Americas 250th Birthday Cinemathon #29: Son of the Morning Star (1991)

 

I’ve actually already written a review of this one, so this is a revised version with a little more to it. Son of the Morning Star is a two-part TV adaptation of Evan S. Connell's non-fiction book of the same name. The title is one of the Cheyenne names for Colonel George Custer, who led a daytime assault on their camp on the Washita River. I was originally drawn to this film after watching the heavily inaccurate Errol Flynn as Custer flick They Died with Their Boots On. Unfortunately the mini-series (which did not perform to expectations) has still not received a cleaned up DVD or streaming release, so I had to watch a VHS rip on Youtube (yes, it's completely free, albeit with some ad breaks). While the picture quality is fuzzy, I have to say that I was very pleased with this "movie" and feel that it deserves more attention for being the most accurate coverage of Custer and Little Bighorn. I’ve even rewatched it twice.

George Armstrong Custer literally joined the American Civil War out of West Point. His audacious bravery propelled his career, and he ended the war as both a brevet general of volunteers and one of General Phil Sheridan’s favorites. With the army shrinking, he was shunted down to the rank of colonel (a common problem for many who earned extra start leading volunteers in the Civil War) and was sent out West to deal several Indian wars. Custer’s vanity and recklessness often got him into hot water with his superiors, but it was his last stand and death at the Little Bighorn that ensured he would be remembered for all of American history.

Son of the Morning Star's screen adaptation is split into two parts. The first part starts in 1866 and goes up to the early 1870s. It establishes Custer (Gary Cole) as a contradictory man. For example, he is very harsh towards deserters, but practically abandons his regiment when he hears that his wife Libby (Rosanna Arquette) is sick. He also pulls off a brutal assault on the Cheyennes at Washita River (where many women and children were killed) but is then shown to be criticizing the government for abusing Indians on the newly created reservations. He furthermore starts to have friendly relations with the Army’s Indian scouts. Overall Son of the Morning Star portrays Custer in a thankfully balanced light, with both his strengths and flaws. He's brave, a loving husband, and grows to show some form of respect for the Natives who his country is trying to forcefully dispossess, yet he's also egotistical, doesn't know when to deploy his criticisms of superiors, and can also be cruel when focused on victory.  This is not the romanticized swashbuckler of They Died with Their Boots On and Custer of the West, nor the bloodthirsty and somewhat idiotic butcher of Little Big Man and, more hilariously, Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian.

One of the more fascinating aspects of this mini-series is that it covers Custer's oft-tense relationships with both his superiors and subordinates. We get to see Grant-Sherman-Sheridan trio, and much more than in any of the Civil War films I watched. Ulysses Grant (Stanley Anderson) starts off the film as the first-ranked general, then becomes the president, which further strains relations with Custer when the colonel questions his administration's integrity. Phil Sheridan (Dean Stockwell) is accurately depicted as Custer's staunchest ally. The mini-series also has Sherman back up Sheridan in getting Custer put back in command on two different occasions. On the second occasion it was felt he would be one of the best choices to bring the Sioux to heel. Per a treaty, the Sioux were entitled to the Black Hills in what is now South Dakota. Gold was discovered there during a financial crisis, however. Though he had pursued a more peaceful method of dealing with the Indians, President Grant succumbed to pressure and broke the treaty, trying to acquire the gold in the hills for the United States. The Sioux, along with Cheyenne and Arapaho allies, gathered for war in Montana while several Army columns attempted to entrap them.

Crazy Horse (Rodney Grant) is not happy with miners and soldiers encroaching on his peoples' land.

One problem with many films about the Battle of Little Bighorn is that Custer’s subordinates in the 7^th Cavalry were often removed. This is head-scratching, as the largest controversies around the battle involved the commanders of the other attack wings. In fact, Custer’s devoted wife Lizzie helped spark the belief that Custer was grievously failed by the surviving officers, and conspiracy theories emerged that Custer was set up to fail because of tensions with superiors and subordinates alike. One of the subordinates is Frederic Benteen (David Strathairn). Benteen is the competent voice, questioning Custer's more controversial decisions and successfully fending off an assault during the final battle. I do have to say that the real Benteen had a critical and argumentative nature, so his views of Custer were not always justified. Marcus Reno (Michael Medeiros) arrive late in the mini-series and is contrasted with Benteen. He is shown as an incompetent who helps turn Little Bighorn into a disaster when he loses his nerve. Actually, historians believe he was drunk, but the mini-series doesn’t show this.

