Little Big Man ***** (1970, Dustin Hoffman, Martin Balsam, Faye Dunaway, Chief Dan George, Richard Mulligan, Jeff Corey) – Classic Movie Review 6272

Director Arthur Penn’s classic 1970 epic Western stars Dustin Hoffman, who gives a bravura performance as Jack Crabb, 121-year-old survivor of Little Big Horn, who recounts his tall story as an adopted Cheyenne and buddy of Wild Bill Hickok.

This long and episodic Western moves from satire to slapstick, from sex to gore, from intense battle sequences to sexual content, pulling in extravagant characters and affecting moments.

Quite properly, Hoffman effortlessly dominates the show, but Martin Balsam as salesman Mr Merriweather, Chief Dan George as Cheyenne Old Lodge Skins, Richard Mulligan as General George Armstrong Custer, Jeff Corey as Hickok and Faye Dunaway as hooker Louise Pendrake all get a chance to shine. Chief Dan George was Oscar and Golden Globe nominated as Best Supporting Actor, surprisingly its sole nomination.

Director Penn does a remarkable job of pulling together all the disparate elements of this revisionist yarn based on Thomas Berger’s novel re-examining the myth and magic of the West. Dick Smith was the magician make-up man entrusted to age Hoffman 88 years.

Also in the cast are Aimée Eccles, Kelly Jean Peters, Carole Androsky, Cat Bellini, Robert Little Star, Jesse Vint, Thayer David, James Anderson, Jack Bannon, Ruben Moreno, Steve Shemayne, William Hickey, Alan Oppenheimer, Philip Kenneally, Ray Dimas, Alan Howard, Jack Mullaney, Steve Miranda, Lou Cutell, M Emmet Walsh, Emily Cho, Cecelia Kootenay, Linda Dyer, Dessie Bad Bear, Len George,  Norman Nathan, Helen Verbit, Bert Conway, Earl Rosell, Ken Mayer, Bud Cokes, Rory O’Brien and Tracy Hotchner.

It is written by Calder Willingham, Harry Stradling Jr, Stuart Millar, John Hammond and Dean Tavoularis.

Harry Stradling Jr, who shot Rooster Cogburn, The Way We Were, and 1776, died on 17 October 2017, aged 92.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 6272

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