Custer of the West
by Robert Siodmak
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Jeffrey Hunter, Lawrence Tierney, Mary Ure, Robert Shaw, Ty HardinDirector: Robert Siodmak
Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT
Cinematographer: Cecilio Paniagua
Editor: Maurice Rootes
Producer: Irving Lerner
Producer: Louis Dolivet
Producer: Philip Yordan
Writer: Bernard Gordon
Writer: Julian Zimet
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 143 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-05-25
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of Custer of the West
Movie Review: So, so, movie but still in the correct ratio (2.2:1)
Summary: 5 Stars
I wouldn't bother to review this picture if it hadn't been for the "alarmists" around here, who claim that the picture has been cropped down to 1.85:1 (and this has to be assumed, when reading the back of the MGM/UA sleeve).
IT IS A TYPO! (Illiterate printers?)
IT IS SIMPLY NOT TRUE AND THIS IS WHY...
The picture was filmed in the "bastardized" Cinerama format, which at one time was spectacular in scope and as we know from "How the West Was Won" (just recently reissued in a cleaned up and digitalized format) and "The Fabulous Adventures of the Brothers Grimm", was that famous three camera process that should have emulated "what the eye sees" (a sort of expanded 3D, but without the need of special spectacles), and corresponded to about 2.90:1 (HTWWW is in 2.89:1 now).
The "bastardized" version of Cinerama came after 1965 and was a fraud in terms, since only the name remained but in fact was just a feeble version of CinemaScope (2.35:1).
That particular format came in two frame ratios, depending on the kind of film and camera used. One was in 2.2:1, which clearly corresponded to a Todd-AO format, and the other was slightly bigger than CinemaScope and was at 2.4:1 (which is today's Panavision standard).
I have compared my videotape version of the movie of some years ago, released by ANCHOR BAY, and it was in the right ratio of 2.2:1 (even specified by the releasing company itself).
I watched them both on my 16:9 widescreen LCD TV simultaneously, and guess what?
There is absolutely no difference.
Both Anchor Bay's version and the present MGM/UA release (which is actually nothing more than the original transfer by ARTISAN, just in a different packaging and logo) are in the correct ratio.
Compared to the VHS tape there is an obvious improvement in sharpness and brighter colors. Alas, the sound is not up to par, and there is certainly a way one could improve that, but even so, it is not too bad.
There are though some artifacts that stand out, but only in scenes where there's lots of movement and therefore barely noticeable to the eye (unless one sits two inches from the screen).
Even though as a movie it is not really the greatest movie about this subject ever made (if you want a better one, you have to go back to the Errol Flynn version called "They Died with Their Boots On"), it still stands out for performers like Robert Shaw, Jeffrey Hunter and Robert Ryan.
It is still watchable and could be taken as a treatment comparison piece to the above mentioned Errol Flynn version.
It is entertaining though, and yet not really something for the accurate historian.
It's a Western, for Heaven's sake! Enjoy it as such and have a laughter afterwards...
Summary of Custer of the West
From decorated war hero to doomed commander, General George Armstrong Custer is brilliantly portrayed by Robert Shaw (Jaws, The Sting) in this stunning, "giant spectacle of a film" (Motion Picture Herald). With an all-star cast that includes Jeffrey Hunter and Robert Ryan, thisepic adventure vividly chronicles the rise and fall of this larger-than-life legend! Afterhis triumphs in the Civil War, General Custer becomes one of the most renowned military figures of his time. But he infuriates as many people as he impresses never more so than in the days leading upto the Battle of Little Bighorn, where his sense of pride overshadows his dedication to duty with disastrous consequences.General George Armstrong Custer has been portrayed as everything from a vain but ultimately honorable hero (Errol Flynn in They Died with Their Boots On) to an insane, pompous incompetent (Richard Mulligan in the biting Little Big Man), but few have attempted an ambitious look at the man in all his contradictions. Robert Siodmak's Custer of the West, his final American production, attempts the task with fine results, portraying the career soldier as a pragmatist, a disciplinarian with a bullying streak, a loner, and ultimately an Old World romantic in the modern age. Robert Shaw gives the role a regal bearing (though his continental accent keeps drifting in) and a sense of dignity, depicting a man who ironically identifies more with the Indians than with the U.S. Army. Jeffrey Hunter and Ty Hardin costar as his battling junior officers and Robert Ryan is memorable in a brief appearance as a gold-mining deserter. Shooting in handsome widescreen and vivid Technicolor, Siodmak makes his outdoor settings come alive and nimbly handles the many action scenes, most notably a chase that sends an escaping soldier whooshing down a log water chute like a Disney ride. Siodmak's sweeping visuals deliver both grand images and ironic counterpoint, but ultimately Custer of the West eschews the heroism of Hollywood adventures for a portrait of the corrupt state of the American military and one man's hopeless fight against it. --Sean Axmaker
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