7th Cavalry (1956)

Director:

Joseph H. Lewis

Writers:

Peter Packer (screenplay)
Glendon Swarthout (story)

Release Date:

December 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

CHARGING THE BATTLE LINES OF THE SIOUX AND THE CHEYENNES! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

An officer accused of cowardice volunteers to bring back General Custers's body after Little Big Horn.

Plot Keywords:

Fort | Cowardice | American Indian | Native American | Number 7 In Title

Cast

Randolph Scott	...	Capt. Tom Benson
Barbara Hale	...	Martha Kellogg
Jay C. Flippen	...	Sgt. Bates
Frank Faylen	...	Sgt. Kruger
Jeanette Nolan	...	Charlotte Reynolds
Leo Gordon	...	Vogel
Denver Pyle	...	Dixon
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Cpl. Morrison
Michael Pate	...	Capt. Benteen
Donald Curtis	...	Lt. Bob Fitch
Frank Wilcox	...	Maj. Reno
Pat Hogan	...	Young Hawk

Also Known As:

Seventh Cavalry (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #17766) | UK:U (passed with cuts) | West Germany:12 (nf) | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Amecameca, Estado de México, Mexico

Company:

Producers-Actors Corporation

Goofs:

Factual errors: When the troops present arms at the flag-raising at the beginning of the film, the soldier closest to the camera has a Remington Rolling-Block rifle, probably standing in for a Springfield Trapdoor carbine, with which the cavalry of 1876 was actually equipped. The Remington, though popular with the armies of many other nations, was never adopted in any form by the US military.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Capt. Tom Benson: We'll be able to see the fort from the top of the next rise.
[Tom and Martha ride a little farther]
Capt. Tom Benson: There she is - Fort Lincoln, the base of the finest cavalry regiment in the country - and our home.

History for kindergartners

Yes, I know the disclaimer in the opening credits says there is no relationship between the film characters and events and real persons and events, but I think such disclaimers in films that obviously portray real persons are a cheap cop-out.

This screenplay is so badly written it should be in the comedy genre. We begin by transplanting the northern plains to the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where we find Ft. Lincoln about a day's ride from the Little Big Horn battle site.

As was the cavalry custom back then, forts are left almost entirely deserted when the troops go into the field. When Capt. Benson enters the fort, he finds Capt. Reynold's widow, who apparently read the Indians' wire report on the teletype immediately after the battle, for she knew all the details even before the surviving cavalry returned from the battlefield.

The returning survivors include Harry Carey, Jr. playing bugler John Martin, who in reality was immigrant Giovanni Martini, who the real Capt. Benteen complained could barely speak English.

For the sake of the film, the battle inquiry takes place a couple of days afterward rather than the several years in real life. Benson volunteers to lead the burial detail after the inquiry. On the ride to the battlefield he engages in hand-to-hand combat with a white man dressed as an Indian. You see, the Indians decided they enjoyed the Sierra Nevada, er, the Big Horn area and wanted to stay. Surely the U.S Army would leave them in peace now that they had massacred several companies of cavalry. (In reality they fled post-haste.)

Upon arriving at the battlefield, instead of finding naked and mutilated bodies as at the real battle site, Benson finds the Indians have thoughtfully prepared a Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Sorry, I just can't go on further.