Terrible version of the famous general, which is big screen but looks cheap and feels like a mess. Its historical crap which would be alright if at least replaced with some decent drama but there isn't. I didn't realise Robert Shaw was then considered a big enough star for an epic, but I guess From Russia with Love was a hit...
In the opening scenes he has a maniacal glint in his eye and I thought maybe this could be interesting even though Shaw is English... playing Custer as cray cray. But his character is all over the shop - one minute decent, then drunk, then liberal, then killing people.
Indians are persecuted and the film is full of late 60s white guilt but they still have the capability to take over an entire town and de-rail and entire train off a bridge. Scenes are inserted to show off Cinerama without making sense dramatically - a soldier going down a long shute of water, train falling off a bridge, etc. A sequence involving Robert Ryan as a deserting soldier feels inserted solely to give Robert Ryan a brief showy part. Other scenes feel like "ideas" shoved in which might have worked in a more cohesive piece but which here are annoying - such as Custer seeing himself depicted on stage.
There's "conflict" between Custer and his officers, bleeding heart liberal Jeff Hunter and hard core Ty Hardin. Lawrence Tierney growls as General Sheridan, Mary Ure (Shaw's real wife) is wasted in a nothing part as Mrs Custer (she doesn't have that much on screen chemistry with her husband).
Its a haphazard mess and really annoyed me as a film.
No comments:
Post a Comment