Rent Little Big Man (1970)

A Masterpiece - Little Big Man review by GI

A modern masterpiece Little Big Man is a film that all film lovers should see and see again. It's an absolute delight throughout, a film that debunks the genre conventions of the western and the myths of American frontier history. Dustin Hoffman in one of his most iconic roles is Jack Crabb, a 121 year old man interviewed by a historian about his memories of living on the frontier but who claims to be the only white survivor of the Battle of the Little Big Horn. The film is then the story of his life from the massacre of his family as a child to his life with the loving, caring Cheyenne, his return to white civilisation and ultimately his hatred for General Custer. Along this journey we meet a series of characters all of whom are on the face of it stereotypical western characters but each one is subverted to reveal a different angle whether it be the ridiculousness of the movie staple or the reality from history. There's the call girl (Faye Dunaway), the preacher (Thayer David), the travelling showman (Martin Balsam), the gunfighter (Jeff Corey as Wild Bill Hickok), the Indian Chief (Chief Dan George) and some Hoffman himself becomes including the storekeeper, town drunk, a gunfighter, Indian scout, and best of all is the complete unravelling of the myth of Custer played here to wonderful effect by Richard Mulligan. This film has comedy, indeed at times you'll laugh out loud, sadness, and shocking violence including the massacre of an Indian village and the murder of women and children. Ultimately the film questions the staple of myth versus fact and debunks the Fordian idea of 'when the legend become fact, print the legend'. This is a thoroughly remarkable work, one of the finest American films that emerged in the American New wave of the late 60s and into the 70s.