Tony Richardson's revisionist version of the oft-filmed romance of empire stars Trevor Howard as the arrogant Lord Cardigan. In 1854, the leading officers of the British military seek an opportunity for military glory, Cardigan chief among them. He plans on taking a military force into the Crimean region of Turkey, with the ostensible purpose of protecting the Ottoman Empire from an invading Russian army. Lord Cardigan and his army set sail for Turkey, and, en route, he becomes involved in a dispute with Captain Nolan (David Hemmings), an officer recently returned from India who questions the actions of the high command. Despite substandard rations and a cholera epidemic, the British score a quick victory over Russian troops before its leaders fall into inertia and confusion. The nearly senile Lord Raglan (John Gielgud) temporises while Cardigan is distracted by the charms of Miss Duberly (Jill Bennett), the paymaster's wife. When the Battle of Balaclava begins, the combination of pompous stupidity in Whitehall's state men and incompetent officers on the battlefield results in Cardigan's taking his fabled Light Brigade down the wrong valley and directly into the heart of the Russian artillery. Richardson's satire on military and political blundering features an excellent cast, animated inserts and exceptionally convincing battlefield photography.