I recently watched the 1941 Warner Brothers classic, “They Died with Their Boots On,” starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. The Errol Flynn fan in me was delighted, but the historian in me screamed inwardly (and a couple of times outwardly) for 140 minutes straight.

There were some things that I enjoyed about the film. I did like the fact that they used actual Sioux Indians to play the part of Indians – although the role of Crazy Horse was played by Anthony Quinn, and my foot was tapping along with the rousing rendition of Garryowen (see the video below). The farewell scene between Custer and Libby was made even more poignant by the fact that both actors knew that this was going to be their last (of eight) films together.

However, the biggest problem I had with the myriad of historical inaccuracies was in Custer’s attitude going into the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The film depicted him as being sympathetic towards the Indians, and as going into battle knowing that he was sacrificing his regiment. There was nothing of his bravado and arrogance; nothing of his belief that the seventh cavalry could whip any number of Indians on any field of battle.

Errol Flynn will always epitomize the swashbuckling hero, and any film of his is worth watching. We just have to keep in mind that Hollywood is all about producing movies to entertain, not documentaries to inform.