Son of the Morning Star

Son Of The Morning Star is a made for TV movie that's directed by Mike Robe, with the teleplay adapted by Melissa Mathison from the novel of the same name written by Evan S. Connell. It stars Gary Cole (George Armstrong Custer), Rosanna Arquette (Libby Custer), Stanley Anderson (Ulysses S. Grant), George Dickerson (Gen. Sherman), Rodney A. Grant (Crazy Horse), Terry O'Quinn (Gen. Alfred Terry), David Strathairn (Capt. William F. Benteen), Dean Stockwell (Gen. Philip Sheridan) & Sheldon Peters Wolfchild (Bloody Knife).

Buffy Sainte-Marie narrates as Kate Bighead and location work is at Badlands National Park, South Dakota, Billings, Montana & Buffalo Gap, South Dakota (Kees Van Oostrum the cinematographer) and the music is by Craig Safan. The story tells of George Custer & Crazy Horse and the events prior to, and encompassing, the battle of the Little Bighorn. It's told from the different perspectives of two women, Libby Custer & Kate Bighead.

The name Custer and The Battle Of Little Big Horn has become one of the most famous stories of American/Indian history. Numerous books, films and TV shows have taken it as a source for entertainment or historical teachings. Of the many screen adaptations, Son Of The Morning Star is arguably the most fascinating due to its two pronged approach and willingness to explore all the principal characters from both sides of the War. At only three hours in length it's inevitable that not everything is covered, but when judged as a whole the makers here have evidently achieved remarkable results and kept it well balanced. It covers a ten year period that starts in 1866 when Custer was commander at Fort Riley in Kansas; and culminates with the famous battle that occurred in June of 1876.

There's some sloppy editing and not all the cast deliver convincingly in their respective portrayals. But everyone and everything about the piece is professional. Be it with the dissection of Custer the man (brave, arrogant, foolish & driven), or showing the Indian's as a complex race-to intelligently letting us into the government and political aspects of the period; Robe's movie is always narratively strong. The action is very well staged and the scenery (in spite of not yet having the DVD remastering it deserves) is very pleasing on the eye. We may never get the complete story in film form, or even one that will be budgeted to the extent of shaking Hollywood to its foundations. But this will do nicely and it's hoped that more people will not only get to see it, but also to hopefully appreciate its attention to detail. 8/10

I generally find Gary Cole rather uninteresting as an actor. But he does a good job in edgy roles, like Jeffrey MacDonald in "Fatal Vision" and George A. Custer in "Son of the Morningstar." The movie has its flaws. It takes too long to get going and I found the Indian narrative tiresome.

But it provides the most accurate Hollywood depiction of the events leading up to Custer's last battle and of the battle itself. Cole portrays Custer as a driven man, but not the madman of "Little Big Man" or the saint of "They died with Their Boots On." And it accurately captures the scenery of the Little Big Horn, not the bizarre desert setting of "Custer of the West." Most details, some not so well known, are handled accurately. Custer's men did not have sabers with them (little did Errol Flynn know). Custer refused gatling guns because they were too cumbersome to haul over the hilly areas the cavalry was expected to cover quickly. Custer couldn't see the Indian village from a distance when it was pointed out to him by his scouts. Custer hastily made his plan of battle after being informed Indians had taken some lost supplies and, thus, discovered his whereabouts. All of this comes out in the movie, so that we don't just get the standard Hollywood Custer-as-egotistical-glory-seeker story. The real story was far more involved than most people realize, and this film portrays most of those events. The film also shows that Custer's Last Stand was a combination of orderly resistance and chaos, as Indian witnesses contended.

The film also does a good job with some of the other characters; Crazy Horse, Tom Custer, Major Reno, Captain Benteen and Captain Weir. Where the film misses out, in my opinion, is its failure to adequately depict the events involving Reno and Benteen during the battle. The film does an excellent job with Reno's charge, dismount and retreat to the bluffs, and with Weir's attempt to rescue Custer. But it should have gone further. The film has Weir's company merely returning to the reinforced bluffs. What we don't see is that Reno and Benteen actually mounted a slow moving trek following Weir's path, and all were forced to retreat to their original position where they fought valiantly into the night, while some soldiers who were left behind in Reno's retreat rejoined them after some harrowing moments hiding from the Indians. This portion of the battle has never been accurately portrayed on film (although "The Glory Guys" does a reasonably good job of it). And Morningstar squanders a great deal of time on far less interesting scenes instead of devoting time to this portion of the fight.

So, while far from perfect, this is very much the best Custer movie ever made and highly recommended to anyone who wants to learn more about what really happened. I keep hoping that one more major Custer movie will get made and finally get it all right.

A very good bio-pic as it closely follows the facts. Based upon the Book "Son of the Morningstar" by Evan S. Connell (1984). Gary Cole does a good job in a drama role as opposed to the many comedy roles he's done more recently. The bleakness of the plains and the futility of the events leading up to the Little Bighorn drag the movie down in its tone at times, but then this is a Last Stand saga. It presents the Native American Point of View and presents Custer's demise as a combination of his own folly and bad decisions by the US government.

More time could have been spent on Custer's life up to and during the Civil War, he was at Appomattox, received Lee's flag of surrender and was present at the signing of the surrender (and rode away with the table General Lee signed the surrender on!). He remains the US Army's youngest general to date. The movie rather focuses on Custer's life as an Indian fighter.

Noted historian Stephen Ambrose (who wrote "Crazy Horse and Custer") supported the possibility that Custer may have fathered a child out of wedlock with an Indian woman, a point covered in the movie and a major plot element. Robert Utley, former superintendent of the Little Bighorn Battlefield, noted a letter in his book "Cavalier in Buckskin" by one of Custer's own officers that asserted such a relationship existed (Capt. Benteen, one of Custer's officers at the Little Bighorn). This is still a debatable point and Custer may have been sterile as a result of acquiring a STD during his West Point Days, according to some historians.

I have just finished a fairly comprehensive study of Gen. G.A.Custer and the Battle of the Little Big Horn, that included virtually ALL of the current historical literature on GAC & LBH, and a TOUR of the actual Little Bighorn Battlefield in Montana. I therefore must not merely amend my previous comments but retract them all together. Gary Cole gives us an EXCELLENT and more historically accurate picture of this still controversial military officer, than ANY other actor before. Mr. Cole's GAC is much more real, human, complex and therefore accurate picture than say Errol Flynn's famous but almost comic-book character. Over all the attention to detail and historical accuracy is quite apparent in this excellent movie. Gary, sorry about my previous comments.....and oh yes I'm the one who probably needs riding lesson's not you. My High School students REALLY enjoyed your version of "Autie" Custer. I continue to highly recommend (and LEND) this outstanding movie to other American History teachers at my High School. Gary Cole does the "Boy General" PROUD.

Thanks: Kevin John Simon Miami, Florida

To All Son Of The morning star fans"

this is a great war movie especially one made exclusively for TV. It needs to be released on DVD soon!!!!!! What needs to be done to have this film released on DVD? Very few films have capture the historic facts of this time period while also creating a very exciting film. We all really want this movie released on DVD! what's the problem? is Republic pictures still a viable entity? Is there someone we can contact to encourage them to release this film on DVD? What about the actors and actresses that were in this production possibly they could use their influence to persuade the producers to release this movie on DVD are there any plans from Hollywood to create different movies from the same time period? That would be exciting and something to look forward to.We hope it gets released very soon!!!