Little Big Man
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| Little Big Man | |
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| Directed by | Arthur Penn |
| Produced by | Stuart Millar |
| Written by | Calder Willingham |
| Starring | Dustin Hoffman Faye Dunaway Chief Dan George Martin Balsam Richard Mulligan |
| Distributed by | Cinema Center Films |
| Release date(s) | December 14, 1970 |
| Running time | 139 min |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Little Big Man is a 1964 novel and a 1970 movie. It is black comedy about a boy raised by the Cheyenne Nation and simultaneously an American in the frontier territories. A major part of the film involves contrasting the way the Americans live and the way the Native Americans live.
The story is presented as dying centenarian Jack Crabb recalls several facets of his long and unusual life, including being a gunslinger, homesteader, snake-oil salesman, scout for General George Custer, witness and survivor of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and sidekick to Wild Bill Hickok. The central theme, however, is his adoption by the Cheyenne, enabling him to view both the white and Native American cultures of the 19th century with equal puzzlement. Despite its comedic approach, it contains many dramatic moments and a clear social commentary about prejudice and injustice.
Based on a 1964 novel by Thomas Berger, the movie starred Dustin Hoffman and Chief Dan George. It is a "revisionist" Western where American Indians receive a more sympathetic treatment than the soldiers, who are depicted as lunatics or uncultured barbarians. The film has been referred to as the precursor to Forrest Gump.
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[edit] Reaction
Critical reviews of the film were mostly positive. Film critic Roger Ebert called Little Big Man an "endlessly entertaining attempt to spin an epic in the form of a yarn. It mostly works. When it doesn't -- when there's a failure of tone or an overdrawn caricature -- it regroups cheerfully and plunges ahead. We're disposed to go along; all good storytellers tell stretchers once in a while, and circle back to be sure we got the good parts." [1]
[edit] Historical basis
The film's depiction of a lunatic Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer at the Little Big Horn, while perhaps not entirely accurate, is regarded by many as a truthful portrayal of Custer, whose many quirks and vanities are a matter of record. The movie also depicts the Battle of Washita River as a Custer-led massacre despite the historic record being unclear. As depicted, the scene probably has more in common with the Sand Creek Massacre, where Colorado militia troops killed more than 150 women, children, and elderly men who had sought and been promised peace.
An historical Little Big Man bears no resemblance to the Hoffman character. The historical Little Big Man is known for his involvement with the capture and possible assassination of Crazy Horse.
[edit] Awards
Chief Dan George won awards for his film role from the Producers Guild of America, the National Society of Film Critics, and the New York Film Critics Circle Awards. He was also nominated for an award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and Golden Globes. Hoffman won third place with the Producers Guild of America, and was nominated for an award by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
[edit] Trivia
- To get the voice of a 121 year-old man, Dustin Hoffman sat in his dressing room and screamed at the top of his lungs for an hour.
- Hoffman holds the record for protraying the greatest age span of a single character; he plays Jack Crabb from the ages of 17 to 121.
[edit] External link
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