Custer's Last Stand is a 1936 American film serial based on the historical Custer's Last Stand at the Little Bighorn River. It was directed by Elmer Clifton, and starred Rex Lease, William Farnum and Jack Mulhall. 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 playing Calamity Jane, Frank McGlynn Jr. as General Custer, and Allen Greer as Wild Bill Hickok. In April of the same year, the serial was edited into an 84-minute feature film, which was released under the same name.

Plot overview

The serial follows multiple plot threads, but centers on a "medicine arrow" taken from the local Indian tribe in a battle with white settlers. On the arrow is writing that points the way to a secret gold mine. A corrupt Indian agent (William Farnum) and his co-conspirators seek to recover the arrow in order to find the gold, and are willing to kill to do so. The film depicts several historical characters, but in a purely fictitious setting. Cline (1984) writes that "the story ramble[s] through a series of loosely connected plots and subplots" leading up to the Battle of Little Big Horn.

Cast

Stunts

Reception

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

Chapter titles

The chapters of the serial are titled as follows: