''Son of the Morning Star'' is a 1991 American two-part

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

television miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

released by Chrysalis based on Evan S. Connell's best-selling 1984 book of the same name. It starred

Gary Cole Gary Michael Cole (born September 20, 1956) is an American television, film and voice actor. Cole began his professional acting career on stage at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1985. On television, he has had starring roles in the T ...

(

George Armstrong Custer George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars. Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...

) and featured

Dean Stockwell Robert Dean Stockwell (March 5, 1936 – November 7, 2021) was an American actor with a career spanning seven decades. As a child actor under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he first came to the public's attention in films including ''Anchors A ...

(General

Philip Sheridan General of the Army Philip Henry Sheridan (March 6, 1831 – August 5, 1888) 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 as ...

Rosanna Arquette Rosanna Lisa Arquette (; born August 10, 1959) is an American actress. She was nominated for an Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie, Emmy Award for her performance in the TV film ''The Executioner's Song ( ...

(

Elizabeth Custer Elizabeth Bacon Custer (née Bacon; April 8, 1842 – April 4, 1933) was an American author and public speaker, and the wife of Brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer, United States Army. She spent most of their marriage in relative proxi ...

Rodney A. Grant Rodney Arnold Grant (born March 9, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as "Wind In His Hair" (Lakota: ''Pahíŋ Otȟáte'') in the 1990 film ''Dances with Wolves''. Grant, a Native American, was raised on the Omaha Reservat ...

(

Crazy Horse Crazy Horse ( lkt, Tȟašúŋke Witkó, italic=no, , ; 1840 – September 5, 1877) was a Lakota war leader of the Oglala band in the 19th century. He took up arms against the United States federal government to fight against encroachment by wh ...

Nick Ramus Nickolas George Ramus, also known and credited as Nick Ramus, (September 9, 1929 – May 30, 2007) was a Blackfoot Native American actor, best known for his appearances on television. Early life Ramus was born in Seattle, Washington, and grew u ...

(

Red Cloud Red Cloud ( lkt, Maȟpíya Lúta, italic=no) (born 1822 – December 10, 1909) was a leader of the Oglala Lakota from 1868 to 1909. He was one of the most capable Native American opponents whom the United States Army faced in the western ...

Buffy Sainte-Marie Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American (Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these are ...

(voice of Kate Bighead), and

Floyd Red Crow Westerman Floyd Westerman, also known as ''Kanghi Duta'' ("Red Crow" in Dakota) (August 17, 1936 – December 13, 2007), was a Dakota Sioux musician, political activist, and actor. After establishing a career as a country music singer, later in his life h ...

(

Sitting Bull Sitting Bull ( lkt, Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake ; December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against United States government policies. He was killed by Indian agency police on the Standing Rock I ...

Plot

The film, in two parts, begins in 1876 when the

Terry Terry is a unisex given name, derived from French Thierry and Theodoric. It can also be used as a diminutive nickname for the names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence (given name), Terence or Terrier (masculine). People Male * Terry Albrit ...

Gibbon Gibbons () are apes in the family Hylobatidae (). The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical rainforest from eastern Bangladesh to Northeast India ...

column relieves the remnants of the 7th Cavalry that had survived the

Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Nor ...

. They discover Custer's

Squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

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 The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...

woman, who encountered Custer on several occasions. Kate Bighead's narrative is also used to describe events like the

Fetterman Massacre The Fetterman Fight, also known as the Fetterman Massacre or the Battle of the Hundred-in-the-Hands or the Battle of a Hundred Slain, was a battle during Red Cloud's War on December 21, 1866, between a confederation of the Lakota, Cheyenne, and ...

and the

Battle of Washita River The Battle of Washita River (also called Battle of the Washita or the Washita Massacre) occurred on November 27, 1868, when Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer's 7th U.S. Cavalry attacked Black Kettle's Southern Cheyenne camp on the Washita Rive ...

, as is Elizabeth Custer's, to provide a balanced point of view.

Cast

as Lt. Col.

as Libby Custer * Stanley Anderson as

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

Edward Blatchford Edward Blatchford (born September 1, 1955) is an American actor best known for his role as Peter Collins from 1998 to 2000 in the sitcom ''Malibu, CA (TV series), Malibu, CA'', produced by Peter Engel. He also worked with Engel on three other te ...

as Lt. Col.

William W. Cooke William Winer Cooke (May 29, 1846 – June 25, 1876) was a military officer in the United States Army during the American Civil War and the Black Hills War. He was the adjutant for George Armstrong Custer and was killed during the Battle of the ...

George Dickerson George Graf Dickerson, Jr. (July 25, 1933 – January 10, 2015) was an American actor, writer, and poet. Biography Dickerson was born July 25, 1933, in Topeka, Kansas, to George Graf Dickerson, a lawyer, and Elizabeth Dickerson (née Naumann) ...

William Tecumseh Sherman William Tecumseh Sherman ( ; February 8, 1820February 14, 1891) was an American soldier, businessman, educator, and author. He served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865), achieving recognition for his com ...

* Tom O'Brien as

Charley Reynolds "Lonesome" Charley Reynolds (March 20, 1842–June 25, 1876) was a scout in the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment who was killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in the Montana Territory. He was noted as an expert marksman, frontiersman and hunter. H ...

Terry O'Quinn Terrance Quinn (born July 15, 1952), known professionally as Terry O'Quinn, is an American actor. He played John Locke on the TV series ''Lost'', the title role in '' The Stepfather'' and ''Stepfather II'', and Peter Watts in ''Millennium'', w ...

