A Union Army private at an unnamed battle (supposedly inspiration for the story was drawn from the fighting at Chancellorsville) finds his grit and fortitude tested as he is hurled head on into the unforgiving blazes of war. The Red Badge of Courage is a dense, compacted take on Stephen Crane's classic, already concise Civil War tale. Starring war hero Audie Murphy, the film was at the center of a major studio fray leaving director John Huston's severely butchered picture as the main casualty.
