ABSTRACT
The fi lm (directed by Raoul Walsh) opens when George Armstrong Custer arrives at West Point in 1857 as a brash, conceited scorner of all military rules and regulations. He achieves a truly terrible academic record but excels in horsemanship and cavalry tactics. He meets and falls in love with Elizabeth “Libby” Bacon (Olivia de Havilland) whom he marries and who becomes the chief propagandist of his “legend” after his death. After achieving victory and glory in several battles during the Civil War, he chafes against civilian life and refuses to participate in a shady stock deal conjured up by one Romulus Taipe (Stanley Ridges), a corrupt offi cer turned corrupt politician who is assisted by another corrupt offi cer, a former West Point classmate of Custer’s: Ned Sharp (Arthur Kennedy). Both will soon cross paths with Custer again over a railroad scheme in the Black Hills, including luring settlers to the area with the claim that gold can be found there. Custer, recalled to duty, is sent west to create the 7th Cavalry and to break the resistance of tribes such as the Sioux.
