Average Rating: 
Rating: - One of the truly all time greatest epic westerns
"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.
Rating: - Little Big Movie
All right ..... WHY is this film not out on DVD yet? A profound, deep, rambling, touching adventure story to end all such stories, a true labor of love for director Arthur Penn, and the performance of Dustin Hoffman's career (not bad for a second major role). This one is right up there with "Gone With the Wind" as an epic morality tale of the human journey. Another reviewer compared this film to "Forrest Gump" in its scope, which is not too far off the mark, but this story cuts a little more deeply in its cry of outrage at the atrocities visited upon Native Americans as our great ancestors paved their way westward across our infant nation. One of the most heartbreaking and infuriating moments in cinema history takes place as we see Jack Crabbe watching helplessly from a few feet away while his beautiful Cheyenne wife and newborn baby meet cruel, bloody death at the hands of the U.S. Infantry. You realize then that this is more than an epic about Western Heroes; it is a truly subversive landmark film achievement, made at a time when our government's good intentions were up to question ..... subversive because it could break your heart one moment and entertain and tickle you the next with its irreverent view of our Great Society. This is one of those movies that will never wear out its welcome, rather it will be rediscovered with renewed appreciation with age, and one can only hope that when it DOES make it to digital it will be restored with the same care as the recent Hitchcock re-releases, because Little Big Man truly belongs in that league of American film greats. A timeless triumph in every sense.
Rating: - Political Commentary from the Native American viewpoint
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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