'They Died with Their Boots On': To Hell or Glory (2005 Video) User Reviews

Warm tribute to Errol, Olivia and Raoul Walsh...

[Doylenf · 7/10 · 22 February 2008]

Although it's only nine minutes in length, TO HELL OR GLORY is a fitting tribute to the talents of ERROL FLYNN, OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND and RAOUL WALSH, with historians Lincoln D. Hurst, Robert Osborne and Rudy Behlmer all commenting on the overall merits of THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON, despite its lack of historical accuracy.

It's nice to hear Hurst, for example, saying that when you think of the great romantic teams in film history you don't have to go any further than Errol and Olivia, who really adored each other, even if they were not a team in real life. He thinks it's Flynn finest performance, showing maturity as the role develops and under Raoul Walsh's fine direction.

All three of the historians discuss the relationship of Flynn and de Havilland both within the story and in real life, so it makes for an informative and all too brief discussion of the film, but at least there are some brief film clips of the most moving scenes.

Very interesting, but also very short

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 1 September 2007]

I enjoyed this DVD extra very much--especially since many older films on DVD have no extras at all. The interviews (including Robert Osbourne) were nice and helped to bring the movie alive as well as explain all the many, many historical inaccuracies in the film THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON. Additionally, the story behind the making of the film was quite interesting. The only problem is that this short DVD segment is incredibly short--only about 9 minutes--much shorter than the usual "making of" documentary included with DVDs. Because of this, I was left wanting more and feeling a bit frustrated, as the material was wonderful but lacked depth.

This brief 10-minute piece is more of a gossip fest . . .

[oscaralbert · 7/10 · 7 July 2015]

. . . than a factual consideration of the 1941 film THEY DIED WITH THEIR BOOTS ON. For instance, the quartet of featured white male geezers prattling on here spend several minutes rhapsodizing about the fact that this flick was the final pairing of stars Errol Flynn and Olivia DeHavilland. Barely a word can be heard about BOOTS' daring exposure of the plot to assassinate U.S. presidential candidate and prototypical Nobel Peace Prize winner George Armstrong Custer by corporate War Profiteers (spearheaded by Ned Sharp, Romulus Taipe, and William Sharp in this Docudrama movie). Unlike PATTON, which glossed over HIS assassination as he was about to spill the beans on rival Gens. Eisenhower and MacArthur's primary culpability in the 1930s mass slaughter of starving U.S. Army vets and their families at Hooverville (which surely would have killed off the "I-like-Ike" presidential campaign), BOOTS clearly outlines the Mountain Meadows-like hit on Custer, the best friend America's indigenous population ever had. Patsies Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull were rubbed out nearly as fast as Lee Harvey Oswald, and Warner Bros. puts more of the Truth on-screen than Oliver Stone managed in his "expose," JFK. But what else can you expect from this short's "experts," whose primary reason-to-be is hosting Rich People on "film buff" ocean cruises?

Excellent but short featurette on one of Flynn's greatest roles!

[broomy22313 · 10/10 · 21 June 2008]

I totally enjoyed watching this featurette. It's a cut above much of the same sort of thing you find in DVD packages these days. The commentators, especially Hurst, Behlmer and Osborne, speak with obvious affection, and great authority, about Flynn and the film, and they make you not only want to watch it, but to savor it. I was especially glad to see that they talked at some depth about Max Steiner's superb music, and about the wonderful tune "Garry Owen," which underscores much of the action. I thought Hurst did a good job in particular of emphasizing how Flynn's character evolves during the film from a lightweight comedic personality into a complex man with a conscience. It's rightly pointed out that the film abounds in historical inaccuracies, but nonetheless remains one of Flynn's best performances, and one of the finest adventure films of the 1940s. The final poignant scene between Flynn and de Havilland, the last they would ever film together, is also explored at length by Hurst and Osborne, in a way almost too touching for words. The whole thing ends abruptly - and on a sad, even ominous note - as it sinks in to the viewer how much filmgoers would lose with the passing of the wonderful Flynn/de Havilland pairing once this film was completed. Overall, a magnificent featurette - albeit too short - and highly recommended.