Red Badge: Movies Good & Bad

Since this blog is named after the master's most famous work, we should return now and again to Red Badge things. Let's put down the books and turn on the u-tube, so we can take a peek at some Red Badge of Courage movies!

First, the best of the bad. It seems a lot of english literature teachers are inspiring their students to re-enact scenes from the Red Badge on camera. Now, that would be great if the students actually read the book instead of the Cliff Notes (which are nearly as long as the novel itself), or worse if the kids just watch the 1951 movie instead of reading the book or the notes. It would be better still if modern youth weren't on so many drugs that their cinematic efforts wouldn't be so...yeah well perhaps you should just take a peek for yourself, bearing in mind that these are truly the BEST of the bad.

This one is an overview of the action scenes, and in a clever twist shows Henry Fleming initially taking flight when he is spooked by a comrade's whiz in the woods: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwwt7wVTwlI

The next video clip, from a different bunch of teens, shows the death of Jim Conklin. In this version Jim runs quite a distance, pauses to scratch a cat's back, then listens appreciatively to some dude playing guitar, before he finally dies. The tattered soldier gives an inspired performance in this one as well, and it has a groovy soundtrack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojnba2TQLbk

So now that we've seen the kids' take on Red Badge, let's see what Hollywood has to offer. John Huston's 1951 film is a true gem worthy of the book, and some noble privateer has uploaded the entire film to u-tube for us. Watch it here in 7, ten-minute segments, starting with "A," http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL-ElEYfdVY&feature=PlayList&p=3039187F892627ED&index=0&playnext=1

The interesting thing to note about the Huston film is that the two baby-faced actors playing Fleming and Wilson, were actually World War II heroes. Henry Fleming is played by Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier of WWII. Read his unbelievable war record here, and understand that Murphy did all this before turning 21. A few years after the war ended he was invited to try his hand at acting, and had a reasonably successful career. Murphy was also a country music songwriter, but we'll forgive him for that. His struggle with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder brought early attention to a consequence of war that wasn't fully understood at the time. Murphy died in a plane crash at the age of 46.

Red Badge character Tom Wilson is played by Bill Mauldin, who was a WWII soldier and cartoonist for the military paper Stars & Stripes. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his artistic efforts during the war, which inspired millions of US troops. Mauldin had a long & successful career in journalism following the war, and only dabbled in acting. Despite that i'd say he gives the best performance of any Red Badge actor. Check out Mauldin's bio here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Mauldin

Enter the Lanthorn

Hello Stephen Crane fans! This week on the Stephen Crane blog we're taking a peek into the eerie world of a truly rare Stephen Crane related work, The Lanthorn Book! And if you notice how i drop the name of Stephen Crane more frequently than usual, it's because i am attempting to increase this blog's ranking on "Stephen Crane" Google searches. But that's a topic for another post!

Oh, The Lanthorn Book! What the heck is it? Stephen Crane and a few of his literary buddies formed a club in New York City. They'd write things to amuse eachother, get together, and drink lots of booze and smoke. In 1898 they cobbled together the funds to publish a "Lanthorn Book, Being A Small Collection of Tales and Verses and Read At The Sign O' the Lanthorn."

It contains the following, according to Williams & Starrett: "The Wise Men" by Stephen Crane, "The Answer of the Sea" by John Langdon Heaton, "The Night of a Thousand Years" by Irving Bacheller, illustrated by G.Y. Kauffman, "Larry and the Squg" by Willis Brooks Hawkins, illustrated by the author, "The Wheel" by Post Wheeler, illustrated by F.H. King, "It Came To Pass" by Charles B. Lewis (M. Quad), "Veiled Gods" by Charles Kelsey Gaines.

125 copies were printed and signed by some of the contributors. A quick online search turned up four copies of the Lanthorn Book. Copy #38 is being offered for sale by University Archives of Connecticut, for $5,000...not so much considering how rare it is & that it's signed by Crane. Click here to see the listing, and also an excellent description of the book & (praise John Reznikoff!) great photos of the front and back cover, plus the Crane signed page. Hurrah, i'll buy it if any of you want to loan me $5,000.

Another one is currently for sale, copy #9, for $6,000, by James Cummins Booksellers of New York City (click here to see the listing, if you're rich enough to buy it).

In 2006 copy #59 was offered for sale by Nate Sanders Auction of Los Angeles. Click here to see that listing and a good photo of the Lanthorn cover, title page, and signatures. In 2007 copy #30 was put to sale by Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas (click here to see the listing & a photo of the book cover).

So with those copies floating around in recent years, and two still up for sale, i suppose The Lanthorn Book is surprisingly obtainable! Unlike the aptly titled (lost) Crane Brede Place collaboration, The Ghost! Still for us poor folk, a reprint edition of The Lanthorn would be nice to see... however since i'm not holding my breath for that i've taken the initiative to locate three of the tales from Lanthorn and placed links to them below.

The Wise Men by Stephen Crane

The Night of a Thousand Years by Irving Bacheller

Larry and the Squg by Willis Brooks Hawkins

And by the way in case anyone hasn't figured out what a "lanthorn" is, check it out. Super kewl!