Little Big Man is a 1970 American western comedy-drama film directed by
Arthur Penn and based on the novel Little Big Man by Thomas Berger.
It is about a white male child raised by the Cheyenne nation during the 19th century.
The film is largely concerned with contrasting the lives of American pioneers and Native Americans
throughout the progression of the boy's life.
The movie stars Dustin Hoffman, Chief Dan George, Faye Dunaway,
Martin Balsam, Jeff Corey and Richard Mulligan.
It is considered a Western, with Native Americans receiving a more sympathetic treatment
and the United States Cavalry depicted as villains.
Despite its satirical approach, the film has tragic elements and a clear social conscience
about prejudice and injustice.
Little Big Man is considered an example of anti-establishment films of the period,
protesting America's involvement in the Vietnam War by portraying the U.S. military negatively.
In 2014, Little Big Man was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant"
by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Historical basis
The historical Little Big Man was a Native American leader bearing no resemblance to the Jack Crabb character. Little Big Man is known for his involvement in the capture and possible assassination of Crazy Horse at Fort Robinson in 1877.
The movie's portrayal of the Battle of Washita River as a Custer-led massacre of women and children (which Penn compares to the Holocaust) is not entirely accurate as the camp was partially occupied by tribal warriors. The film, however, is consistent with historical records of other encounters between Indians and the U.S. Cavalry; the Cavalry's common tactic was to wait until the warriors had left the camp to hunt, or to lure the warriors away with assurances of good hunting, and then to attack the unprotected village. The two massacre scenes are historically reversed, the Sand Creek massacre occurring first in 1864, where Colorado militia (not including Custer) attacked a peaceful contingent of Native Americans, killing more than 150 women, children and elderly men. (The Sand Creek Massacre was depicted in another 1970 Western, Soldier Blue.) The Custer-led raid on the Washita occurred in 1868.
The film also presents an inaccurate representation of the death of Wild Bill Hickok. Hickok was actually killed after the Battle of the Little Bighorn on August 2, 1876, while playing poker at the No. 10 Saloon in Deadwood, South Dakota. Uncharacteristically, Hickok had his back turned to the door. At 4:15 p.m., a gunslinger named Jack McCall walked in and shot Hickok in the back of the head. Hickok was famously holding two pairs—of black aces and black eights—when he was shot, a set of cards thereafter called the "Dead Man's Hand".
The film's depiction of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer as a lunatic at the Battle of the Little Bighorn was intended as satire, though many of his quirks and vanities were inspired by contemporary observations. Custer's fatal tactics at the Little Bighorn were far more complex than portrayed in the film, which portrays him as having a searing hatred of Indians and acting ruthlessly towards them in battle. In truth, while his actions before and during the battle remain controversial, some historians suggest that he was somewhat sympathetic to the cause of the Indian population and publicly opposed, to the detriment of his own career prospects, the Grant administration's policy of expansion into Indian lands.
The character of Jack Crabb is partially based on Curley, one of Custer's Native American scouts from the Crow tribe. Curley rode with Custer's 7th Cavalry into the valley of the Little Bighorn, but was relieved of duty before the final attack, retreating to a nearby bluff and witnessing much of the action. Many conflicting stories of the era embellished Curley's participation, stating in several cases that he disguised himself with a Cheyenne blanket to escape the immediate field of battle. He was interviewed many times, with some writers claiming him to be the only surviving witness from the U.S. side of Custer's Last Stand. Curley gave several variations of his participation in the battle, and the accuracy of his later recollections has been questioned.