Benteen (David Strathairn) on the right, with Thomas Weir (Robert Schenkkan)

Though Son of the Morning Star is made up of real historical figures, it still had to excise a few to simplify the narrative and this is most apparent among the rest of Custer’s subordinates. Custer had two brothers and a brother-in-law in the 7^th Cavalry, but Thomas Custer (Tim Ransom) pretty much is the only one to be a character. This makes sense since as a two-time Medal of Honor winner he was the most notable of the bunch. Thomas Custer and brother-in-law James Calhoun do appear in a dinner scene, but with no dialogue. Custer’s clique is rounded out by William W. Cooke (Edward Blatchford), his adjutant and good friend. Thomas Weir (Robert Schenkkan) is a more minor character, but does get his true-to-life moment where he disobeyed orders in an attempt to rescue Custer on Last Stand Hill, only to be blocked and thrown back by overwhelming Indian warriors. Most notable by his absence is Myles Keogh. Keogh led his own fierce little stand in the battle’s closing moments and was the only officer whose corpse escaped mutilation (one theory is the Sioux and Cheyenne were so impressed with his bravery that they left his body alone out of respect). His horse Comanche is also the only proven survivor of the American forces on Last Stand Hill.

Libby Custer (Roseanna Arquette)

To compensate for time-skips (the movie takes place across ten years) and provide context, Son of the Morning Star employs two female narrators. My one main criticism of the mini-series is that these two voices constantly narrate the first 20 or so minutes in a big exposition dump. I understand that they were trying to set everything up without filming another hour of material, but it does give off a lazy storytelling vibe. Thankfully the narration is better employed after the opening stretch.  Libby Custer is the first of the two narrators, providing a pro-Custer view and providing more insights into the man's personality. Kate Big Head (Buffy Saint-Marie, who’s recently been outed as a phony Native American) gives us the Indian perspective. Kate Bighead was a Cheyenne who witnessed the Battle of the Little Bighorn among other events involving Custer and the Plains Indian Wars. The mini-series in general shows all the Indians speaking their native language and without subtitles, so she's essential for laying out their viewpoints and characters.

Aside from Kate Bighead, the most prominent Indian characters are Crazy Horse (Rodney Grant) and Bloody Knife (Sheldon Wolfchild). Despite having almost no lines and none in English, Rodney Grant is able to give Crazy Horse a good dose of charisma. He’s something of a reflection of Custer. He’s seemingly impervious to personal harm in battle and suffers no major military defeats, but then receives a dramatically tragic death. Bloody Knife was a half-Arikara scout for Custer with a personal vendetta against the Sioux (particularly Chief Gall). He was the son of a captive Arikara mother and bullied by the full-bred Sioux children. In Morning Star he shows Custer’s evolving views on the Indians as he becomes his most favored scout. There’s even something of a friendship developing between them.

The second part of the mini-series centers on the build-up to and battle of Little Bighorn. The final battle is the most accurate depiction of the event, though still simplified in places. While many Custer films simply show the Indians surrounding and massacring the men, this mini-series shows how the 7th Cavalry split up, with Reno attacking the camp from the south while Custer led the main thrust from the east. During this Benteen was sent on a long sweep that effectively rendered his column unable to participate in the main action. In the real battle Custer actually divided his force again, but this was cut for simplicity's sake. The fighting itself is great, and it's fascinating seeing how the cavalry's two-pronged attack turned into an encirclement and massacre without turning Custer into a complete idiot. Previously the Sioux and Cheyenne would scatter if attacked in order to conserve numbers, but on this day they chose to make a stand. The final battle also gets across the violence and horror of an Indian Wars fight (and massacre) in spite of television network restrictions.

Overall, Son of the Morning Star is the most accurate filmed depiction of Custer and the Battle of Little Bighorn. Fans of history, especially of the period, will probably love it. The actors do a good job of representing the historical figures, the climactic battle is thrilling, and the musical score is not too bad (if a little repetitious at points). It's a shame that many have somehow forgotten this mini-series' existence and it's doubtful it will get a proper, cleaned-up DVD or Blu-Ray release. Until then, here's a link to the full movie on Youtube.

Rating: 8/10

Likely because it never got beyond VHS, there's not really any clips from Youtube. Here's Red Cloud's sole scene, and, for those who don't care to watch all three hours, here's the Battle of Little Bighorn in isolation.