They Died with Their Boots On (1941)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writers:

Wally Kline (original screenplay) and
Æneas MacKenzie (original screenplay)

Release Date:

1 January 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Romance | War | Western

Tagline:

The heroic saga of Custer's Last Stand!

Plot:

This is the story of General Custer from the time he enters West Point military academy, through the American Civil War...

Plot Keywords:

Civil War | West Point | Little Big Horn | Crazy Horse | Cavalry

Cast

Errol Flynn	...	George Armstrong Custer
Olivia de Havilland	...	Elizabeth Bacon
Arthur Kennedy	...	Ned Sharp
Charley Grapewin	...	California Joe
Gene Lockhart	...	Samuel Bacon, Esq.
Anthony Quinn	...	Crazy Horse
Stanley Ridges	...	Maj. Romulus Taipe
John Litel	...	Gen. Phil Sheridan
Walter Hampden	...	William Sharp
Sydney Greenstreet	...	Lt. Gen. Winfield Scott
Regis Toomey	...	Fitzhugh Lee
Hattie McDaniel	...	Callie
G.P. Huntley	...	Lt. "Queen's Own" Butler (as George P. Huntley Jr.)
Frank Wilcox	...	Capt. Webb
Joe Sawyer	...	Sgt. Doolittle (as Joseph Sawyer)

Also Known As:

To the Last Man (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

140 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Norway:16 (1947) | Finland:K-8 (1965) | Finland:S (1943) | UK:U | USA:Approved (PCA #7505)

Filming Locations:

Busch Gardens - S. Grove Avenue, Pasadena, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The filming of the "Last Stand" sequence from this movie involved some 200 horsemen charging around in pretend battle and was so dangerous that one day during filming Anthony Quinn, who played Crazy Horse, arranged as a gag for a hearse to show up at the filming location

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the film, Custer is awarded a medal. In reality, he never received any decoration, though he did receive honorary (brevet) promotions for gallantry. The only medal awarded by the government, or the Army, was the newly developed "Medal of Honor", which George Custer never won - though his brother Thomas was one of three soldiers in the Civil War (along with only sixteen others since then) to receive it twice.

Quotes:

[after they first meet, Custer walks Miss Bacon to Gen. Sheridan's house]
George Armstrong Custer: Do you think if I were to come strolling past your house around nine o'clock at night you might be just sitting around on the veranda?
Elizabeth Bacon: Life is full of surprises.
George Armstrong Custer: And if I did find you sitting on the porch perhaps you and I could go for a walk together.
Elizabeth Bacon: [laughs] We seem to have been walking together ever since we met.
George Armstrong Custer: Well, I can't imagine, ma'am - if I may say so - any pleasanter journey, ma'am, than walking through life with you beside me, ma'am.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "EastEnders: (2000-12-25)" (2000)

Soundtrack:

I Wish I Was in Dixie's Land

Errol Flynn's best film

Dashing Errol Flynn brings his usual flair for drama in this historically flawed but entertaining film of the life of George Armstrong Custer. The dashing, jovial Flynn essays Custer from his days at West Point as a reckless, headstrong cadet, through the Civil War years in an extraordinarily generous and partisan interpretation of history, and finally as the nonpareil Indian fighter whose blunder at the Little Big Horn is excused as a sacrifice by Custer of his command as a way of exposing the corruption of government officials and post traders as well as a protest of the unfair treatment of the Plains Indians. Olivia de Havilland, Flynn's co-star in several other films, scores as the devoted, adoring Libby Bacon, and Anthony Quinn looks the part as the fierce Sioux chief Crazy Horse. The film's battle scenes are excellent. The Civil War battles are brief and are shown as several vignettes in which Custer, seemingly supported by just a handful of troopers, hammers the Confederate army into submission. Custer's last fight against the Indians is a grand spectacle, a savage clash between red men and white, with no quarter given in a wild mix of military might between determined fighting men. Great direction, cinematography, casting and wonderful music by Max Steiner make this film a Hollywood classic.