Custer of the West Reviews

This film hints at being a successful epic but is ultimately just a modest biography of Civil War general George Custer. Originally to have been directed by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa (THE SEVEN SAMURAI), it was unfortunately helmed in a cheap, bloodless manner in Spain. Shaw coarsely portrays the fork-tongued legend who pushes the Cheyenne Indians to the breaking point. (In reality, it was the Sioux.) Nothing new is learned this time around, but we are treated to fine performances by Shaw and by Robert Ryan in a cameo as a gold-obsessed deserter. The Cinerama technique is exploited in an otherwise standard arrow barrage which highlights the general's last stand. The Spanish landscape is picturesque, but it's not quite the Remington West. Songs include: "Marching Song," "Maxwell House," "Heroes Die" (Segall, Holt), and "Follow Custer" (Segall, Shaw).