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5 - Academia after the War

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2020

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Summary

On 19 June 1947 Studio One, a CBS radio anthology series, debuted “The Red Badge of Courage,” a one-hour dramatization. Studio One was created by Fletcher Markle, who also directed and introduced the Crane adaptation. Imagine the sound of Markle's voice as listeners heard it coming through their crackly AM radios:

Our story tonight is a portrait of man in conflict, The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane. Adding to the praises of many illustrious admirers, Ernest Hemingway has called it one of the finest books of our literature. And rightly so. The conflict in Mr. Crane's story is a familiar and disturbing one to all of us: man at war, in particular a young man named Henry Fleming in the American Civil War of 1861 to 1865. But as the successful prosecution of war requires the bright red badge of courage, so, too, we are beginning to understand, does the prosecution of peace.

Markle's words emphasize the relevance of Crane's novel to the war that had recently ended. After announcing the cast, he ends his introduction by drawing a parallel between the protagonist of Crane's novel and the World War II soldier. Markle expresses “admiration for the Henry Flemings of our more recent yesterdays.”

The changes made to Crane's story for Studio One are not dissimilar to the changes Irving Bacheller had made when he adapted Red Badge for newspaper serialization. The producers at CBS shortened the story to emphasize its action over its contemplative nature. They also softened Crane's irony and made Henry's character more likeable. In the Studio One version Henry no longer flees from the tattered man. Instead, the two say good-bye amicably. And Henry does not feel any sort of unwarranted superiority over Wilson when they are reunited after their first battle. In Crane's Red Badge a schoolgirl makes fun of Henry after he joins the army. The Studio One “Red Badge” keeps her in the story but adds another female character, Jessie, who admires Henry for enlisting. Jessie's voice returns in Henry's memory directly before the last sentence of the adaptation: the radio equivalent of the Hollywood clinch.

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At War with The Red Badge of Courage
A Critical and Cultural History
, pp. 115 - 142
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2020

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