Film Review: They Died with Their Boots On (1941)

When the United States was about to enter another world war, it would have been strange to see one of its major studios dedicating a high-budget production to the reconstruction of the event that was, and still is, considered one of the worst disasters in US military history. But Classic Hollywood should never have been underestimated in its ability to give a positive, patriotic propaganda spin to such events, even at the expense of historical accuracy. And the public apparently loved such an approach, judging by the enormous success of They Died with Their Boots On, the 1941 Western biopic directed by Raoul Walsh.

The protagonist, played by Errol Flynn, is George Armstrong Custer, one of the most flamboyant characters of the Old West and one of the more controversial military leaders in US history. The plot begins in 1857 when the young Custer, dressed in the outlandish uniform he had designed himself, arrives at the West Point military academy. His poor understanding of discipline would often get him into trouble, and his grades make him the last cadet in his class. However, when the Civil War erupts in 1861, the Union Army cannot be choosy, and Lieutenant Custer is brought into service, where he excels as a cavalry officer. In 1863, he is accidentally promoted to general and given command of a cavalry brigade, and plays an important role in the Union's victory at the decisive Battle of Gettysburg.

He returns as a hero to his hometown of Monroe, Michigan, where he marries Elizabeth "Libby" Bacon (played by Olivia de Havilland). After the war, he becomes displeased with the lack of action and enthusiastically takes the opportunity to take command of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, stationed in the Dakota Territory. There, his mission is to protect settlers from the restless American Indian tribes that include the Sioux, led by the legendary chief Crazy Horse (played by Anthony Quinn). He excels in his service, making the previously rowdy 7th Cavalry into an efficient fighting unit and arranging a peace deal with Crazy Horse, promising that the Indians would keep their sacred land in the Black Hills. However, greedy and ruthless speculators, who include Custer's former fellow cadet Ned Sharp (played by Arthur Kennedy), want that land for themselves and launch false rumours about gold deposits in the Black Hills, creating another gold rush and a flood of white settlers that would cause a major war with the Indians. On 25 June 1876, Custer leads the 7th Cavalry Regiment towards an encounter with a large number of Indian warriors at the place known as the Little Bighorn.

From the mid-1930s to the early 1940s, Errol Flynn was the top action star of Hollywood, specialising in swashbuckling period adventures and Westerns in which he played slightly roguish characters who would ultimately find redemption and make the world a better place. The character of Custer, at least the version depicted in this film, fits that pattern quite nicely, although Flynn makes the protagonist a little more serious, with strands of fatalism that also seem fitting with the film's spectacular finale. Flynn made most of his biggest hits with Michael Curtiz, but the actor and director never liked each other; this was not the case with Raoul Walsh, an immensely experienced and versatile director whose eventful and adventurous private life corresponded with Flynn's. Walsh directs the film with ease, making the more than two hours of its running time pass smoothly. Flynn is also, for the last time (not counting a cameo appearance in the 1943 film Thank Your Lucky Stars), reunited with his reliable screen partner Olivia de Havilland, who effectively plays Custer's loving and loyal wife Libby, a character who in real life was most responsible for the posthumous deification of her husband as a noble soldier and martyr, which is maintained in They Died with Their Boots On. The supporting cast includes many dependable names of Classic Hollywood, while Anthony Quinn, a future great star specialising in "ethnic" and exotic roles, has one of his first prominent roles as Crazy Horse.

They Died with Their Boots On also benefits from a good musical soundtrack by the always dependable Max Steiner, although the audience is more likely to remember "Garryowen", the traditional Irish song which the 7th Cavalry used as its unofficial anthem.

They Died with Their Boots On is well directed, with the script providing a good combination of action, romance, mild humour and melodrama. A lot of money and talent were obviously invested in it, and scenes of spectacular cavalry battles even claimed three lives among stuntmen. But the film leaves much to be desired as a proper reconstruction of history. Custer starts as an undisciplined, "rough" young officer and quickly evolves into a capable leader, with his sense of honesty and fairness getting him into trouble with villains who are, in line with popular sentiments following the Great Depression, depicted as greedy, ruthless capitalists. He ends as a martyr, sacrificing himself and his men to prevent the Indians from defeating a much larger force and making sure that the injustice towards the Indians that caused the conflict gets corrected. This is much contrary to the historical record, and the character of Ned Sharp and his henchmen are pure fiction, replacing Custer himself as the source of the gold deposit rumours that ultimately led to his demise in real life.

This version of history, featuring Custer as a hero and martyr, served US militaristic propaganda during the Second World War very well. Later generations had little understanding for Custer, preferring versions of Custer as a cold professional in Custer of the West or Custer as a racist, murderous lunatic in Little Big Man. Compared with them, They Died with Their Boots On looks like a watchable piece of Classic Hollywood entertainment, but only to those who do not mind having a dark and complicated history simplified and sugar-coated.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

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