Custer's Last Stand (serial)

Custer's Last Stand
Directed by	Elmer Clifton
Produced by	Louis Weiss
Written by	George Arthur Durlam Eddie Granemann William Lively
Starring	Rex Lease Lona Andre William Farnum Ruth Mix Jack Mulhall
Music by	Hal Chasnoff
Cinematography	Bert Longenecker
Editing by	George M. Merrick Holbrook N. Todd
Distributed by	Stage & Screen Productions
Release date(s)	2 January 1936 3 April 1936 (film)
Running time	15 chapters (328 min) 84 min (film)
Country	United States
Language	English

Custer's Last Stand (1936) is an independent film serial based on the historical Custer's Last Stand at the Little Bighorn River.

It was produced by the Poverty Row 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.

In April of the same year it 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.

Cast

• Rex Lease as Kit Cardigan and his father John C. Cardigan
• Lona Andre as Belle Meade
• William Farnum as James Fitzpatrick
• Ruth Mix as Elizabeth Custer
• Jack Mulhall as Lieutenant Cook
• Nancy Caswell as Barbara Trent
• George Chesebro as Lieutenant Frank Roberts
• Dorothy Gulliver as Red Fawn
• Frank McGlynn Jr. as General George A. Custer
• Helen Gibson as Calamity Jane
• Josef Swickard as Major Henry Trent, MD
• Chief Thundercloud as Young Wolf
• Allen Greer as Wild Bill Hickok
• High Eagle as Crazy Horse
• Howling Wolf as Sitting Bull

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.^[1]

Stunts

• Yakima Canutt
• Ken Cooper
• Carl Mathews
• Mabel Strickland (riding double)
• Wally West

Release

Theatrical

Custer's Last Stand was well received by action fans, regardless of its historical inaccuracies.^[1]

Chapter titles

1. Perils of the Plains
2. Thundering Hoofs [sic]
3. Fires of Vengeance
4. The Ghost Dancers
5. Trapped
6. Human Wolves
7. Demons of Disaster
8. White Treachery
9. Circle of Death
10. Flaming Arrow
11. Warpath
12. Firing Squad
13. Red Panthers
14. Custer's Last Ride
15. The Last Stand

_Source:^[2]

See also

• List of film serials by year
• List of film serials by studio

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Cline, William C.. "3. The Six Faces of Adventure". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc.. pp. 39. ISBN 078640471X. 
2. ^ Cline, William C.. "Filmography". In the Nick of Time. McFarland & Company, Inc.. pp. 217. ISBN 078640471X. 

External links

• Custer's Last Stand at the Internet Movie Database
• Custer's Last Stand at AllRovi