyin'. Supposin' you don't hear the birds sing tomorrow or see the sun go down, it's gonna happen anyway. And you know, son, that thought gave me peace of mind." (The Cheerful Soldier to The Youth)

"You talk like it was years ago, instead of day before yesterday..." (The Youth to The Loud Soldier)

USA Today - 02/07/2003
"...You watch this picture sensing that a top-flight filmmaker made it..."

John Huston's classic film adaptation of the 1895 novel by Stephen Crane about a young man's first experience in war. Set against the backdrop of the American Civil War the film ponders the feelings of anxiety and finally outright fear in a boy preparing for battle. Henry (Audie Murphy) loses his illusions of heroism during his first skirmish, and just prior to engaging the enemy for the second time, he deserts the field of combat and enters an idyllic world of the forest. Witnessing his friend's death and receiving an accidental wound from a retreating soldier, Henry comes to terms with realities of warfare.

John Huston's classic film adaptation of the Stephen Crane novel about a young man's first experience in war. Set against the backdrop of the American Civil War the film ponders the feelings of anxiety and finally outright fear in a boy preparing for battle. Henry loses his illusions of heroism during his first skirmish, and just prior to engaging the enemy for the second time, he deserts the field of combat and enters an idyllic world of the forest. Witnesses his friend's death and receiving an accidental wound from a retreating soldier, Henry comes to terms with realities of warfare.

Action | Civil War | Coming Of Age | Theatrical Release | War