Customer Reviews

Little Big Man

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1 star:		(3)

 

 

Advertised as a comedy when originally released, LITTLE BIG MAN is much, much more than that. Director Arthur Penn's sweeping film depicting the clash of the Indian and white cultures will have you chuckling one moment, then shaking your head sadly at man's inhumanity to man the next.

Dustin Hoffman as the ever industrious Jack Crabb takes this movie on his shoulders and carries it superbly. To say that the actor shows some "range" in this role is the epitome of an understatement: from portraying an adolescent teenager to a fragile 121-year-old-man (phenomenal makeup job), from snake-oil salesman to mule skinner, Hoffman brings Jack's fascinating life to splendorous glory. And Hoffman is funny--darn funny--with a wonderful knack for physical comedy.

In addition to Hoffman, LITTLE BIG MAN offers other savory treats. Richard Mulligan is absolutely delightful as a narcissistic General George Armstrong Custer--the stunning Faye Dunaway positively wicked as naughty Mrs. Pendrake. Chief Dan George, who portrays Old Lodge Skins, Jack's adopted Cheyenne grandfather, delivers countless one-liners, yet lends a quiet, heartfelt dignity to his role. In fact, this is a movie one will wish to savor again and again--a beautifully crafted, well-made film that is timeless in its ability to entertain.
--D. Mikels

The film opens on a decrepit, wrinkled, yet still energetic ultra senior citizen. He is the film's central figure - one who looks back on a 121 year life - a life lived in interesting times.

Hoffman's Jack Crabb, is perhaps a more cynical old west version of Forest Gump. Through random experience, this one man encounters almost every legendary figure and event of the old west. Like the movie "Forest Gump", there is strong subliminal commentary on the period that came nearly a century after. Yet, very much unlike Gump, but true to it's era, Little Big Man sees more of the negative side of the world. At 121, Jack is very much a critical child of the 1960's.

When first shown in the early 70's, the film's protracted war on the Native American culture became a metaphor for the period of genocide, then closing in Vietnam. While perhaps lost on first time viewers today, the protest message is so strong, that one can almost hear the sounds of helicopter air cavalry under the droning thunder of Custer's horse mounted assault on an Indian village. All that is missing is the Wagner and Napalm of "Apocalypse Now".

The eyes of Jack Crabb see the white man as bigoted, arrogant, insincere, vindictive and amoral - as he fluctuates between white culture and that of the Native Americans, whom he labels: "the human beings". A bit of a shuttle diplomat at times, Jack becomes almost an external missionary to both nations, while never truly accepting, or being accepted, by either group.

On the first level, Little Big Man is satisfying entertainment, on the next it is literature. One can see this film merely as a humorous western with employment opportunities for half the character actors in Hollywood and smile frequently. - OR - One can also look deeper and see the perspective of the period in which it was written and developed. It may give one pause to think hard about the mood of those times.

