They Died with Their Boots On │ Warner Archive Collection
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment
by CHAD KENNERK
The Warner Archive Collection’s Blu-ray release of They Died With Their Boots On (1941) offers a vivid reminder of how grand Hollywood’s Golden Age looks when restored to its full splendour. From director Raoul Walsh’s pageantry to Errol Flynn’s charisma and Max Steiner’s rousing score, there’s a newfound clarity and richness to this remastered restoration, which even includes additional footage not seen in the theatrical release. The transfer is sourced from a 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative, with fine-grain positives used to fill in a few places of damage on the original print. The result feels both seamless and revelatory.
At 141 minutes, They Died With Their Boots On is a monument to the kind of mythmaking perfected by the studio system. The story charts the rise and fall of George Armstrong Custer from his unruly days at West Point to his fateful command at Little Bighorn. With notoriously little regard for historical precision, Walsh and the screenwriters trade accuracy for emotional logic, transforming Custer’s legendary visage into an epic screen spectacle. Flynn plays Custer as a kind of romantic soldier-poet, crafting a convincing arc for a character driven by equal parts honour and hubris, while Olivia de Havilland provides much-needed heart and a moral compass as steadfast wife Elizabeth ‘Libbie’ Custer. This marked Flynn and de Havilland’s eighth and final pairing, and the chemistry between them demonstrates why they’re among Hollywood’s all-time great screen duos. The supporting cast is uniformly strong — Arthur Kennedy’s Ned Sharp makes for a conniving foil, Sydney Greenstreet lends gravitas as General Winfield Scott, and Hattie McDaniel offers a warm, human presence in a role that might otherwise have been a stock caricature. One can only imagine what she would have achieved if given the chance to step outside of the kitchen and into a leading role.
For all its dramatic liberties, the film’s portrayal of Native Americans, while inevitably still a product of its era, is more complex than other Westerns of the day, extending sympathy toward Indigenous tribes while condemning the U.S. government’s broken treaties and corrupt land dealings. Even as the narrative romanticises its central figure and largely sidelines Native perspectives, Anthony Quinn’s dignified turn as Crazy Horse and other central plot points lend a notable attempt to address the moral cost of westward expansion. Walsh, one of Warner Bros.’ most muscular storytellers, directs that expanse with sweep and vigour. The climactic battle sequence may be staged far from the actual plains of Montana, but the sense of spectacle remains, supported by evocative cinematography from Bert Glennon and Steiner’s thunderous score, which weaves together military anthems, Irish folk melodies, and a compelling love theme.
Warner Bros has wisely preserved Leonard Maltin’s wonderful Warner Night at the Movies presentation from previous home video iterations, which includes an archival newsreel, the military short Soldiers in White, the cartoon A Tale of Two Kitties, and a trailer for Bogie’s All Through the Night, and the feature film itself, allowing home viewers a taste of what audiences would have experienced in theatres and movie palaces during the original theatrical run. The archival featurette To Hell or Glory provides a brisk but informative overview of the film’s production, with insights from film historians and Flynn’s biographers. They Died With Their Boots On remains a captivating example of lavish studio-era mythmaking and the Warner Archive Collection presents a lavish, technically superb restoration of one of Errol Flynn’s stirring star vehicles.
They Died with Their Boots On is available on Blu-ray 29 July from Warner Archive Collection.
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WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION offers thousands of film and TV series direct from Warner’s studio vault. With a particular emphasis on high-quality restorations and remasters on Blu-ray disc, Warner Archive Collection brings rare and hard-to-find classic motion pictures and television series to home video. Often appearing for the first time on Blu-ray, titles are chosen each month from the unparalleled library of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which spans more than 100 years of cinema history.
