My screenplay for 'Custer' is the result of a nagging personal challenge to understand and re-create the events leading to 'Custer's Last Stand', one of the most controversial moments in American history and, in doing so, to provide plausible insight into the man and the pressures that led to his demise. It is a story about Americans then, and even now.
Here is the script's 'logline': General George Armstrong Custer, Civil War hero, renowned Indian fighter, hounded by controversy, loved and despised by those around him, needs a success – a big success – to ditch his faltering military career for a fresh start back East. The coming campaign to break Sioux power is his chance.
Why a screenplay? I figured if you could fill in the blanks of this (in)famous American story, put some flesh on the man who holds near-mythical standing in the American imagination, get an actor who could rise to the role, and the money to create it all - we can dream - you'd have a film that would find a huge audience in America and abroad.
My brief bio: Canadian born and bred, Bermuda citizen, 67 years old, married, one son; careers as a newspaper reporter, editor; advertising, communications work with political parties and advisor to Bermuda Premiers; author: USS Bermuda, The Rise and Fall of an American Base.
