Customer Reviews

Custer of the West [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Early on in the pre-production stages CUSTER OF THE WEST was originally supposed to be directed by Akira Kurosawa. It was meant to be a biography of epic proportions combining both story and thrilling action sequences filmed in Cinerama. Eventually it was filmed in Spain in Super Technirama directed by Robert Siodmak. The production is still fairly ambitious but the screenplay by Bernard Gordon and Julian Halevy makes for a rather episodic tale lacking a narrative sweep that would have been very beneficial to this film. Part of this can be attributed to the producers' wishes to insert Cinerama-type effects (a runaway train, a downhill ride in an out-of-control buckboard, a soldier escaping down lumber jammed rapids, etc) into what should have been a straightforward biographical filming of General Custer and the historical events surrounding him. Robert Shaw gives a solid performance as General George Custer and beautifully creates another interpretation into the myth of the man. Shaw demonstrates none of the flamboyancy associated with Custer but instead concentrates on the virility and single-minded duty of his command. Through the entire film Shaw remains introverted and a somewhat enigmatic character. The viewer is never sure if Custer has a single humanitarian bone in his body because every time the question arises Shaw reverts back to his dutiful military facade. This is demonstrated in his scenes with Dull Knife (Kieron Moore) and Sergeant Mulligan (Robert Ryan) the deserter. This film contains other good performances. Jeffrey Hunter plays Lieutenant Benteen as a professional soldier but one who is sensitive to the plight of the Indians yet never lets his sentiments interfere with his duties. On a psychological level Hunter's somber character mirrors the feelings that Custer will never show the viewer. Ty Hardin plays Major Reno a hard drinking officer with a long family military history. Custer distrusts him and Reno will eventually let him down. Lawrence Tierney plays a gruff General Philip Sheridan and a somewhat indifferent Mary Ure plays Elizabeth, Custer's wife. However, Robert Ryan is the only actor that breathes some real life into this film. We all know from history what eventually happens to Custer. Ryan's character represents the uninhibited free spirit of all men. He shows up like a guardian angle to give Custer one last chance to change his destiny. This is one of the best roles of Robert Ryan's career. The photography by Cinematographer Cecilio Paniagua is very good. The frame compositions are well thought out. His camera traverses many landscapes of open plains, rushing rivers and rolling hills very beautifully in Technicolor. The music score composed by Bernardo Segall is very different in approach and sound for a film of this type. The Brazilian composer decided to build his score on an atmosphere of heroism, which he creates and builds upon. Segall essentially puts aside most references to the traditional Western and falls back on Civil War arrangements and orchestrations (especially in the film's opening) and further period influences. Added to this Segall also seems to have been inspired by the Spaghetti Western (in the film's more reflective moments), which was at its zenith at the time this film was made. In fact, much of this film seems to have been inspired by the Spaghetti Western in its look and feel. Even though this is a Spanish-US co-production it looks more akin to a Spaghetti Western. Art designs by Jean d'Eaubonne, Eugène Lourié and Julio Molina, Set designs by Antonio Mateos and Costumes by Laure de Zarate greatly contribute to the `Spaghetti' and European look of this film.

This film always intrigued me ever since it was released in 1968. In fact it hardly got released. It only showed at my neighborhood theatre in a 90 minute edited version. I remember reading in a newspaper at the time that the film was going to be released in a drastically cut version in the United States by Cinerama Releasing Corp. That was that! Now, thanks to Anchor Bay Entertainment this film has been released at this 141 minute length. Visually Anchor Bay produces the best DVDs. (You have really got to see Anchor Bay's DVD of Disney's ISLAND AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD to really appreciate how good their product is.) That aside CUSTER OF THE WEST remains a good film and an epic in its own right. The rousing Civil War sequence at the beginning of the film is some of the best work ever put on film. Irving Lerner, not Robert Siodmak, directed this brilliant opening and shows us Custer a man driven by duty. Custer's Last Stand at the Little Big Horn is perhaps not historically accurate but is very impressively staged and filmed and gives the viewer an idea of the scope of Custer's folly. Bernardo Segall's music at the denouement is very poignant. Above all, the brilliant Super Technirama photography effects are like a real roller coaster ride and are crisp and colorful as ever. This is a great DVD.

Forget the horrible Simitar DVD of this film! Here is a version mastered in the correct aspect ratio with brilliantly rendered colors and a razor sharp focus! Even though this movie is not exactly a masterpiece, a good looking DVD such as this certainly makes it seem better than it is.

