This routine Western deals with an officer called Benton and his relationships with Custer who is ousted from his command in the Far West and forced into retirement . But Custer's political motivation changed him and fueled by ambition when a senator convinces him to run for US president . Along the way Captain Benton (Darren McGavin) clashes Colonel Custer and he's degraded , being court-martialed , while he escapes and attempts to prevent the bloodshed . After that , Custer decides to upstage the recommendations of Major Reno (Joseph Cotten) and Captain Benton (Darren McGavin) at Little Big Horn . Crazy Horse (Iron Heyes Cody) and Chief Sitting Bull (Michael Pate) of the Sioux tribe are forced by the Indian-hating General Custer to react with violence , resulting in the known Last Stand at Little Bighorn . Blood-Vengeance Clashed With Custer's Cavalry! "Little Big Horn"...The Blood-Red River...When Indian Arrows Met Cavalry Rifles in Custer's Famous Last Stand!Custer's Last Stand...The One Battle No Indian Warrior or Cavalry Hero Could Ever Forget!

This exciting but mediocre movie contains western action , romance , shoot-outs and spectacular battles . Resulting to be an average look at what occurred to George Amstrong Custer during the 1870s ; at the beginning he was an outspoken believer in fair treatment for the Indians , and , subsequently , he'll cruelly command his troops at the Battle of Little Big Horn . The picture gives a brief portrayal of General Custer from a defender of Native-American rights and a real fighter against Administration corruption , even denouncing to President's brother , to an ambitious figure , politically-driven and headlines-seeker . Furthermore , describing an Indian reservation where the starving natives are mistreated and suffering extreme famine ; they , then , violently rebel against government resulting in fateful consequences . This film contains stock-shots taken from Sitting Bull (1954) sharing a similar plot and director himself . The yarn was shot outside of Mexico City and in the Churubusco Azteca studios . Washed-out print , the film needs urgently a perfect remastering . It appears as a technical adviser and designer Indian costumes , a secondary actor named Iron Eyes Cody , usual player as Indian roles (Sitting Bull , Great Sioux Massacre , A man called Horse) , though with Sicilian origin . The motion picture was regularly directed by Sidney Salkow. He was a craftsman who had already filmed other Westerns . He realized all kind of genres such as routine westerns (Sitting Bull , The great Sioux massacre , Pathfinder) , Adventures (Prince of Pirates , Sword of the avenger) , war films , Sci-Fi (The last man on Earth) , Terror (Twice-told tales) and melodramas (City without men) . Salkow first worked for Republic, after joining Universal . At Columbia , he handled , among other assignments, four installments of the popular Lone Wolf series . After 1953, Salkow was primarily active as director of episodic television . Rating : 4.5/10 middling and regular Western.

The film is a fiction , but partially based on real events . The reality happened in December 1873 when the Commissioner of Indian Affairs directed all Sioux bands to enter reservations by the end of January 1876 or be declared hostile . There then shows up Sitting Bull , celebrated chief and mystic of the Hunkpapa Sioux . Many bands of Sioux did not meet this deadline and were attacked by US troops . Crazy Horse and his Oglala people moved north to join forces with Sitting Bull , by the spring of 1876 some 3000 Teton Sioux and Northern Cheyenne warriors had assembled at Sitting Bull's camp in the valley of the Little Big Horn in Montana. On 25 June 1876 Crazy Horse and other war chiefs led the allied warriors against General Custer and his seventh Cavalry , Custer and all the man under his direct command were killed . This victory , however , brought relentless retaliation from the army and Sioux were scattered . Sitting Bull and his followers fled to Canada and stayed there until July 1881 , when he returned to the US and surrendered at Fort Buford , Montana . After he was placed on a South Dakota reservation . For a year Sitting Bull went a tour with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show . He continued to regard himself as chief of his people and he earned the enmity of an Indian agent . On 25 December 1890 , Indian policemen went to take the chief , his followers tried to prevent this and in the struggle he was shot dead .

This film is a highly fictionalised account of the events leading up to the Battle of the Little Big Horn; for example here we see Major Reno as a drunk and bitter former Confederate general when the real Reno was a Union officer...surely it would have been better to make an entirely fictional character. Another problem the film suffered from was the inconsistency of the characters; we are meant to believe that Custer risked his profession to make a stand against those abusing the native population then shortly afterwards when a senator suggests that with a few more victories under his belt he could run for president he instantly starts fermenting trouble and massacring Indians himself!

It isn't just facts and inconsistent characters that are a problem; in many places the film looks as if it was cut together with scenes from other films; in the 'exciting climactic battle' I found myself watching the sky switch from cloudless to totally overcast and back again in a matter of seconds! If you could ignore that the action wasn't bad and there is a fair amount of it.

The story is told from the point of view of a Capt Benton; an officer under Custer who is shocked at the way the Indians are treated; so much so that he reprimands his tracker for killing a captured and wounded Indian... no further action is taken though; presumably so we can see the man see the error of his ways and save an Indian child later. Benton is supportive of Custer until he starts killing the Indians. At one point he is court-martialled for striking Custer but the party taking him to trial is ambushed. He is spared because he spared Indians before; they take him to their camp where he sees the huge army they have amassed; as they take him away he is rescued and tells Custer of the Indian plans but because Custer is arrogant and history says he must die Benton is ignored.

Overall I'd only recommend this if you have nothing better to do and it is on television; it might provide a few unintentional laughs. Just don't consider it a history lesson!

THE GREAT SIOUX MASSACRE is a re-telling of the famous story of Custer's last stand, but as a film it's the kind of production that wobbles all over the place and feels only average as a piece of entertainment. The titular event takes place right at the end and, while undoubtedly the best part of the production, feels somewhat anti-climatic at times. You wonder why you've had to wait so long to get to a scene which is neither as dramatic or as tragic as it should be.

As for the rest of the film, it's a typical western-type story enlivened by some interesting character actors but feeling a bit boring at times. The weird thing about the characters in this film is how they all transform and end up unrecognisable. Philip Carey's Custer starts out as a decent guy before becoming corrupted while Joseph Cotten plays an absolute idiot of a character before redeeming himself. Darren McGavin is just sort of there in the story without really doing much. THE GREAT SIOUX MASSACRE is watchable enough but a classic it isn't and the indifferent execution is the reason for that.