Yes, I know the disclaimer in the opening credits says there is no relationship between the film characters and events and real persons and events, but I think such disclaimers in films that obviously portray real persons are a cheap cop-out.
This screenplay is so badly written it should be in the comedy genre. We begin by transplanting the northern plains to the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where we find Ft. Lincoln about a day's ride from the Little Big Horn battle site.
As was the cavalry custom back then, forts are left almost entirely deserted when the troops go into the field. When Capt. Benson enters the fort, he finds Capt. Reynold's widow, who apparently read the Indians' wire report on the teletype immediately after the battle, for she knew all the details even before the surviving cavalry returned from the battlefield.
The returning survivors include Harry Carey, Jr. playing bugler John Martin, who in reality was immigrant Giovanni Martini, who the real Capt. Benteen complained could barely speak English.
For the sake of the film, the battle inquiry takes place a couple of days afterward rather than the several years in real life. Benson volunteers to lead the burial detail after the inquiry. On the ride to the battlefield he engages in hand-to-hand combat with a white man dressed as an Indian. You see, the Indians decided they enjoyed the Sierra Nevada, er, the Big Horn area and wanted to stay. Surely the U.S Army would leave them in peace now that they had massacred several companies of cavalry. (In reality they fled post-haste.)
Upon arriving at the battlefield, instead of finding naked and mutilated bodies as at the real battle site, Benson finds the Indians have thoughtfully prepared a Forest Lawn Cemetery.
Sorry, I just can't go on further.
This screenplay is so badly written it should be in the comedy genre. We begin by transplanting the northern plains to the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where we find Ft. Lincoln about a day's ride from the Little Big Horn battle site.
As was the cavalry custom back then, forts are left almost entirely deserted when the troops go into the field. When Capt. Benson enters the fort, he finds Capt. Reynold's widow, who apparently read the Indians' wire report on the teletype immediately after the battle, for she knew all the details even before the surviving cavalry returned from the battlefield.
The returning survivors include Harry Carey, Jr. playing bugler John Martin, who in reality was immigrant Giovanni Martini, who the real Capt. Benteen complained could barely speak English.
For the sake of the film, the battle inquiry takes place a couple of days afterward rather than the several years in real life. Benson volunteers to lead the burial detail after the inquiry. On the ride to the battlefield he engages in hand-to-hand combat with a white man dressed as an Indian. You see, the Indians decided they enjoyed the Sierra Nevada, er, the Big Horn area and wanted to stay. Surely the U.S Army would leave them in peace now that they had massacred several companies of cavalry. (In reality they fled post-haste.)
Upon arriving at the battlefield, instead of finding naked and mutilated bodies as at the real battle site, Benson finds the Indians have thoughtfully prepared a Forest Lawn Cemetery.
Sorry, I just can't go on further.