Custer of the West (1967)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Robert Siodmak

Writers (WGA):

Bernard Gordon (written by) and
Julian Zimet (written by) (originally as Julian Halevy)

Release Date:

24 January 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Western

Tagline:

A man too big for legend - A motion picture too big for any screen except CINERAMA [UK theatrical]

Plot:

George Armstrong Custer's love of the heroic traditions of the Calvary and his distaste with the coming of industrialization leads him to his destiny at the Little Big Horn.

Plot Keywords:

Little Big Horn | Log Flume | General Custer | Congress | Desert

Cast

Robert Shaw	...	Gen. George Armstrong Custer
Mary Ure	...	Elizabeth Custer
Ty Hardin	...	Maj. Marcus Reno
Jeffrey Hunter	...	Capt. Benteen
Lawrence Tierney	...	Gen. Philip Sheridan
Marc Lawrence	...	The gold miner
Kieron Moore	...	Chief Dull Knife
Charles Stalmaker	...	Lt. Howells (as Charles Stalnaker)
Robert Hall	...	Sgt. Buckley
Jack Gaskins
Jack Taylor
John Clark
Fred Kohler Jr.		(as Fred Kohler)
Bill Christmas
Luis Rivera

Also Known As:

A Good Day for Fighting (short version)
Custer (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

140 min | USA:143 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Singapore:PG | West Germany:12 | UK:U | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Sweden:11 | USA:G | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

Cinerama Productions Corp.

Trivia:

Originally to be directed by Akira Kurosawa, but he pulled out.

Goofs:

Continuity: The sarge leading the guard detail in the forest escapes the attacking Indians by entering the river and running with the logs. As he exits the water we can see a bare foot. Yet, he immediately runs toward the sound of the train wearing his boots.

Quotes:

Gen. George Armstrong Custer: [commenting with disgust about the coming industrialization] If this is the future, I don't want any part of it!
Elizabeth Custer: Where does that leave you?
Gen. George Armstrong Custer: With the Indians!

Soundtrack:

FOLLOW CUSTER

A flawed by worthy portrayal of Custer

Robert Siodmak's account of George Armstrong Custer has been all too readily dismissed as a self important, would-be epic hampered by the miscasting of Robert Shaw in the title role. In fact it is quite an interesting film that gives dimension this notorious historical figure. Shaw's English accent makes him essentially unsuitable for the role of the golden haired, arrogant soldier, but he turns in a typically sound performance that gives the film a solid centre. The script doesn't settle for the clichés of Custer as a brutal Indian hater nor the ridiculous Errol Flynn archetypes, but something in-between. Here Custer is portrayed as a reckless glory hunter and an obsessive fighter certainly, but also as a man who clung to his honour as a soldier. In any case he was an important instrument of the US government's policy of driving the Indians out of their lands to make way for the settlers. "You are paying the price for being backward", Custer explains to an Indian Chief. Robert Ryan's cameo as Mulligan defines Custer's attitude towards humanity while the scene where Custer is asked to endorse an armoured train affirms his honourable notions of a soldier's ideals. Bernado Seagall's music score is superb, performances, particularly Mary Ure as Custer's wife are excellent and there are several memorable scenes that put the events and the man into a wider historical context. Director Siodmak makes good use of wide screen photography, and the Battle of the Little Big Horn makes a poignant finale. The film may be slowly paced, yet it never bores and presents on the whole the film presents a worthy portrait of this infamous historical figure.