They Died with Their Boots On

1941 film

The film is frequently confused with Michael Curtiz's Santa Fe Trail, released the previous year, in which Flynn portrayed Jeb Stuart and Ronald Reagan played Custer, also featuring Olivia de Havilland as Flynn's leading lady. Three men were killed during the filming. One fell from a horse and broke his neck. Another stuntman had a heart attack. The third, actor Jack Budlong, insisted on using a real saber to lead a cavalry charge under artillery fire. When an explosive charge sent him flying off his horse, he landed on his sword, impaling himself. In September 1941, during filming, Flynn collapsed from exhaustion. Jim Thorpe, who appears as an uncredited Native American warrior, reportedly had an off camera fight with Errol Flynn, knocking him out with one punch. The film reunited Gone With The Wind (1939) cast members Olivia de Havilland and Hattie McDaniel. De Havilland appeared in this film while simultaneously making The Male Animal (1942) starring Henry Fonda, putting the actress under enormous pressure from a heavy workload.

While the rest of the film was shot in locations in southern California, the filmmakers had hoped to capture this climactic sequence near the actual location of the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Owing to scheduling and budget constraints, however, the finale of the film was relegated to a rural area outside Los Angeles. The film shows Custer leading his troops in a saber charge, in the course of which they are surrounded and Custer, being the last man alive, is killed. In reality, the men had boxed their sabers and sent them to the rear before the battle; site evidence, along with some Native American accounts, indicates that Custer may have been among the first to die. He is also shown during the battle with his trademark long hair when, in reality, he had cut it short just prior to the Little Bighorn campaign. Several members of Custer's family (his brothers Thomas and Boston, his brother in law James Calhoun and nephew Henry Reed) also died in the battle, but aren't depicted in the drama. Crazy Horse, played by Anthony Quinn, is the only individualized Native American appearing in scenes and represents the "Red Man", whose lifestyle is rapidly coming to an end. Quinn is one of the few actors of indigenous American descent in the film. Only 16 of the extras used were Sioux. The rest of the Native American warriors were mostly portrayed by Filipino extras.

The film score was composed by Max Steiner. He adapted George Armstrong Custer's favorite song, "Garryowen", for use in the score. Custer knew the song while he was at West Point, where he is said to have performed it in a talent show. In the film, however, Custer hears the song for the first time being played on a piano by former English soldier, now a U. S. Army officer, Lt. "Queen's Own" Butler. This connection is apocryphal. It is actually a traditional Irish drinking song, much beloved by the cavalry for its galloping rhythm. Warner Brothers recycled some of the film's music, and variations of it can be heard in Silver River and Rocky Mountain, both starring Errol Flynn, and The Searchers starring John Wayne.

According to Alex von Tunzelmann, writing for The Guardian in 2009, "More errors riddle this biopic of General Custer than bullets flew at the Battle of Little Big Horn".

They Died with Their Boots On grossed $1,871,000 in the United States and $2,143,000 overseas. Its total receipts of $4,014,000 was the studio's third largest of the season.

Like Errol Flynn's earlier film Sea Hawk, They Died With Their Boots On was colorized in the late 1980s. This version was released on VHS tape in 1998 by Turner Entertainment and Warner Bros. Entertainment. The original black and white film was released on DVD in 2005 by Turner Entertainment and Warner Bros. Entertainment.