Suppose Custer survived his Last Stand? Other reviewers summed up Custer's post-war career but to make a long story short, the man made no friends in the Grant administration. So, looking for scapegoats after the Battle of the Little Big Horn, and hoping to bury a political enemy (an idea ripped right out of modern headlines), President Grant and other military men upon whose toes Custer has tread cook up a trial for Custer for disobeying orders.
As I mentioned in the title, the cast is top drawer. Unfortunately, some have little to do. Blythe Danner, one of the better actresses of those days who could pass for a lady, until the end is reduced to looking noble. She does it well, but I feel sorry for her.
Good actors with lots to do include Ken Howard, who soars above the material; and Brian Keith, who appears almost embarrassed by his bad wig and his limp (Keith would outshine most all comers ten years later in the starry miniseries "Centennial.")
Smaller roles are filled with the likes of William Daniels, Anthony Zerbe and J. D. Cannon. Susan Sullivan was never more alluring.
The biggest disaster was James Olsen's Custer. Even just sitting at the defendants' table, he ought to exude some of the famous Custer charisma that inspired men (above their duty) to follow him to their deaths. He doesn't.
Overall, this videotaped presentation looks quickly made and under rehearsed. The direction of the camera work is occasionally sloppy. Parts of it look like amateur theater that might've been staged in a high school lunch room. That the fine actors weren't buried altogether proves how well-chosen they were.
