THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE UNKNOWN, POSSIBLY ARROWSMITH

1968, a pre-publicity shot of John Osborne in the role of Radziwill, moustached and seated looking over his shoulder, 47 x 49cm (framed); together with a chromogenic print of John Osborne on horseback, practising for the role of Radziwill, 40 by 47cm
(2)

The film The Charge of the Light Brigade was directed by Tony Richardson in 1968 and produced by Woodfall Film Productions the company of which Osborne and Richardson were co-directors. The screenplay that Osborne wrote, however, fell foul of a legal charge brought by the actor Laurence Harvey, who wanted to make his own film of the charge, who accused Osborne of substantially using a recently published history of the event for which he, Harvey, had purchased the film rights.

To settle matters, Richardson rejected Osborne's screenplay and commissioned a new one from the playwright Charles Wood. But Osborne had also set his heart on playing Prince Radziwill, a small but flashy role, had grown a moustache especially and was eager to show off his horsemanship. He was incensed to discover, therefore, that Richardson had offered Harvey the role of Radziwill instead as part of the deal allowing him to make his film. It was a clash that spelt the acrimonious end of twelve years of extraordinarily fruitful collaboration between Osborne and Richardson that had begun with Look Back in Anger in 1956.

Richardson assembled a starry cast for the film, including Trevor Howard, John Gielgud, David Hemmings and Jill Bennett, Osborne's latest lover and soon to be wife number four. The film was nominated in 1969 for seven BAFTA awards (although Wood's screenplay was not nominated). The present pre-publicity photograph thus shows Osborne preparing for a role he never played.