''Custer's Last Stand'' is a 1936 American
film serial
A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, gene ...
based on the historical
Custer's Last Stand
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Nor ...
at the
Little Bighorn River. It was directed by Elmer Clifton, and starred Rex Lease, William Farnum and Jack Mulhall. It was produced by the
Poverty Row
Poverty Row is a slang term used to refer to Hollywood films produced from the 1920s to the 1950s by small (and mostly short-lived) B movie studios. Although many of them were based on (or near) today's Gower Street in Hollywood, the term did ...
studio Stage & Screen Productions, which went bust shortly afterwards as a victim of the
Great Depression. This serial stars many famous and popular
B-Western actors as well as silent serial star
Helen Gibson
Helen Gibson (born Rose August Wegner; August 27, 1892 – October 10, 1977) was an American film actress, vaudeville performer, radio performer, film producer, trick rider, and rodeo performer; and is considered to be the first American profes ...
playing Calamity Jane, Frank McGlynn Jr. as General Custer, and Allen Greer as Wild Bill Hickok.
In April of the same year, the serial was edited into an 84-minute feature film, which was released under the same name.
Plot overview
The serial follows multiple plot threads, centering on a ''Medicine Arrow'' taken in battle and a secret gold mine, in the lead up to the
Battle of Little Big Horn
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Nor ...
.
Cast
*
Rex Lease
Rex Lloyd Lease (February 11, 1903 – January 3, 1966) was an American actor. He appeared in over 300 films, mainly in Poverty Row westerns.
Biography
Lease arrived in Hollywood in 1924. He found bit and supporting parts at Film Booking ...
as Kit Cardigan and his father John C. Cardigan
*
Lona Andre
Lona Andre (born Launa Anderson; March 2, 1915 – September 18, 1992) was an American film actress, golfer, and businesswoman.
Biography
Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Andre attracted attention with her first films in Hollywood and was named ...
as Belle Meade
*
William Farnum
William Farnum (July 4, 1876 – June 5, 1953) was an American actor. He was a star of American silent film cinema and became one of the highest-paid actors during that time.
Biography
Farnum was born on July 4, 1876, in Boston, Massachus ...
as James Fitzpatrick
*
Ruth Mix as Elizabeth Custer
*
Jack Mulhall
John Joseph Francis Mulhall (October 7, 1887 – June 1, 1979) was an American film actor beginning in the silent film era who successfully transitioned to sound films, appearing in over 430 films in a career spanning 50 years.
Early years
Mu ...
as Lieutenant Cook
*
Nancy Caswell
Nancy Caswell (October 28, 1913 – February 2, 1987) was an American child actress of the silent era and later as an adult in talkies, including a Three Stooges work. As a baby she was proclaimed the "perfect baby" and was the youngest actre ...
as Barbara Trent
*
George Chesebro
George Newell Chesebro (July 29, 1888 – May 28, 1959) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 400 films between 1915 and 1954. He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and died in Los Angeles, California.
Partial filmography
* ''Mi ...
as Lieutenant Frank Roberts
*
Dorothy Gulliver
Dorothy Kathleen Gulliver (September 6, 1908 – May 23, 1997) was an American silent film actress, and one of the few to make a successful transition when films began using sound.
Biography
The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Gulliver, she w ...
as Red Fawn
*Frank McGlynn Jr. as
General George A. Custer
*
Helen Gibson
Helen Gibson (born Rose August Wegner; August 27, 1892 – October 10, 1977) was an American film actress, vaudeville performer, radio performer, film producer, trick rider, and rodeo performer; and is considered to be the first American profes ...
as
Calamity Jane
Martha Jane Cannary (May 1, 1852 – August 1, 1903), better known as Calamity Jane, was an American frontierswoman, sharpshooter, and storyteller. In addition to many exploits she was known for being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok. Late ...
*
Josef Swickard
Josef Swickard (26 June 1866 – 1 March 1940) was a Prussian-born veteran stage and screen character actor, who had toured with stock companies in Europe, South Africa, and South America.
Career
Swickard emigrated to the United States from Ge ...
as Major Henry Trent, MD
*
Chief Thundercloud
Victor Daniels (April 12, 1899 – December 1, 1955), known professionally as Chief Thundercloud, was an American character actor in Westerns. He is noted for being the first actor to play the role of Tonto, the Lone Ranger's Native-Americ ...
as Young Wolf
*
Allen Greer
Allen James Greer was an officer in the United States Army who received the Medal of Honor for actions near Majada, Laguna Province, Philippines, July 2, 1901. He was chief of staff of the 92nd Division during World War 1.
Military career
Med ...
as
Wild Bill Hickok
James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837August 2, 1876), better known as "Wild Bill" Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West known for his life on the frontier as a soldier, scout, lawman, gambler, showman, and actor, and for his involvemen ...
*High Eagle as
Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse ( lkt, Tȟašúŋke Witkó, italic=no, , ; 1840 – September 5, 1877) was a Lakota war leader of the Oglala band in the 19th century. He took up arms against the United States federal government to fight against encroachment by ...
*Howling Wolf as
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull ( lkt, Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake ; December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against United States government policies. He was killed by Indian agency police on the Standing Roc ...
Production
Commenting on the plot, Cline notes that this serial contains several historical characters in a purely fictitious setting. "The story rambled through a series of loosely connected plots and sub plots" leading to Little Big Horn.
Stunts
*
Yakima Canutt
Enos Edward "Yakima" Canutt (November 29, 1895 – May 24, 1986) was an American champion rodeo rider, actor, stuntman, and action director. He developed many stunts for films and the techniques and technology to protect stuntmen in performing t ...
*Ken Cooper
*
Carl Mathews
Carl Mathews (February 19, 1903 – May 3, 1959), also sometimes credited as Carl Matthews, was an American character actor and stuntman of the 1930s through 1950s. Born on February 19, 1903 in Oklahoma, his first film role would be in '' Rough ...
*Mabel Strickland (riding double)
*Wally West
Release
Theatrical
Custer's Last Stand was well received by action fans, regardless of its historical inaccuracies.
Chapter titles
# Perils of the Plains
# Thundering Hoofs
">ic# Fires of Vengeance
# The Ghost Dancers
# Trapped
# Human Wolves
# Demons of Disaster
# White Treachery
# Circle of Death
# Flaming Arrow
# Warpath
# Firing Squad
# Red Panthers
# Custer's Last Ride
# The Last Stand
Source:
See also
*
List of film serials
A list of film serials by year of release.
1910s
1920s
1930s
Films still exist from this point on unless noted otherwise:
1940s
1950s
See also
* Serial (film)
* List of film serials by studio
References
{{reflist
External linksSeri ...
by year
*
List of film serials by studio
This is a list of film serials by studio, separated into those released by each of the five major studios, and the remaining minor studios.
The five major studios produced the greater number of serials. Of these the main studios are consider ...
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Custer's Last Stand (Serial)
1936 films
1936 Western (genre) films
1930s independent films
American Indian Wars films
American Western (genre) films
American black-and-white films
1930s English-language films
Films directed by Elmer Clifton
Film serials
Films set in 1876
American independent films
Battle of the Little Bighorn
Cultural depictions of George Armstrong Custer
Cultural depictions of Sitting Bull
Cultural depictions of Wild Bill Hickok
Cultural depictions of Crazy Horse
Cultural depictions of Calamity Jane
Films about Native Americans
1930s American films