Product Details

• Actors: Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Arthur Kennedy, Charley Grapewin, Gene Lockhart
• Directors: Raoul Walsh
• Writers: Lenore J. Coffee, Wally Kline, Æneas MacKenzie
• Producers: Hal B. Wallis, Robert Fellows
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Warner)
• VHS Release Date: September 1, 1998
• Run Time: 140 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301977165
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #79,133 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Bert Glennon, who shot Stagecoach and seven other John Ford classics, has given this Raoul Walsh biopic of George Armstrong Custer a burnished glow--an evocative interplay of raw sunlight and elegiac shadow like no other vintage Warner Bros. Western. Glennon's artistry and Walsh's trademark gusto sustain enthusiasm even as the screenplay beggars belief. The flamboyant Custer (Errol Flynn), rushed into Civil War service straight from West Point, did get promoted overnight to general and establish a spectacular record for "ride to the guns" leadership. However, Custer as defender of Indians' rights--to the point of willing his own Last Stand so he could accuse corrupt Indian Commissioners from the grave--is historical rewrite of such sweeping chutzpah as to shame DeMille. Flynn and Olivia de Havilland make an even more appealing couple than usual, and the big supporting cast is unflaggingly energetic above and beyond the call of duty. --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Don't Care, March 12, 2005

By 

Dennis J. Hermannes "bearclaw" (Anchorage, AK USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: They Died With Their Boots On (DVD)

I don't care if the film is historically inaccurate. Errol Flynn may not have been an ideal figure in real life but the movies he was in, well, I was raised with the 30's and 40's films and his films always gave me a hero to look up to and how things should have been done. They inspired me and taught me right from wrong and how to treat people fairly. Along with my Dad's guidelines, I was better for it. That's all I care about, not whether it was historically accurate. Mr. Flynn, even in real life, was a chip off the old block. I love this film. I grew up with it and it still gets an emotional rise out of me when I view it. Its what Custer should have been in my opinion and as a young boy watching this for the first time, influenced me for the rest of my life. Errol Flynn was my hero after I saw this and his WWII Burma movie. Its a shame he's gotten a bad shake from the critics whether now or in the past.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Gracious Thing, May 20, 2000

By 

"laddie5" - See all my reviews

This review is from: They Died with Their Boots On (Colorized) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

After "The Adventures of Robin Hood," this is Errol Flynn's best movie. As noted elsewhere, it's worthless as history. But the casting of Flynn as Custer has a resonance that burns up the screen, and behind the romanticism one glimpses a portrait of an unhappy, self-destructive man who is a hero in spite of himself. Flynn's farewell scene with Olivia de Havilland is almost unbearably moving, as if both sensed the real-life parallel and the future awaiting them both. This is a rousing, action-packed movie with just about everything: adventure, comedy and romance... but it's one of the rare ones that also gets under your skin.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Errol Flynn's finest moments on screen, November 12, 2002

By 

Simon Davis (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: They Died with Their Boots On (Colorized) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Mammoth is the only way to describe the Raoul Walsh directed tribute to Brig. General George Armstrong Custer, "They Died With Their Boots On". As stated by previous reviewers much of the story as depicted in this film is fiction, but what a story!! It would have to be one of the most entertaining and thoughtfully put together epic productions of this time and th eattention to detail is evident in every frame of this film.

Errol Flynn, at the peak of his career when this film went before the cameras in 1941 had the role of a life time in Custer and indeed he looks remarkably like the illustrations that survive of what Custer actually looked like. Not since the classic "The Adventures Of Robin Hood" had Flynn been handed such a diverse and challenging role as this and once again he proves what a fine actor he could be given proper material to work with. His development from the cocky and raw recruit at West Point through to his fateful encounters with Chief Crazy Horse leading up to the last tragic stand at Little Big Horn where he learns about humility and tolerance for others, provides him with a remarkable acting chore which he handles with aplomb. Despite the fictionised settings and situations you can believe that Flynn is Custer. The film also marked the last time that Errol Flynn was teamed with Olivia de Havilland after a long series of memorable screen appearances together starting with the classic "Captain Blood" They have a magical screen chemistry together and both excell in their work in this film. Olivia de havilland had a unique acting style whereby she could play submissive types while always injecting them with a slic eof independant character that shone through on the screen. Her Elizabeth Bacon Custer wife of the famous general is such a character and it has over the decades become one of her most loved characterisations.

"They Died With Their Boots On" delivers a battery of top flight supporting performances from its cast. First and foremost Anthony Quinn is excellent as the famous Chief Crazy Horse. His portrayal shows a multi faceted Indian character far from the nameless hostile Indians normally portayed in such epics set in the west. Charley Grapevine as the tobacco chewing best buddy of Custer who goes down with him in the last stand of Little Big Horn is also excellent in his comical handling of the many dangerous situations he finds himself in with Custer. Arthur Kennedy as fellow West Point graduate Edward Sharp, the villian of the story who is ultimately responsible for re-igniting war with the Indians also shines in his scenes as the constant opponent of Custer's plans. Sydney Greenstreet as General Winfield Scott in a non traditional role of sorts for him also adds dramatic tension to the story during its civil war period and the alway superb Hattie McDaniel playing a variation on her Mammy character is reunited with Olivia de Havilland post "Gone With The Wind" in the role of the match making Callie.

"Boots" is ably directed by action man Raoul Walsh who obtained the assignment after Errol Flynn adamently refused to have Michael Curtiz assigne dto the production. He and Flynn, while producing great work on screen never got along and their clashes on numerous productions were legendary. Here Walsh is in familiar territory and he keeps the action moving at break neck pace throughout the films very long running time. Indeed despite its length I feel the film never lags at all and constantly injects new elements of interest to keep the attention fixed on what is happening. The film can be almost divided into two sections, that dealing with Custers early life and involvement in th ecivil war and secondly his married life and return to service with exploration of America's west taking place. The battle scenes of the film are some of the best put on film and during filming a number of extras and horses lost their lives so involved where some of the action shots being filmed. The last tragic stand at Little Big Horn is superb entertainment and guaranteed to move you greatly as Custer finds himself in an impossible situation. Prior to this battle in the last scene that Flynn shares with de havilland where he knows he will probably not return Flynn's acting reached new heights of maturity and conviction rarely seen in his work up until then.

The production as a whole does not suffer at all from being filmed in black and white. Indeed the period flavour is beautifully captured here and Warner Bother's spent a fortune on getting every historical detail just right. It shows in the horsemanship displayed, in the costumes, period interiors and in the resemblance that most of the actors have for those characters that were not fictional.

Errol Flynn did some fine action films in his peak period from 1937 through to the late 40's howver never has he been better than in "They Died With Their Boots On" I recommend this film to you not as an accurate historical lesson of an important period in America's history but as a fine action film filled with great dramatics, sterling performances and a good insight into life back in those earlier times when America was still a new country. Enjoy Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland in their farewell performance together.