November 21, 1941
New York Times
The Warners have been generous to a fault in paying their respects to General George Armstrong Custer. Certainly the man who is more famed for his celebrated last stand against the Sioux and allied tribes at Little Big Horn than for any of his several other exploits receives his due as a courageous soldier, and then some, in “They Died With Their Boots On,” which thundered into the Strand yesterday. Dismiss factual inaccuracies liberally sprinkled throughout the film’s more than two-hour length and you have an adventure tale of frontier days which for sheer scope, if not dramatic impact, it would be hard to equal.
Wave upon wave of cavalry charges packed with breath-taking thrills have been handled in masterly fashion by director Raoul Walsh, and they alone are worth the price of admission. Mr. Walsh, it is obvious, spared neither men, horses nor Errol Flynn’s General Custer in kicking up the dust of battle. But the director was not so fortunate in handling the personal drama and as a consequence “They Died With Their Boots On” has little verve between campaigns. With all the action of the Civil War sequences, it is not surprising that the intervening account of the General’s domestic life and his battle against political intrigue, which lacks genuine dramatic sustenance, should become a little wearying. After all, two hours and seventeen minutes requires a powerful lot of sustained drama. Mr. Walsh would have had a more compact and compelling entertainment had he whittled a half hour or so out of the script. But he more than makes up for this with his action shots.
From what the records show, “They Died With Their Boots On” is the screen’s first full-fledged attempt at spanning Custer’s remarkable career from his hazing as a West Point plebe, his almost story-bookish rise from second lieutenant of cavalry at the first Battle of Bull Run in 1861 to his appointment two years later as brigadier general of volunteers and commander of the Michigan brigade, which performed so brilliantly at Gettysburg. However fanciful the film’s account of his early Army career and the events in between his assignment as lieutenant colonel, Regular Army, of the Seventh Cavalry, may be, it nevertheless provides a broad view of a complex personality.
In the massacre at the Little Big Horn in 1876 the film credits Custer with knowingly sacrificing his small forces to prevent the warring Indians from swooping down upon General Terry’s unsuspecting regiment, a viewpoint in variance with certain historical accounts of the tragedy. Errol Flynn, who approximates the general in physical characteristics, is excellent as the dashing, adventuresome cavalryman. Olivia de Havilland is altogether captivating as his adoring wife. Others in the long cast who acquit themselves with credit are John Litel as General Phil Sheridan, Sidney Greenstreet as General Winfield Scott and Stanley Ridges as the fictitious Major Taipe who engineers Custer’s court-martial. George P. Huntley Jr. gives a magnificent performance as Custer’s fellow-officer and buddie.
THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON; screen play by Wally Klein and Aeneas MacKenzie; directed by Raoul Walsh for Warner Brothers.George Armstrong Custer . . . . . Errol Flynn – Elizabeth Becon (Beth Custer) . . . . . Olivia deHavilland – Fitzhugh Lee . . . . . Regis Toomey- Major Romulus Taipe . . . . . Stanley Ridges – Ned Sharp . . . . . Arthur Kennedy – General Scott . . . . . Sidney Greenstreet – William Sharp . . . . . Walter Hampden – General Phil Sheridan . . . . . John Litel – Lieut. Butler . . . . . George P. Huntley Jr. – Crazy Horse . . . . . Anthony Quinn – California Joe . . . . . Charley Grapewin – Sergeant Doolittle . . . . . Joe Sawyer – Captain Webb . . . . . Frank Wilcox – Captain McCook . . . . . Selmer Jackson – Senator Smith . . . . . Minor Watson – Lieut. Frazier . . . . . DeWolf Hopper
A version of this article appears in print on Nov. 21, 1941 of the National edition with the headline: At the Strand.
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— Tim
