Review – They Died with Their Boots On

Try as I might, I just couldn’t get past the historical inaccuracies. Custer went to West Point. He served as a cavalry officer in the Civil War. He married Elizabeth Bacon. He was killed at the Little Big Horn. Just about every other element of this picture is pure balderdash. It’s an approach I simply don’t understand. The facts – or at least a close approximation thereof (fair portrayals of indigenous peoples being outside Hollywood’s capabilities in 1941) – make a fine story. And with Errol Flynn in the lead role, even a realistic Custer might have seemed dashing and heroic. I suppose this might be an acceptable action movie based solely on its own merits, but I had too much trouble watching it to be able to say for certain. Mildly amusing