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Summary: But is it a true story??
Review: Wonderful,funny,sad though fictoinal. Chief Dan George is the best part. His insight is very thought provoking and practical. He is a wonderful actor.Cheyanne personalties could use more explanation for the avevage viewer so as not to misinterpret their role in Real Native American culture. But Hey, It's a movie!! Custer is SCUM!!Laff at him.
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Summary: Never dull, but it's a mess.
Review: I know Little Big Man is a cherished Western dramedy, but I have to say I'm not as a big a fan as many others are. Sure, it's got its funny moments as well as some truly dramatic scenes, but the film as a whole doesn't click on all cylinders. It's too flawed to be a truly good movie. For one thing, it spans a good deal of a man's life, all the way from the time of his birth to Little Big Horn, a good 35 or so years. Even at 147 minutes, the movie feels tremendously rushed. Characters are introduced, and then discarded just as quickly. Faye Dunaway makes only a small impression and Martin Balsam's 3rd billing is laughable, considering the fact he's in it for less than 5 minutes. The finale, which features the battle of Little Big Horn, is a surprisingly tense and impressively choreographed sequence, but is ruined by Mulligan's over-the-top rambling during the whole scene. I realize director Arthur Penn is satirizing the whole event, but the rambling just isn't very funny. I have to give credit to Penn, though, for a truly poignant and unforgettable final scene. Subtle, yet so thought-provoking.
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Summary: ONE OF THE BEST HISTORICAL COMMENTARIES
Review: Little Big Man is a hard, honest look at the American West and the near genocide of its original inhabitants. Poor Jack Crabb is a white man trapped between worlds. Adopted and raised by Cherokee Indians after his parents are killed on the plains by Pawnee, Jack ends up ping-ponging between the Native American world and Western Civilization, never fitting into either. Through Jack's character, the differnces between whites and Indians become painfully clear as he tries to stay sane among all the contradictions and cultural idiocyncrasies. A story told with humor and a good deal of historical accuracy, Little Big Man is without a doubt one of the finest movies made about the Old West.
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Summary: One of the truly all time greatest epic westerns
Review: "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.
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Summary: A Multi-faceted Treat
Review: Dustin Hoffman turns in his arguably best performance as Jack Crabb, the 121-year-old nursing-home resident being interviewed by a young, serious journalist in 1970. Hoffman's portrayal of the ancient Crabb is very well done (the 1970-era makeup is actually quite believable), with voice pitch and body language that reminded this viewer of his own aged relatives. But it is Hoffman's portrayal of young Jack Crabb as he segues between the "human beings" (Cheyenne nation) and the white world (gunslinger, snake-oil salesman, innocent boy getting ogled by Faye Dunaway) that gives this feature its shine. Hoffman easily slips into each role, displaying his versatility again and again as he protests his alliance to save his skin. "God bless George Washington!" This feature cries out for a special edition DVD with large amounts of supplements. We can only hope that the studio pays the proper amount of attention when they make the transfer.
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Summary: Great
Review: LITTLE BIG MAN was what DANCES WITH WOLVES was not; a intellegent, well-crafted account of the 19th-century American West and the state of affairs between the Native Peoples and the White Man...and a great story to boot. Jack Crabb is still Dustin Hoffman's best role and the movie should've up-ended PATTON for the Best Picture Oscar in 1970, but no matter. The picaresque adventures of Crabb and those he encounters along the way still resonates today and still speaks volumes about how this country was conquered and how its original inhabitants were betrayed. A classic.
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Summary: little big man
Review: A very good movie with a specific black humour. Most of all I like George Armstrong Custer who is wonderfully ridiculed. I'm not any Indian anthropologist, but I think that this movie depicts the real life of the late 19th century with no "bad Indians" and "good whites" , but through an objective view that doesn't prefer any of the different cultures (and their drawbacks are often a good source for the parody) But I'm sorry that the battle of Little Big Horn was not shot according to historical facts.
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Summary: ONE OF HOFFMANS BEST
Review: THIS MOVIE HAS IT ALL, VIOLENCE, COMEDY, MYSTERY, AND ANYTHING OPPOSITE OF MONOGAMY! HOFFMAN WAS AT HIS BEST IN THIS CLASSIC FILM. I NEVER THOUGHT THAT LISTENING TO A 121 YEAR OLD MAN TELL HIS STORY WOULD BE AS INTERISTING AND ENJOYABLE AS THIS. IRONY IS THE KEY ELEMENT THAT LEADS "LITTLE BIG MAN" TO THE TOP OF ANYBODY'S LIST OF FAVORITES. DUSTIN HOFFMAN "CURES WHAT ALE'S YA!" HIS COMEDIC APPEARANCE LIGHTENS ONES SOUL. WITH HIM BEING PART OF THE CHEYANNE INDIANS TO GUNSLAYER, NEVER DID I BECOME BORED OF WATCHING HIS CLUELESS FACE GO THROUGH LIFE. THIS IS ONE FO THOSE MOVIES THAT YOU WILL NEVER WANT SET ASIDE TO COLLECT DUST. THIS WILL BE AT THE TOP OF ANYONES PRIORITY.
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Summary: Political Commentary from the Native American viewpoint
Review: 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.
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Summary: Excellent real alternative to previous historical teachings
Review: Life on the plains, with the intermixing and even greater clashing between Native Americans and the imports from Europe told in a simplistic yet panoramic style. Engaging and still entertaining. The first time I saw it was after sharing time with Indians on their reservation. I saw the truths watered down, though accurate in their general depictions: arrogance of the whites; the slaughter of the Indians; closed mindedness of the "Christians" (which continues even today). This movie should be part of Junior and Senior highschool curriculum.
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