I remember seeing the original theatrical release of Arthur Penn's "Little Big Man" in the early 1970's. Now over thirty years later it has been released in DVD form and it is a film, that is both funny and tragic as ever.In the film, 121 year old Jack Crabb (played humorously by Dustin Hoffman) recounts his life (in narrated backflash) growing up among both the Cheyenne Indians and the white man in the old wild West.We follow the Crabb character as he goes through various phases as a Cheyenne warrior, a medicine show conman, a gunfighter, entrepreneurial business man, drunkard and finally a mule skinner/U.S. Army scout. Crabb is a man trapped between two cultures. He hilariously stumbles through the old west trying to find a place among his own kind, even though his heart is still with the Cheyenne Indians who adopted him. The movie leads up to Crabb's eventual, critical participation in the 'Battle of Little Bighorn', otherwise known as 'Custard's Last Stand'.The film is humorus as it shows how little people change over history. Just as today, people of the historical old West were driven by such things as love, lust, vanity, power and money.Unfortunatly they also were driven by bigiotry, hatred and violence.One of the main themes of "Little Big Man" is the terrible, almost genocidal treatment of the American Indian at the hands of the U.S. government.It's somewhat ironic, that the Cheyenne in the film refer to themselves as 'the human beings', yet the white men seem to treat them as anything but that. Arthur Penn (director of "Bonnie & Clyde") has created a sprawling, well directed, historical tapestry of a film, which makes you want to laugh and cry at the same time.The movie is a star vehicle for the then young, Dustin Hoffman. Like "The Graduate", this film shows off, what a wonderful comic performer Hoffman can be.The large cast has many standout performances. Faye Dunaway is hilarious as Jack's religious, yet lascivious, adoptive mother, Mrs.Pendrake. The same goes for comic actor, Richard Mulligan, who puts in a very funny performance playing General George Armstong Custard as a pompous egomaniac, who's vanity leads to his imfamous place in history.But by far, one of the best performances in the film comes from Chief Dan George, who play's Hoffman's wise and mystical, yet somewhat scatological adoptive, indian grandfather.The character is intersting, because he always seems to be able tell us the obvious truth of the moment.He understands that this time in history is the begining of the end for his people. I love the speech he makes in which he explains, that "there are endless amounts of white men, but only so many 'human beings'" (indians).Its's a shame Chief George didn't get an Academy Award for his wonderful performance.The DVD for this movie has a good picture and sound transfer, but is absolutly bare bones in extras (not even a trailer). Still, it is great film, which I highly recommend.

"Little Big Man" from 1970 is one of the truly all time great epic westerns.I first saw it in the theatre back in the early '70's and was really impressed.I later added it to my video library back in the '80's first on Beta then later on VHS.The movie loses some of it's epic scope when transferred to the small screen ,however it's still powerful. Directed by Arthur Penn(the classic "Bonnie&Clyde from 1967) and based on the novel by Thomas Berger, it stars Dustin Hoffman as Jack Crabb.The story is told by Jack as a 121 year man to a writer who is interviewing him and he narrates throughout the story. In the beginning of the story we see the aftermath of a battle with white settlers after an Indian attack.Jack and his sister are captured by the Cheyenne braves.His sister escapes but he is adopted and raised by the tribe who call themselves "the human beings". As Jack grows into a young man he proves himself in battle and is given the name "Little Big Man" by the elder of the tribe "Old Lodge Skins" (well played by actual Native American ,Chief Dan George),and what was most impressive was the fact that Chief Dan George wasn't a professional actor.Jack is given that name because his size is little but his bravery is big.Old Lodge Skins becomes Jack's adopted Grandfather and their relationship is at the center of the story.

The movie features a first rate supporting cast including Martin Balsam as Mr.Merriweather,Faye Dunaway as Mrs.Pendrake, Jeff Corey as Wild Bill Hickok,Richard Mulligan as General George Armstrong Custer and Aimee Eccles as Sunshine.The story has many funny moments,sad moments,and intense moments, something not found in many westerns or many movies for that matter.Chief Dan George was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role.A movie with a similar theme came out 20 years later in 1990 called "Dances with Wolves" directed and starring Kevin Costner which won several Academy Awards.Some found that film to be as good as "Little Big Man",some didn't.The tagline on the movie poster for "Little Big Man" read,"Being the adventures of Jack Crabb,either the most neglected hero of the American West or a liar of insane proportions." Judge for yourself.

Comedy.... Action.... Drama.... War... and Romance is another great combination in a film top with serious issues. "Little Big Man" starts you off in 1970, with a reporter interviewing Mr. Crabb (Dustin Hoffman, in one of his great performances), the sole white survivor of the Battle of Little Big Horn, a wrinkled visage who is 121 years old at the time of the interview. In the course of his tall tale about the taming of the west, he recounts his career as a Cheyenne Indian, a bible thumper, a snake-oil salesman, a gunfighter, a drunk, and just about everything else one could be in those days. Since he was a white man raised by the Cheyenne, and spoke both languages fluently, he moved back and forth between the two worlds.

