Son of the Morning Star (film)
Encyclopedia
Son of the Morning Star (1991) is a TV movie released by Chrysalis based on Evan S. Connell
's best-selling book of the same name. It starred Gary Cole
(General Custer) and featured Dean Stockwell
(General Philip Sheridan
), Roseanna Arquette (Elizabeth Custer), Rodney A. Grant
(Crazy Horse
), and Buffy Sainte-Marie
(voice of Kate Bighead).
-Gibbon
column relieves the remnants of the 7th Cavalry that had survived the Battle of the Little Bighorn
. They discover Custer's battalion
has been annihilated, and the film 'flashes back' and tells Custer's story from the point of view/narrative of his wife, Elizabeth, beginning with the Kansas campaign of the mid-1860s.
Concurrently, the Indian perspective is told through the narrative of Kate Bighead, a young Cheyenne woman, who encountered Custer on several occasions. Kate Bighead's narrative is also used to describe events like the Fetterman Massacre and the Battle of Washita River
, as is Elizabeth Custer's, to give the viewer a balanced point of view.
It is widely regarded as the only film to accurately depict the Battle of the Little Bighorn, as it shows the soldiers being over-run shortly after taking up rifle positions, rather than being surrounded by Indians on horseback and fighting until the bitter end as have popular myth and previous films. The Indians are depicted as a disillusioned people, angrily defending their homes.
Evan S. Connell
Evan Shelby Connell, Jr. is an American novelist, poet, and short story-writer. He has also published under the name Evan S. Connell, Jr. His writing has covered a variety of genres, although he has published most frequently in fiction.In 2009, Connell was nominated for the Man Booker...
's best-selling book of the same name. It starred Gary Cole
Gary Cole
Gary Michael Cole is an American actor. Cole is known for his supporting roles in numerous film and television productions since the 1990s.-Early life:...
(General Custer) and featured Dean Stockwell
Dean Stockwell
Dean Stockwell is an American actor of film and television, with a career spanning over 65 years. As a child actor under contract to MGM he first came to the public's attention in films such as Anchors Aweigh and The Green Years; as a young adult he played a lead role in the 1957 Broadway and...
(General Philip Sheridan
Philip Sheridan
Philip Henry Sheridan was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close association with Lt. Gen. Ulysses S...
), Roseanna Arquette (Elizabeth Custer), Rodney A. Grant
Rodney A. Grant
Rodney Arnold Grant is an American actor.Grant, a Native American, was raised on the Omaha Reservation in Macy, Nebraska. He is probably most well known for his role as "Wind In His Hair" in the 1990 film Dances with Wolves...
(Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms against the U.S...
), and Buffy Sainte-Marie
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Buffy Sainte-Marie, OC is a Canadian Cree singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. Throughout her career in all of these areas, her work has focused on issues of Indigenous peoples of the Americas. Her singing and writing repertoire includes...
(voice of Kate Bighead).
Plot summary
The film, in two parts, begins in 1876 when the TerryAlfred Terry
Alfred Howe Terry was a Union general in the American Civil War and the military commander of the Dakota Territory from 1866 to 1869 and again from 1872 to 1886.-Early life and career:...
-Gibbon
John Gibbon
John Gibbon was a career United States Army officer who fought in the American Civil War and the Indian Wars.-Early life:...
column relieves the remnants of the 7th Cavalry that had survived the Battle of the Little Bighorn
Battle of the Little Bighorn
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand and, by the Indians involved, as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, was an armed engagement between combined forces of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho people against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army...
. They discover Custer's battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
has been annihilated, and the film 'flashes back' and tells Custer's story from the point of view/narrative of his wife, Elizabeth, beginning with the Kansas campaign of the mid-1860s.
Concurrently, the Indian perspective is told through the narrative of Kate Bighead, a young Cheyenne woman, who encountered Custer on several occasions. Kate Bighead's narrative is also used to describe events like the Fetterman Massacre and the Battle of Washita River
Battle of Washita River
The Battle of Washita River occurred on November 27, 1868 when Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer’s 7th U.S...
, as is Elizabeth Custer's, to give the viewer a balanced point of view.
It is widely regarded as the only film to accurately depict the Battle of the Little Bighorn, as it shows the soldiers being over-run shortly after taking up rifle positions, rather than being surrounded by Indians on horseback and fighting until the bitter end as have popular myth and previous films. The Indians are depicted as a disillusioned people, angrily defending their homes.