One of the most beautiful and touching films where marriage and family is the central subtext is They Died with Their Boots On (1941), a fanciful retelling of the George Armstrong Custer legend starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland.
The screenplay is by Æneas MacKenzie,Wally Kline, and Lenore J. Coffee.
Just before he goes off to the Indian wars, Custer turns to his wife Libby and says: “Walking through life with you, ma’am, has been a very gracious thing.”
Most screenwriters fall back on, “I love you.” Which is just plain lazy, and to this screenwriter, a declaration that should never be uttered if love is the subject of the scene.
Notice the formal use of ma’am. The word gracious is pure genius.
The sentence is almost Shakespearian.
With this final goodbye, Custer/Flynn rides off to to his fate at the Little Bighorn. Libby/de Havilland leans against the wall, and then slumps to the floor in a classic Hollywood faint.
Audiences at the time, women and men, wept aloud at this display of marital loyalty and affection… traits that might seem quaint, if not downright regressive and patriarchal, to a postmodern audience.
But America and Hollywood were, just a month after the film’s release, at war. And this heartbreaking scene between George and Libby Custer was all too soon enacted daily by millions of American men and women.
I saw this movie years ago, and I liked it. One of the scenes I remember most vividly was when Custer creates the regimental song “Garry Owen” (originally a rowdy old Irish drinking song). Custer feels a regimental song is an important part of creating the soul of a regiment that lives on forever, even as its members die. I don’t know if there is a connection, but I recall this same idea introduced into the great WW-2 movie “633 Squadron” in which, after the Squadron is lost during an important raid, a top RAF commander observes that “you can’t kill a squadron.” Did the writers of “633 Squadron” borrow this idea?
Custer is a fascinating figure. Graduating last in his class in West Point, he nevertheless made a name for himself as a daring and intelligent Civil War officer. He also distinguished himself during the Indian Wars (except during the controversial dissertation incident to see his wife), and he has gone on to be a victim of the growing self-hatred anti-American movement in Hollywood: the portrayal of Custer as a vainglorious buffoon in “Little Big Man” is one example of that.
Custuer’s wife, Elizabeth, endured the hardships of the frontier and after her husband’s death went on promote his memory; the iconic and heroic image of “Custer’s Last Stand” was due in large part to her efforts. She never remarried and died in 1933.
Finally, a comment about that bit of dialogue you quote: “Walking through life with you, ma’am, has been a very gracious thing.” I thought that screenwriters were supposed to write like people talked. Remember that line from “The Last Tycoon” (1976) where the De Niro character, a movie producer, goes into a fit because the actors in a scene are not talking like people talk in real life. This “Walking through life” line, however, didn’t strike me as out-of-place when I saw the movie; it worked for me. Now, I’m wondering if good movie dialogue shouldn’t always be realistic.
Indeed, what you say about that line is credible; it does seem like a great line. But I also fear that, if you had called it corny, I would have believed that too. Now that you’ve put this idea into my head, I don’t know if I can ever think objectively as to whether it’s a great line or not.
I’m going to have to go back and see the movie again.
The ‘line’ may be a reflection of how Custer spoke, and/or Errol Flynn. I think that dialogue works organically. Fitzgerald may not be a perfect source to draw from as his film career was not so great. I know the book well, it’s fine, but no one rule for all. Shaw did not write as people spoke, he wrote consistently, with rhythmn and poetry, the way he thought. Consistency is what trumps all.
Off Topic, but I wish all the religious Jews on this website a happy, healthy, Kosher Shavuout.
Reading this review makes me think of a time when so many Hollywood films were inspirational – in addition to being entertaining. And your mentioning a brilliant snippet of dialog reminds me of someting Mark Twain said:
“The difference between the almost right word & the right word is really a large matter–it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”
From a historical perspective I remember reading – about this fateful expedition – that Libby had a horrible premonition as the 7th Cavalry rode away from the fort.
Bill:
Inspirational messages in movies have been, for the most part, replaced by nihilism.
The screenplay is by Æneas MacKenzie,Wally Kline, and Lenore J. Coffee.
How does it work when there is more than one screenwriter?
Does each writer do different things?
(One for Dialogue, One for Story, One to ‘polish’ the final work?? )
Exdem:
Sometimes screenwriters are partners and they work on the script together. This partnership is indicated by the use of & between names.
At all other times, multiple screenwriters means that:
1. A screenwriter has been fired and replaced.
2. A screenwriter has moved on to another project and has been replaced.
3. A screenwriter has had a nervous breakdown and been replaced.
Usually, multiple credits mean that the producers have no idea what they want and just keep hiring and firing screenwriters until everyone is just plain exhausted.
Then, the producer, in concert with the screenwriter, is the a ‘auteur’,
not the director — who comes on board much, much later. Sometimes, perhaps often, the leading actor(s) have input early on as well. Seldom in classic Hollywood does the director pretend to be Ford, Welles, or Hitchcock. This is strictly a modern critical concept open for more study, if warranted. Doubt it.
“Usually, multiple credits mean that the producers have no idea what they want and just keep hiring and firing screenwriters until everyone is just plain exhausted.” Oops, my mistake, I thought you were talking about the Administration.
Sightly O/T, but what kind of film do you like (action, romance,.. etc)?
I like good films from any period and in any genre. But I have a particular weakness for screwball comedies of the 30’s.
I’ve no particular preference re genre but generally dislike science fiction. Otherwise, outside of a few directors categorize likes by leading actors. Gable, George Brent, Louis Hayward, Randy Scott, Cary Grant, Fred and Ginger, etc. It is always easy and delightful for me to miss Warner Baxter in anything. Add Victor Mclaglen to the A list.
Bringing up Baby!
Ah Barry, I love Mclaglen! He led a life of twenty men!
There was a famous husband and wife screenwriter team – learned here at Avrech University if I am not mistaken. If I can recall from the class, they had some drag-out fights during their “creative process”.
I remember my wife and I seeing this film about ten years ago and being both moved by the relationships and fascinated by the lives of General Custer and his wife, went on fact a hunting mission. Without going into too much detail — a lot of that which is available, for and against, is incomplete, manipulative and biased. So, let’s hope the central romance was an honest reflection of their lives together. Certainly seems so as Libby Custer spent the remainder of her long life protecting her husband’s memory and historic place.
Barry:
In fact, Custer was madly in love with his wife. At one point he actually went AWOL just to visit her.