Production
To obtain the hoarse voice of a 121-year-old man, Hoffman sat in his dressing room and screamed at the top of his lungs for an hour. The makeup for the ancient Crabb was created by Dick Smith from foam latex and included revolutionary false eyelids that could blink along with the actor's. Due to editing, and much to Smith's chagrin, no blinks were visible in the finished film. Of the makeup, Hoffman was quoted in Life as saying, "I defy you to put on that makeup and not feel old".The role of Chief Old Lodge Skins was initially offered to Marlon Brando, Paul Scofield, and Laurence Olivier, all of whom turned it down. The Little Bighorn battle scenes were filmed on location at Crow Agency, Montana near the actual battle site. Some of the town scenes were filmed in Nevada City, Montana, a town that by 1970 consisted predominantly of historic 19th-century buildings brought from elsewhere in Montana. All outdoor Indian scenes other than the Little Bighorn battle were filmed near Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Some interior and various footage was shot on Hollywood sets. All Indian extras were North American Indians. Aimée Eccles, who played Sunshine, is actually of Chinese descent. And Cal Bellini, who played Younger Bear, is actually a Malay originally from Singapore.
The old Indian chief dies at the end of the novel but not in the film. In an interview Arthur Penn explained the change: "We thought long and hard about this and in the first draft of the script he does die, but this death would have introduced an element of sadness into the film and we didn't want this. The film would have become dramatic, even melodramatic, instead of being picaresque. I also wanted to show that not only were the Indians going to be destroyed, but they were also condemned to live. On the whole, audiences like their entertainment dramatically compact and homogenous, but I want the opposite. A film should remain free and open, not with everything defined and resolved."
Reception
Little Big Man received widespread acclaim from film critics. It is among AFI's 400 movies nominated to be on their list of America's greatest 100 movies. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 24 of 25 professional critics gave the film a positive review, with a rating average of 7.9/10; in total, the film has a 96% rating on the website.
In his December 15, 1970 review, Vincent Canby of The New York Times called the movie, "Arthur Penn's most extravagant and ambitious movie, an attempt to capture the essence of the American heritage in the funny, bitter, uproarious adventures of Jack Crabb." Roger Ebert, of the Chicago Sun-Times, agreed, giving the film four stars out of four stars, and describing Little Big Man as "an endlessly entertaining attempt to spin an epic in the form of yarn."
Awards and nominations
Chief Dan George was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He won many honors for his performance, including the Producers Guild of America Award, the National Society of Film Critics Award and the New York Film Critics Circle Award. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Supporting Actor.
Hoffman won third place for his performance with the Producers Guild of America and was nominated as Best Actor by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. The screenplay by Calder Willingham was nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award as Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium.
The film won a Special Mention at the 7th Moscow International Film Festival in 1971.
In 2014, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Legacy
Arthur Hiller's 1984 comedy-drama Teachers features Little Big Man cast member
Richard Mulligan partially reprising his Custer role as Herbert Gower,
an outpatient from a mental institution who is accidentally put in charge
of a U.S. history class and teaches his pupils while impersonating historical figures such as Custer,
but also Abe Lincoln and Ben Franklin amongst others
User Review
Sprawling comedy-western with memorable moments.
14 November 2001 | by jckruize (North Hemis)
Quote from JCKOne of the greatest American films of the 70's, a long but enjoyable western epic told with verve and insight. Dustin Hoffman excels in one of his early film roles, throwing himself into its physical demands with obvious enthusiasm and in the process creating one of his most endearing characters.
But he had to be on his toes in the face of much scene-stealing by a host of experts, including Richard Mulligan as the screwiest Custer you'll ever see, Martin Balsam as the eternally optimistic Mr. Merriweather, and Chief Dan George as Old Lodgeskins, a noble, wise and very funny Native American patriarch. This, along with "Bonnie and Clyde," represented the pinnacle of Arthur Penn's directing career: he handles the tonal shifts from comedy to tragedy with unerring control. Beautifully photographed and scored, with a wry, picaresque script by Calder Willingham from Thomas Berger's novel. Memorable images abound, from the rousing stagecoach chase, to an erotic bath delivered by the beauteous Faye Dunaway, to the horrific attack on a snowbound Indian village by the U.S. Cavalry, accompanied by a sprightly fife-and-drums march, to George's dignified ritual of death under threatening skies that doesn't quite turn out the way he planned. A funny, poignant tale, skillfully told, and a reminder of the fragility and randomness of life and love