The Red Badge of Courage (1951)
The studio, MGM, cut roughly forty minutes after disastrous preview screenings. Lillian Ross's book Picture, a long-form New Yorker series about the making of the film, has become more famous than the film itself.
Actor: Audie Murphy
Audie Murphy was the most decorated American combat soldier of the Second World War and then played himself in the film of his own memoir, To Hell and Back. The Red Badge of Courage gave him a serious dramatic lead for John Huston. He spoke publicly about what would now be called post-traumatic stress at a time when nobody did.