A Roman in the Far West / The Bugler of General Custer

Un romano nel Far West
A Roman in the Far West

Il trombettiere del generale Custer

The Bugler of General Custer

A 1960, 1965 Italian production [Dino DeLaurentis (Rome)]

Producer: Roberto Haggiag, Dino DeLaurentis

Director: Alberto Sordi

Story:

Screenplay:

Cinematography: [color]

Music:

Story: Based on the life of Giovanni Martini aka George Martin, who was with General George Armstrong Custer at the Little Big Horn. He was the soldier sent by Custer to find Captain Benteen and have him bring his troops and ammunition back to Custer’s position so they could attack the huge Indian village.

Cast:

Giovanni Martini - Alberto Sordi

General George Armstrong Custer - John Wayne (Marion Morrison)

The film originally titled “Un romano nel Far West” (A Roman in the Far West) was never made because of several threats of lawsuits with production in 1960. Then when the problems were solved the project now titled “Il trombettiere del generale Custer” (The Bugler of General Custer) was scrapped in 1965 for unknown reasons.

This never made film, is perhaps the most famous "phantom film" in Italy, given that there remains a film clip of a few minutes on the audition in English of the two main performers, JohnWayne and Alberto Sordi. The initial idea dating back to 1965 remains the same for a number of reasons and the film was forgotten for many years as the audition was retrieved and shown on television by Gian Luigi Rondi in the late 1980s. To bring back the topical issue was two years ago during the rediscovery of the script and of the poster of this film never born by the film critic Enrico Magrelli. They were part of the FondoSordi (donated by the sister of the late eighty-two-year-old Roman comedian on February 24, 2003), comprising 3,160 rolls of film, 361 different media, 50,000 photographs and paper documents of each type. Everything is currently preserved at the National Film Library which, as early as 2011, had been given the task of proceeding with the necessary cataloging, archiving, restoration and digitalization of the imposing amount of materials, which were placed under the supervision of the Archival Superintendence of Lazio; the setting up of the Alberto Sordi Museum, which should have its seat in the villa of the actor in Caracalla. To clip the wings of this singular cinematographic project were not only the difficulties between the two protagonists, each of whom could not bear the idea of ​​having to work shoulder to shoulder with the other, but above all the basic misunderstandings between the producers that would have financed the film. The Italians were encouraged to create a commercial product of farcical mold, which could have had box office success also on the English language market, as happened a few years before with the film "I duenemici". But the Americans did not conceive the possibility of losing even the slightest respect for Custer - an iconic figure in their history - especially when interpreted by John Wayne. In fact, the only mention of the film being made was a cover of the periodical 'L'Araldo dello Spettacolo which in 1965 pictured Alberto Sordi in a uniform of the 7th Cavalry. Then, for almost fifty years, silence fell on the project.