This is an example of what happens when a British film company tackles American history. The Custer story has been told in many films for many years. The various depictions are generally amusing in their fabrications, half-truths, historical inaccuracies, and outright lies. This film is essentially a B movie given a '60s Cinerama treatment that stresses visual presentation over substance. There is one long scene, for example, of a man escaping danger by riding down a miner's sluice. This segment is protracted, and one suspects it's only there to demonstrate Cinerama's camera technique. Custer (Robert Shaw, with Scottish burr intact) is depicted heroically. Reno (Ty Hardin) is disparaged as a drunken coward who failed to come to Custer's aid. The complexities of Custer's personality and the doubtful integrity of his motivations as an Indian fighter are not explored. The only Indians mentioned are the Cheyenne. The scriptwriters didn't add that the Native Americans at the Battle of Little Bighorn also included a major contingent of Sioux. Historical problems aside, the movie falters as an action-adventure film. The climactic battle is disappointingly lethargic. As Custer movies go, "Son of the Morning Star" is more accurate, and "They Died With Their Boots On" is better as an action-adventure film. ;-)

It was once said that you shouldn't get your history or your religion from the movies, and this is a GREAT example why! It would have you think that ALL the battles of the U.S. Civil War were fought with about a dozen Confederates and a handful of Federal cavalry. There were even scenes of unmanned cannon firing themselves -- not an artilleryman (or anyone else) anywhere in sight! In fact, throughout this movie all cavalry battle sequences were anemic, lethargic and DULL! The Little Big Horn battle is a laughing stock. The warrior's charge is weirdly setup then staged -- probably the biggest historical inaccuracy in the whole sad world of historic inaccuracies. To make matters worse, it was shot mostly from long distance. Any detail of action you get will remind you of a bad-guy-indian raid on a wagon train in some obscure "B" western matinee. The story of Custer between these "battles" is BORING! You couldn't care less about the main characters! To be fair though, Mr. Shaw as Armstrong (very miscast) does his best with this weak script. In a couple of the early scenes he almost "channels" Errol Flynn. Jeffrey Hunter, Robert Ryan (who turns in the BEST performance here -- but brief) and Ty Hardin were all wasted in this project. BUT the MOST glaring fault of the movie: the 7th Cavalry's anthem of "Garry Owen" was never, ever played! Not once! Speaking of tunes, the odd soundtrack lends nothing to the flick at all. The music rarely matches up to what is happening on the screen. All-in-all, it is easy to see why this never made a splash (or dull thud) in the U.S. movie circuit. Vastly better films are: THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON (historically off, but the Last Stand battle is probably the closest to the scope and intensity of the real fight); LITTLE BIG MAN (essentially an Old West history lesson that includes the Last Stand, Custer is portrayed as a total nut-case mostly for comedic relief -- but nice overall presentation of the Battle of Little Big Horn); and SON OF THE MORNING STAR (probably the most accurate of the Hollywood Custer stories). After all is said and done, CUSTER OF THE WEST is not worth the purchase, rent or trouble. Who could EVER fall asleep when the command "CHARGE!" is given? You will!

Not historically accurate movie. However, the widescreen specatacle is impressive. Often cut, this version is almost complete running 136 minutes. The original Cinerama release version was 140 minutes. The brief US release in 1969 was 120 min. The print utilized for this Simitar DVD is torn and tattered. It is pan/scan, probaly a worn TV print. This movie needs better source materials and a wide screen transfer. Don't waste your money on Simitar junk.

Yes, there was a Custer. Yes, there were Indians. Yes, there was cavalry. Any other similarity to the time and the event is totally missing. Any student of the battle will either laugh or cry at this feeble attempt to portray the Custer myth. Custer is presented as somewhat Godlike. Inacuracies occur all over the place. The attack on the Washita seems to originate from Fort Lincoln. Benteen, Reno and Custer seem to actually get along. The biggest farce is the battle at Little Big Horn. Reno never attacks the village, or retreat to the hill, and when Benteen shows up they're still in the middle of the river and retire to the trees. Custer and an Indian scout are the last men standing. He never went near the river. His scout is killed. The chief (or whoever)tells Custer he can go, but naturally Custer dies on the battlefield. There are no names mentioned other than Custer, Benteen, Reno, Sheridan, Libbie and some minor soldiers. The Indian leader is never identified, except to suggest that he may be Cheyenne. For anyone who knows about the battle, this film is painful to watch. For anyone else, this is just another Western with some stilted acting. END

Robert Shaw as Custer ??? Yes, he was miscast. The scenes at Little Big Horn were laughable. I viewed this film in an attempt to find the most factually correct depiction of the events leading up to the battle of the Little Big Horn. This film was perhaps least satisfying of all. "Son of the Morning Star" still stands as the best effort to date, but it is also flawed. No film shows us the truth about Deep Ravine.... an extremely important aspect of the battle.

