From director Tony Richardson comes this brilliant retelling of tragic events during the Crimean War between Britain and Russia in the 1850s.A British cavalry division, led by the overbearing Lord Cardigan (Trevor Howard), engages in an infamously reckless strategic debacle against a Russian artillery battery. An inept chain of command and the arrogance of the aristocratic officers nearly destroys the brigade.Interpersonal wars within the unit, including unfaithful wives and a rivalry between Lord Cardigan and Captain Nolan (David Hemmings), heighten the conflict.