They Died With Their Boots On
(1941)
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Errol Flynn stars as General George Armstrong Custer whose flamboyant career began at West Point Academy and ended at the Battle of Little Big Horn. Custer's last stand was to become a U.S. Cavalry legend, and the enthralling story of his self-sacrifice on the West Frontier is the most stirring incident in America's Civil War history. |
In this rip-roaring biopic, Errol Flynn stars as General George Armstrong Custer, working his way up the ranks and dying heroically at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. History is cast to the wind as Custer becomes sympathetic to the Indian cause, while Mrs Custer (Olivia de Havilland, still playing Melanie from Gone with the Wind) fusses about trying to get her husband to settle down. Cast as Custer's chief adversary Crazy Horse is none other than Anthony Quinn, who said of his director, Raoul Walsh: “He was the most inspired lunatic I ever encountered. He was the least technical director I knew, but he relished the process with such a fire that I could almost taste it with him.”
Halliwell's Film Guide
It seems it all happened because of an evil cadet who finished up selling guns to the Indians. Oh, well! The first half is romantic comedy, the second steels itself for the inevitable tragic outcome, but it's all expertly mounted and played in the best ol