Alfred Terry Alfred Howe Terry (November 10, 1827 – December 16, 1890) 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. In 1865, Terry led Union troops to vic ...

* Tim Ransom as

Thomas Custer Thomas Ward Custer (March 15, 1845 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and two-time recipient of the Medal of Honor for bravery during the American Civil War. A younger brother of George Armstrong Custer, he served as his aide at ...

Robert Schenkkan Robert Frederic Schenkkan Jr. (born March 19, 1953) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1992 for his play '' The Kentucky Cycle'' and his play ''All the Way'' earned the 2014 Tony Award ...

Thomas Weir Major Thomas Weir (1599 – 1670) was a Scottish soldier and presumed occultist, executed for bestiality, incest and adultery. Weir was a Covenanter who professed a particularly strict form of Presbyterianism. His spoken prayers earned him ...

David Strathairn David Russell Strathairn (; born January 26, 1949) is an American actor. Known for his leading roles on stage and screen, he has often portrayed historical figures such as Edward R. Murrow, J. Robert Oppenheimer, William H. Seward, and John Dos ...

as Frederick William Benteen *

Kimberly Guerrero Kimberly Norris Guerrero (née Norris; born 1967), is an American actress in film, TV, and stage; and a screenwriter. She has over two dozen screen appearances, generally playing roles of Indigenous women. Norris played Gen. Custer's American I ...

as Kate Bighead *

as Kate Bighead (voice) * Demina Becker as young Kate Bighead *

as General

* George K. Sullivan as General

Winfield Scott Hancock Winfield Scott Hancock (February 14, 1824 – February 9, 1886) was a United States Army officer and the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 1880. He served with distinction in the Army for four decades, including service ...

* Michael Medeiros as Major

Marcus Reno Marcus Albert Reno (November 15, 1834 – March 30, 1889) was a United States career military officer who served in the American Civil War where he was a combatant in a number of major battles, and later under George Armstrong Custer in the Gr ...

* George American Horse as Stone Forehead *

* Sheldon Peters Wolfchild as

Bloody Knife Bloody Knife (Sioux: ''Tȟamila Wewe''; Arikara: ''NeesiRAhpát''; ca. 1840 – June 25, 1876) was an American Indian who served as a scout and guide for the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment. He was the favorite scout of Lieutenant Colonel George Armst ...

* Rion Hunter as Sioux Interpreter * Russ Walks as Autie Reed * Bryce Chamberlain as Parsons * Peter Leitner as Dr. Coates * Mike Casey as

Charles Varnum Charles Albert Varnum (June 21, 1849 – February 26, 1936) was a career United States Army officer. He was most noted as the commander of the scouts for George Armstrong Custer in the Little Bighorn Campaign (of which he was the last of the sur ...

* Sav Farrow as Giovanni Martinii * Wendy Feder as Maggie Calhoun * Patrick Johnston as

Boston Custer Boston Custer (October 31, 1848 – June 25, 1876) was the youngest brother of U.S. Army Lt Colonel George Armstrong Custer and two-time Medal of Honor recipient Captain Thomas Custer. He was killed at the Battle of the Little Bighorn alo ...

* Eric Lawson as

Fred Gerard Fredric Frances Gerard (November 14, 1829 – January 30, 1913) was a frontiersman, army scout, and civilian interpreter for George Armstrong Custer's 7th U.S. Cavalry during the Little Bighorn Campaign. Early life Fred Gerard was born in S ...

* Jay Bernard as Congressman * Mike Bacarella as Adjutant at Ft. Lincoln (uncredited)

Production

The release of the mini-series closely followed the theatrical release of ''

Dances with Wolves ''Dances with Wolves'' is a 1990 American epic western film starring, directed, and produced by Kevin Costner in his feature directorial debut. It is a film adaptation of the 1988 novel ''Dances with Wolves'' by Michael Blake that tells the s ...

''. Although

Kevin Costner Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor, producer, film director and musician. He has received various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actor ...

was the first choice to play Custer, the role eventually went to Gary Cole. The movie was partially filmed on private property near the Little Bighorn National Monument in

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

near

Billings Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metrop ...

, where a fort was built at a cost of $200,000. Filming also took place in

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

at Buffalo Gap and

Badlands National Park Badlands National Park ( lkt, Makȟóšiča) is an American national park located in southwestern South Dakota. The park protects of sharply eroded buttes and pinnacles, along with the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United State ...

. 400 horses and 150 Native Americans were employed for the shoot. The 7th Cavalry consisted of 100 historical re-enactors who also doubled as technical advisers for the film.

Reception

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' praised the production as "a master work", with special mentions of quality in production, direction, cinematography and editing. ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'' magazine drew a comparison with the recently released ''Dances with Wolves'', stating that ''Son of the Morning Star'' "deals in delusions instead of dreams". The mini-series won four 1991

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for Outstanding Achievement In Costuming for a Miniseries or a Special, Outstanding Achievement In Makeup for a Miniseries or a Special, Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries or a Special, and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Miniseries or a Special. It was also nominated for, but did not win, Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling for a Miniseries or a Special.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Son of the Morning Star (film) 1991 television films 1991 films 1991 Western (genre) films 1990s American television miniseries American Western (genre) films American Indian Wars films ABC Motion Pictures films Cultural depictions of George Armstrong Custer Cultural depictions of Sitting Bull Cultural depictions of Crazy Horse Cultural depictions of Ulysses S. Grant Films about Native Americans American films based on actual events Films with screenplays by Melissa Mathison Films directed by Mike Robe Western (genre) cavalry films 1990s American films