I had a copy of this marked as a TV movie. What it is turns out to be a theatrical release of edited episodes released by 20th Century Fox to theaters, and by watching it you get the gist of what the TV series would have been like. This was during the time of lots of popular westerns like "Bonanza" and "The Big Valley" on TV, and a dozen big budgeted Westerns on the big screen and more than several dozen programmers released to neighborhood theaters and quickly forgotten. Most were fictional, others based on fact, but coming from Hollywood, you take it with a grain of salt and research to see what is true and what is fictional, or a better word for it, as with this one, made-up nonsense.
Looking like John Schneider from "The Dukes of Hazard", Wayne Maunder is the sexiest George Armstrong Custer that I've ever seen, and he's also quite commanding. In other words, made-up nonsense. "You're too sure of yourself. Too much your own man", his commanding officer (Robert F. Simon) tells him, with Custer having been reinstated after a court martial for desertion, and indeed, Custer is much hated when he takes over his new regiment. One of the men he gets into a squabble with is Peter Palmer, aka the original Lil' Abner, not singing it out here.
There's also Slim Pickens, Mary Ann Mobley and Michael Dante as Custer's main rival, Chief Crazy Horse, speaking white man's English as if he was a college graduate. Completely cheesy as a film, and a big tall tale as far as a history lesson. There have been better movies about Custer where he was either the lead or supporting character and even an allegory of what would have happened had he lived as a TV play a few years later. Mauder never captures the essence of Custer that history has recorded him to be, and a sympathetic Custer is not a realistic Custer. Interesting for its production values, but definitely one of the lamest historical westerns based on a legend ever made, as pointless as a compilation show the TV series edited down for theater release. Someone at the studio was trying to save face, giving this a second life and ended up coming out looking like Custer after the big battle.
Looking like John Schneider from "The Dukes of Hazard", Wayne Maunder is the sexiest George Armstrong Custer that I've ever seen, and he's also quite commanding. In other words, made-up nonsense. "You're too sure of yourself. Too much your own man", his commanding officer (Robert F. Simon) tells him, with Custer having been reinstated after a court martial for desertion, and indeed, Custer is much hated when he takes over his new regiment. One of the men he gets into a squabble with is Peter Palmer, aka the original Lil' Abner, not singing it out here.
There's also Slim Pickens, Mary Ann Mobley and Michael Dante as Custer's main rival, Chief Crazy Horse, speaking white man's English as if he was a college graduate. Completely cheesy as a film, and a big tall tale as far as a history lesson. There have been better movies about Custer where he was either the lead or supporting character and even an allegory of what would have happened had he lived as a TV play a few years later. Mauder never captures the essence of Custer that history has recorded him to be, and a sympathetic Custer is not a realistic Custer. Interesting for its production values, but definitely one of the lamest historical westerns based on a legend ever made, as pointless as a compilation show the TV series edited down for theater release. Someone at the studio was trying to save face, giving this a second life and ended up coming out looking like Custer after the big battle.