His story is great when it is being funny. I laughed at the sight of Dustin Hoffman dressed as a gunfighter. He really was the fastest gun in the West, and also the surest shot. Only one little thing kept him from achieving gunfighter immortality. He didn't like shooting at any living things.

Thankfully this was produced before the forces of political correctness could bowdlerize it. Today this would be watered down to avoid the epithets and stereotypes that add color and authenticity to this wonderful film. It is a obvious precursor to `Dances With Wolves', but also to a movie where the influence is less patent like `Forrest Gump' where famous persons are infused into a historical comic-drama. Numerous interesting characters infuse the picture: the epicene (though lustful) sister, the wise, yet pixilated Indian grandfather (played brilliantly by Chief Dan George), the unconscionable General Custer, the libertine Mrs. Pendrake (Faye Dunaway) and of course Dustin Hoffman's own character.

A funny and sad study of a wild time in history mixed with modern sentiments. A tall tale that resonates with truth.

One of director Arthur Penn's finest films, Little Big Man combines satire with tragedy with a deft, sure hand. The screenplay by the talented Calder Willingham and direction are sharp as nails and actor Dustin Hoffman manages to pull off a coup playing Jack Crabb from teen years (it's actually Hoffman's voice you hear dubbed in as a young teen)to old age (with marvelous make up by Dick Smith). Is Crabb telling tall tales (ironic and appropriate given his small stature and his Indian name)or did much of what he speaks about occur? It doesn't really matter as the telling of the tale is so marvelous.

BLU-RAY:

Paramount's handsome looking Blu-ray looks extremely good. There's no specs and print damage is virtually nonexistent in this presentation. Colors are a bit subdued but the film has always looked that way--this isn't a movie that flashes bright colors on screen.

Detail is a huge improvement over the previous DVD and a moderate amount of depth is provided with the high def transfer.

The original audio soundtrack is presented in mono and it's a nice, clear presentation.

The only extra we get is a theatrical trailer. That's a pity because an interview with Hoffman on the making of the film and/or a documentary with interviews done before the death of director Arthur Penn would have been nice to privde some insight into the production of this deft satire.

THE DVD:

Penn and his collaborators use Jack as a social mirror reflecting the injustice, brutality and pettiness of the wild west. Staying true to the spirit of Thomas Berger's marvelous novel, the cast and crew manage to distill much of the essence of Berger while sacrificing some of the less important details. The loss is, surprisingly, not really felt for many of those who read the novel. The superb supporting cast includes Martin Balsam, Jeff Corey (in a funny, perceptive cameo as Wild Bill Hiccock), Faye Dunaway (as a religious hypocrite who lusts after her adopted son Jack), Chief Dan George (he has some of the funniest lines in the script)and the late Richard Mulligan playing a vain nearly psychopathic General Custer.

The digital transfer preserves the original aspect ratio of the film and the nearly flawless print shows very little digital compression problems. This disc is enhanced for 16X9 widescreen TVs. The 139 minute production is presented on a dual layer disc for maximum picture quality. I didn't detect any analog artifacts (or at the very least very few). The color is fairly true to the original release as far as I can tell. The sound presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround and Stereo Surround has some compression problems and sounds a little bit flat but that could be due to the original recording as well. The packaging says nothing about the sound being remixed for 5.1 so it's difficult to say how much restorage and changes were done to the soundtrack.

The drawbacks to this disc are few but important. There's no extras included. I'm sure the original theatrical trailer was available as were interviews with the stars and director during the film's original release. None of these vintage interviews are included. My guess is that Paramount chose to use the budget tp insure a high quality print and good sound. That's fine but it's a pity as Little Big Man is every bit the classic (and deserves the same treatment)as Casablanca, Patton and Dr. Strangelove. Paramount has been somewhat reluctant with many of their releases to DVD to provide extras (witness Chinatown, any of the Star Trek film releases--with the exception of the recently reissued films) Sure, there have been exceptions (The Godfather series)but most of those exceptions have been few and far between. If Paramount can't do justice to these classic films perhaps they should do an initial release and then license them to a specialty house (like Criterion or Anchor Bay)to provide a special features packed edition. Interviews with Dustin Hoffman and Faye Dunaway would have enhanced this classic film. Perhaps neither one of these surviving cast members was interested in participating.

