The Red Badge of Courage starring the true life war hero Audie Murphy lost nothing by being filmed in black and white. Much like the more well known All Quiet on the Western Front, the Red Badge of Courage tells the story of a youth growing to maturity on the front lines of a bitter and devastating military conflict. Indeed, the character known as The Youth must come face to face with his youth and mortality. While he initially seems to fail the test, like all good morality plays, his own goodness, decency, and innocence allows him to grow into a courageous leader, that is, a man. John Huston should be given most of the credit for keeping this film focussed on the raging inner conflict of The Youth. The battle scenes were to my mind realistic but not overemphasized, the cowardice and the bravery of the soldiers under fire only served to make The Youth's inner turmoil more immediate, and in the final scenes, the recovery of The Youth from his confusion and fear was outstanding. Audie Murphy was a good actor, and he really shined in the war movies he made, perhaps as a direct result of his WWII experiences.
Review of The Red Badge of Courage