CUSTER OF THE WEST (1967) might be a good movie, although it's definitely not a very good or great one. I say it might be a good movie because the version I watched was the Simitar Video release from 1998, which is the full screen, pan-and-scan version. Sorry, you just aren't supposed to watch an action movie that's missing more than a quarter of the image.

Robert Shaw plays Custer in this biopic, director Robert Siodmak's last American film and the weakest one of his I've seen. The movie follows Custer from the Civil War to his Last Stand at the Little Big Horn. Most of the film is devoted to Custer fighting the Cheyenne, warning Congress of government corruption, and leading his small host to its appointment with destiny. Episodic and detached, about the only high point in the movie is a short segment in the middle with the marvelous Robert Ryan playing an Irish calvary man who wants to leave the service to take up gold mining. Physically Shaw looks enough like Custer to pass, but he doesn't have the theatrical flair, the bigger-than-life quality that the role demands. Even if I'd seen this in a widescreen format I don't think I would have liked it much more than I did seeing it in its butchered state. You might want to rent this one before you consider buying it.

Overall, this is an entertaining film with good acting and script. Unfortunately, the widescreen DVD is not enhanced for widescreen TVs. This is a film; those who want to study history, should refer to books.

Over the years, certain incidents from the Wild West have been dealt with over and over again in Hollywood; the gunfight at the OK Corral, the battle of the Alamo, and as in the case of Custer of the West, the life of George Armstrong Custer. Following the Civil War, General Phil Sheridan gives Custer a post in the west with the 7th Cavalry and orders to clean out the Indians no matter what. Upon arriving, Custer gets his regiment into fighting shape and unleashes attacks on the Cheyenne (no Sioux in this one). But as he fights the Indians, Custer begins to question what he's doing and why and for who even as he greedily seeks glory. Obviously not the best of the movies made about Custer, or the most historically accurate, but I felt there was enough here to recommend the movie. The locations in Almeria, Spain, where many spaghetti westerns were filmed, doesn't look like the American West, but is still great to look at. Also, there's plenty of action, including a unique look at the massacre at the Little Big Horn, and a good musical score from Bernardo Segall. So give this movie a chance, even if it's just to see a different take on the legend of George Armstrong Custer.

Throughout his short career that was cut short far too early, Robert Shaw tackled a wide variety of roles and here is no exception. The English actor plays Custer here and pulls it off pretty well. He's no Errol Flynn, but Shaw tries to explain some of the complexities of the character. He was egotistical and a glory seeker, but there's more to the man as Shaw shows. Mary Ure isn't given much to do as Libby, Custer's wife, but she is good in the few scenes she does have. Jeffrey Hunter and Ty Hardin play Capteen Benteen, the moralist who questions what the cavalry is doing, and Major Marcus Reno, the alcoholic second in command who hates Custer from the first time he meets him. Neither have a ton of screen time which is a shame because they're both good actors. Lawrence Tierney is good in a small part as General Phil Sheridan, Custer's commanding officer who is conflicted with what he has to do. Charles Stalmaker as the eager Lt. Howells, Kieron Moore as Chief Dull Knife (no Sitting Bull or Crazy Horse here), and Robert Hall as Sgt. Buckley also star. And in a great, if short, cameo, Robert Ryan plays Sgt. Paddy Mulligan, a 7th cavalry deserter who gets the itch for gold and tangles with Custer.

As for the DVD, MGM went "all out" once again. The widescreen presentation is good but not great and doesn't really take advantage of the Cinerama filming. I saw a good-looking version on Turner Classic Movies recently to compare the two. Special features are slim here as well so don't expect too much. Still, it's an entertaining movie with some interesting cast choices and a very different look at the career and death of George Armstrong Custer. Give Custer of the West a try!