Little Big Man is one of Penn's finest films along with Night Moves and Bonnie & Clyde). I'm happy to have it available in such a beautiful transfer but wish that more time and care had been taken to provide fans and film buffs with extras.

A masterpiece of American cinema, pure and simple. There is no person before or since that has portrayed General George Armstrong Custer better than Richard Mulligan in this film. Dustin Hoffman gives a truly wonderful performance as Jack Crabb all the way from boyhood to an aged man of one hundred and twenty one years old. The makeup done on Mr. Hoffman for the old man scenes is incredible. You can hardly tell that it's Dustin Hoffman under it. All the Indian actors are real American Indians and the movie is so much the better for it. The man playing Little Big Man's father, who is a fine actor seen in many a western movie, should have been nominated for an Oscar for this as I do believe Richard Mulligan was. The movie can seem long at some points but as soon as you would begin to notice you yanked quickly back into another engaging predicament Mr. Crabb has gotten himself in. One of my favorites is when he becomes a gun slinger with the outragous outfit to go along with the attitude. But when he meets up with Wild Bill Hickock and sees his first dead man, he quickly changes profession. The climax of Little Big Man is probably one of greatest moments in cinema. Jack Crabb is an Indian scout for General Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. It does not get any better and is a must see.

Oh, and Faye Dunaway gives an erotic seduction performance that gives me goose pimples every time I see it.

Little Big Man is framed as a retrospective narration by Jack Crabb, who at age 120-plus, is the oldest living survivor of Custer's last stand at Little Big Horn, and in the 1960's (?) is being interviewed by a newspaper writer.

As kids, Jack and sister Caroline are the only survivors of an Indian attack, and they are taken to an Indian village and meet "Old Lodge Skins", the chief. Caroline expects to be raped later (and is somewhat disappointed when she is not) and rides away at night. The Cheyenne ("human beings") adopt Jack. Due to his small stature, Jack is named "Little Big Man" after he saves Younger Bear from a Pawnee attack.

In a battle againt the cavalry, just before he is about to be killed, Jack ID's himself as a white man, and is put in the care of Reverend Pendrake, whose wife (Faye Dunaway) takes an interest in Jack. He is taught to to read and write, and takes up religion with Mrs. Pendrake. After he finds Mrs. Pendrake and a soda-shop man in bed, that ends his religion phase.

Jack takes up with Mr. Meriwether, a con-man, and ends up getting tarred and feathered by a group led by his own sister. Jack moves in with Caroline and she teaches him to shoot ("Go snake-eyed"). Jack becomes a flashy gun-fighter known as the Soda Pop Kid after his drink of choice. He meets Wild Bill Hickok ("Might I ask who I are addressin'?") but gives up gunfighting after Hickok kills a man in a bar. Caroline subsequently disowns him, so Jack gets a partner and becomes a store owner, and marries Olga, a large Swedish woman. Jack's partner is a crook, and they goes bankrupt.

General Custer is passing by, takes pity on Jack and advises him to "go west" with his personal guarantee of safety - cut to Indians raiding a stage coach and riding off with Olga. Jack looks for her unsuccessfully while heading deeper into Cheyenne country, where he is ambushed. He convinces the Indians of his identity, and returns to their camp. He tells Old Lodge Skins about Custer.

Jack then rides off, and joins up with Custer to be a scout to find his wife. Custer is snobby and gives him a job as "mule-skinner". He rides in a massacre against an Indian village which he tries to stop, then escapes himself. He meets "Sunshine" as she is about to give birth in the bushes, and returns to the Indians with her. Old Lodge Skins is now blind from a wound. Jack stays with Sunshine and she hooks him up with her 3 sisters, so he now has 4 wives as Old Lodge Skins once predicted. It turns out his competitive Indian arch-enemy has married Olga.

