Little Big Man (1970)

Director:

Arthur Penn

Writers:

Thomas Berger (novel)
Calder Willingham (writer)

Release Date:

23 December 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Western | Adventure | War

Tagline:

Either The Most Neglected Hero In History Or A Liar Of Insane Proportion!

Plot:

Jack Crabb, looking back from extreme old age, tells of his life being raised by Indians and fighting with General Custer.

Plot Keywords:

Native Americian Scout | Native American Captive | Centenarian | Little Big Horn | Kidnapping

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 5 wins & 6 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Tue. May 27

11:00 PM

TCM

Cast

Dustin Hoffman	...	Jack Crabb
Faye Dunaway	...	Mrs. Louise Pendrake
Chief Dan George	...	Old Lodge Skins
Martin Balsam	...	Mr. Merriweather
Richard Mulligan	...	Gen. George Armstrong Custer
Jeff Corey	...	Wild Bill Hickok
Aimée Eccles	...	Sunshine (as Amy Eccles)
Kelly Jean Peters	...	Olga Crabb
Carole Androsky	...	Caroline Crabb - Sister (as Carol Androsky)
Robert Little Star	...	Little Horse
Cal Bellini	...	Younger Bear
Ruben Moreno	...	Shadow That Comes In Sight
Steve Shemayne	...	Burns Red In The Sun
William Hickey	...	Historian
James Anderson	...	Sergeant

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense battle sequences and some sexual content. (2002 re-rating)

Runtime:

139 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo | 70 mm 6-Track (Spanish release)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (f) (re-rating) | West Germany:16 (f) (original rating) | South Korea:15 | UK:15 (1987) | Iceland:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:AA (1970) | Argentina:M | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:PG-13 (re-rating) (2002)

Filming Locations:

Alberta, Canada

Company:

Cinema Center Films

Trivia:

The role of Chief Old Lodge Skins was initially offered to Marlon Brando, who turned it down.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Custer's attack on the Cheyenne at the Washita River occurred in the winter of 1868. Since Wild Bill Hickock was shot in the summer of 1876, Jack's drunk period would have lasted about eight years. Also the Battle of Little Big Horn was on June 25, 1876; Hickock was killed August 2, 1876, more than one month later.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Jack Crabb: I am the sole white survivor of the battle of Little Big Horn.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Cloverfield (2008)

Simply great

Little Big Man represents the highest point in Arthur Penn's career. The film was made soon after his masterpiece Bonnie and Clyde and stands, in my opinion, right beside it as one of the most significant achievements not only of Arthur Penn's work, but also of the world cinema in general. Unfortunately the chain of remarkable movies began with this two wasn't destined to continue, with director's following films proving to be quite disappointing. But nevertheless Bonnie and Clyde and Little Big Man remain as the two fine notables for which Arthur Penn will always be fondly remembered.

Also mustn't be discarded the role of the time when the Little Big Man was made, the turbulent era of the Vietnam War, which most certainly found its reflection on the film, critically paralleled in portrayal of the ruthless and mindless slaughter of the Indians by the American troops.

The film's story is told by Jack Crabb, a very old man of more than 100 years old, the only remaining witness of the events he is telling to an oral histories collector.

We follow his life story as he is kidnapped and raised by the Indians, after a few years escaping from them only to return back again to witness the brutal death of his friends and loved ones from the hands of the American soldiers under the command of vicious and eccentric General George Armstrong Custer who finally has to pay for his inhuman deeds in the battle of the Little Big Horn that is shown in the end of the film and which might be considered as the natural consequence of the brutal tactics employed by the American troops in conquering the Indian territories, and finally represents a significant lightening of the karmic burden for them, achieved by the purificatory and relieving death in the fight with the Indians whose victory symbolize only a temporarily successful culmination of destined-not-to-last-long struggle.

Though in Jack Crabb's life story we basically revisit a number of very familiar for a Western genre fan fields, one of them being the battlefield of the Little Big Horn, the masterful way in which revisiting is done turn it into an unforgettable viewing experience during which you'll most certainly find yourself moved from laughing at the perfect comic moments of parody on some of the most used Western clichés to shedding tears when tragic happenings unveil on the screen, always remaining absorbed by it, mesmerized by the superb acting delivered by all of the actors involved and the film's visually vast beauty. 10/10