Movie review – Errol #22 - “They Died With Their Boots On” (1942) ***1/2

Warners tackle the George Custer story, and provide it with Errol Flynn, who is perfectly cast, being handsome, swashbuckling and erratic, and a healthy budget. They play fast and loose with history, mainly by turning incidents from Custer’s life into cute (fictional) “bits”: he arrives in West Point with dogs and a new uniform, he meets his future wife without being able to talk to her, he is promoted to general accidentally, gets off to a bad foot with his future father in law by singing "Garryowen" too loudly – indeed, the first half of this film is mostly played for comedy, even including the Civil War.

Then it gets progressively more serious: Custer becomes a drinker, gets off it, redeems himself through fighting Indians, fights corruption, goes to his death. All of which is true – the film also shows he was a big headed cocky kid prone to going his own way, which was true, too, so the film is not without some historical interest. Although in real life Custer remained cocky and idiotic and here he sort of grows up (though there is still a maniacal glint in his eye at the end).

This does mean, though, that Errol Flynn can give one of his finest performances, a real emotional journey from silly boy to grown man, and he does it very well. Just like Essex was in Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, Custer is let off the hook from history here: it was corrupt Indian agents who caused all the trouble, you see, by creating a false rumour about gold in the Black Hills and selling them guns (the film is quite sympathetic to Indians – they are brave and shown to be betrayed by the whites; Custer admits if he was an Indian he’d fight, too); Custer’s final assault is not shown as the blunder it was but as a way of rescuing neighbourhood towns and - in one of the most memorable twistings of the law by a Hollywood screenwriter – as a way of insuring the legal admissibility of some hearsay evidence! (Hearsay is admissible if it’s a dying declaration – Custer, mate, it’s not worth it just to get something past a judge).

The final battle is a bit flat – just people galloping across a plain shooting at each other, when doing something closer to the truth would have been a bit more exciting. It’s also a bit too much of a coincidence that the two soldiers who clashed with Custer at West Point turn out to be bad (Arthur Kennedy gives a good performance as one of them). Olivia de Havilland is strong as Errol’s co-star – she could do this sort of part in her sleep by now, but she does have a bit more meat here, playing someone a bit more mature, and their final parting has special resonance. Max Steiner’s score is excellent (constant use of "Garryowen"). Raoul Walsh’s direction keeps it flying by (no shadows on the wall for him).