After the birth of a son, the Indians are attacked and Sunshine and the baby are killed. Custer orders Jack hanged, but Jack identifies himself and talks his way out of it. Later at camp, Jack has the opportunity to kill Custer but chickens out. Custer insults him and Jack goes back to the white man as a common drunk. He meets Hickok again and learns Hickok was seeing Mrs. Pendrake, now a widow and prostitute. Hickok gives some money to Jack to give to the widow for a train ticket, then is shot and killed. Mrs. Pendrake flirts with Jack, but Jack just puts Hickok's money on her stomach and leaves.

Jack becomes a drunk again, and sees Meriwether (now with a hook and peg-leg) but does not join him in buffalo hunting. He has reached his low-point, and goes into the wilderness to become a hermit. He sees an animal's gnawed off foot in a trap and "snaps". He goes to a cliff to commit suicide, but hears the passing cavalry.

He decides to "meet the devil head on", and joins Custer again. Custer wants to use him as a "perfect reverse barometer" to out-fox the Indians. He asks Jack's advice on a proposed attack, which results in Custer's famous last stand at Little Big Horn.

Jack rejoins the Indians. Old Lodge Skins gives a moving speech, and goes to the hilltop to die. The narration leads us back to the present as old Jack Crabb winds up his story.

Originally R-Rated, the movie was re-rated PG-13, for violence and some sexual situations. The movie runs 138:35 minutes not counting end credits (listed as 139 on DVD, 147 at IMDB). I know they've cut the entire part of sleeping with the three extra wives when shown on TV.

Spectacular cinematography including the snow-covered great plains. Nice harmonica/guitar-based score. Excellent acting by all, and direction by Arthur Penn. Richard Mulligan as Custer is one of the best characters on film. Some of the movie dealing with the massacre of the Indians is truly sad, but the movie also contains a lot of ironic humor. Movies don't get better than this. DVD has widescreen movie, setup/subtitle options, and chapters.

In a year of Oscar insanity, Little Big Man had one nomination - Supporting actor for Chief Dan George - and "Airport" got 10 nominations and won a couple. Obvious a reflection of the political problems of the times.

"Sometimes grass don't grow, wind don't blow, and the sky ain't blue"

Little Big Man is quite possibly the most enjoyable, informative film concerning the American west ever made. The Indians are portrayed in a very natural, human way as opposed to noble savages. Dustin Hoffman gives a magnificient performance as Jack Crabb or Little Big Man (his Cheyenne Indian name). Attacked by the Pawnee as a child, adopted by the Cheyenne and turned into a Cheyenne "human being", Little Big Man walks between the Indian and White Man's World, never fitting too well in either. He endures all types of suffering and adventure, falls on his face and gets back up. The best parts of the film are when he continually meets up with his Indian Grandfather after some hair raising experiences. This film should be on every American's top ten list, truly great filmmaking, its shot beautifully too. Well worth seeing!

Just a few years after success in The Graduate, Dustin Hoffman continued his identification as the Everyman of modern youth in this delightfully rambling, mordant, and affecting picaresque set in the American frontier. Hits all the right notes perfectly in its representation of the contrary and conflicting moods of a person awkwardly attempting to makes sense of the world and find a place in it. Enjoyable in its own right as a marvelous piece of movie story-telling, the film yields greater meaning when viewed with appreciation for the conflicts of the late 60's: the war in Vietnam, the generation gap, Native American and other groups' struggle for freedom and respect. Chief Dan George turns in a magnificent performance as Cheyenne tribal leader Old Lodge Skins, Hoffman's adoptive "grandfather" and the film's spiritual centerpoint. I've watched this movie several times and always come away moved by the beautifully poignant ending with Grandfather and Little Big Man on the mountaintop. You'll want to view this film again and again.