Little Big Horn

Cuckolded Cavalry officer Lloyd Bridges forces his wife's lover, fellow Calvaryman John Ireland, to accompany him and his troop on a suicide mission to intercept General Custer on his way to the Little Big Horn and warn him of the impending ambush by the Souix forces amassing against him.

What could have been corny and silly is instead made believable and compelling, thanks in part to some good interplay between Bridges and Ireland, with Bridges hell-bent on performing his duty to the greater good, while Ireland sees the futility of the mission and not being content with needlessly sacrificing men for a lost cause.

Although low-budget, this is well made in all departments. A great cast of actors and a well-written script do a good job of making the characters and situations three-dimensional and realistic.

The large amount of violence and death also helps set this apart from other early-fifties westerns. There's no cheap heroics here either.

Writing and acting! Acting and writing! Like another great little "Custer" film "Bugles in the Afternoon!" starring Ray Milland (and LBH's Sheb Wooley playing Custer!), the acting and dialog in this Cavalry classic is top notch. Everything just clicks making this film look as good as any classic Western with a much bigger budget.

The soundtrack is interesting. The "On the Little Big Horn! 1876!" sung by a chorus rings out loud and clear in the opening credits and sets the mood for the story. Must have been a thrill to the Saturday matinée kid cowboy crowd. It certainly adds to "larger than life" mood of this film.

The writers, by setting up this film with the well known history of the Custer defeat (or is it the Native American victory) at the Little Big Horn as a backdrop, helps make your imagination do what the well spent but inexpensive budget doesn't! (It is almost like a radio play in that way.) With the descriptions of sighting of thousands of Souix by the patrols in this film, you feel the intensity and importance of the mission. Also the suspense created by knowing there are a lot of Indians out there and the "Heart of Darkness" atmosphere as the troop advances further and further into Indian territory gives the ambushes that happen the right kind of life and death dynamic.

The story line is not that improbable. Gen. Crook, who had met in the Battle of the Rosebud just some of the Souix that would engage Custer a week or so later, did think of continuing with what was left of his command or some troopers to Custer and Terry to inform them of what happened. It didn't happen however. Still, the mission of trying to deliver a message at all costs to Custer gives this film the needed dynamic it requires.

Major or soon to be major actors give performances here that both their earlier and later "high budget" careers only enhance. The leads Lloyd Bridges (High Noon!, Sea Hunt, Hot Shots) and John Ireland (Red River, Spartacus, A Walk in the Sun) and supporting actors like the memorable King Donavan (Invasion of the Body Snatchers), the good spirited Wally Cassell (Sands of Iwo Jima), Jim Davis (Dallas!), newcomer Hugh O'Brien (TV's Wyatt Earp), Mr. beautiful baritone Reed Hadley, known for his narrations of Hollywood films (Guadalcanal Diary) and those Atomic Bomb documentaries by the US government plus all the rest of this ensemble do an outstanding job.

Bridges and Ireland are perfect as the hard nosed commander and the sympathetic Lt. always in conflict with each other. The film moves along without any real slow spots. It has good cinematography.

It has good production values and the good writing that make it seem like a bigger film than it really is. It has that "film noir" mood that never would have worked as well in color either. It is really a western that stimulates your imagination!

Many Kudos for this classic!

Viewed "Little Big Horn" tonight for the first time in over 40 years. Growing up in New York in the late 1950's and early sixties the movie stations to watch were Channel 9 (WOR) an Channel 11 (WPIX). Seems like after baseball or basketball practice or on weekends there was always a movie to watch on one of these stations.I remember quite well those which we always talked about the next day and would watch over and over. "Little Big Horn" was one that we watched over and over. Others were Yankee Doodle Dandy", "The Steel Helmet", and "The Great John L". Never understood then why we enjoyed these movies but we did. Watching "Little Big Horn" tonight told me why. A great story line and outstanding acting, pure and simple.Each character is developed and the story line never fails to surprise although the final outcome is known by every student of history. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie as much as I did 40 years ago except that I now have an understanding of why this particular movie has stood the test of time. Highly Recommended!

This western from B picture studio Lippert Productions is one of the best films to come from that small budget outfit. If you're expecting a telling of the defeat of General Custer by the Sioux and Cheyenne at Little Big Horn that would require a far bigger budget than Lippert ever spent on its films.

What this story is about is a small patrol headed by Captain Lloyd Bridges and Lieutenant John Ireland who hear of the big four figure number Indian war party out to meet Custer and they ride hard to try to warn him. A daunting task under normal circumstances.

But these circumstances are far from normal. Lloyd Bridges is married to Marie Windsor who's been two timing Lloyd with Ireland. And everyone knows about it especially those on the patrol and the men are taking sides as well. Doesn't make for a good command structure to say the least. They've even got a sergeant major along in the person of Reed Hadley who thinks he could do better than both of them. He was an officer in the Civil War, but it was one of those brevet promotions and when the army shrunk after the war, Hadley like thousands of others was reduced in rank if he wanted to stay in the army. If you'll recall that happened to both the Henry Fonda and Ward Bond characters in the John Ford classic Fort Apache.

Some others on the patrol include Wally Cassell, Rod Redwing, Jim Davis, and Hugh O'Brian and these guys would not be at home in John Ford's conception of the cavalry. Still they go on this mission which they know may be sheer futility.

In its slightly less than 90 minute running time Little Big Horn gave us lots of action and some of it not for the Saturday matinée kiddie crowd and some finely etched character studies. Since they don't make B westerns any more we can really say they don't make them like that any more. But Little Big Horn is a great example of how to make a good B western.

Perhaps the finest film to come from 'quickie' producer Lippert, this grim story of a band of calvary attempting to warn Custer holds up well after almost 50 years. Outstanding performances by a great supporting cast over-shadow what must have been a miniscule budget. Although the film claims to be based on a true incident, the curator of the Custer Battlefield Monument denies such an occurrence. Nonetheless, if you can find this one on video(not likely)or on the late show, it is well worth while.