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Amazon.co.uk Review
In Arthur Penn's adaptation of Thomas Berger's novel Little Big Man, Dustin Hoffman stars as Jack Crabb, the only white survivor of the Battle of Little Big Horn. Giving a bravura performance, Hoffman plays Jack from teen years into old age in this picaresque fable of the Old West. Jack's story is a fantastic one: captured by Indians as a boy, reared as an Indian, shuttling back and forth between the white and Indian worlds. In the process, he befriends everyone from Wild Bill Hickock to George Armstrong Custer and is a gunslinger, a snake-oil salesman and an Army scout. This is a solid blend of comedy and tragedy, making a strong statement about America's treatment of Native Americans without sermonising. A terrific cast includes Faye Dunaway, Martin Balsam and Richard Mulligan, but this show is all Hoffman's. --Marshall Fine
Special Features
- Running Time: 134 minutes
- Region Code: 2
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
These are the words spoken, after the Battle of the Little Big Horn, by the outstanding Chief Dan George, playing tribal leader Old Lodge Skins. He is referring to the Cheyenne (Human Beings)and the destruction of its people and way of life, by the New American civilisation.
Hoffman is Jack Crabbe, the 121-year-old sole survivor of Custer's Last Stand. Little Big Man is the name given to him by his adoptive Cheyenne family. The film starts with the aged Jack being interviewed in a nursing home, where he begins to recount his amazing life story up to the point of that famous event. The narrative is episodic, detailing his first hand experiences of the Indian and white cultures and their deadly interaction.
This is a powerful and entertaining film, genuinely very funny and chokingly sad in all the right places. It is a more satisfying film than 'Dances With Wolves' and has the majesty and depth of a Native American 'Les Miserables'.
WARNING!!! If you are a General Custer fan, beware of Richard Mulligan's hysterically manic Basil Fawlty style interpretation of the legend - he's more barking than a pack of rabid coyotes.
This is a classic that deserves a place in your DVD library.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
In the 50's and the 60's the screens were overloaded with classical Westerns. And although many of them were very well made - featuring real western icons of the silver screen like John Wayne, Gary Cooper and so many others - they were very classical in the sense of: "the only good 'injun' is a dead 'injun'".
Especially the 70's, but also later, brought us another type of western. A type were the native Americans were shown as the "noble savage" (think about such movies as "A Man called Horse" or "Dances with Wolves").
This alternative western probably has the right of it: neither side was extremely noble and either side could be savage. This picture shows us the west how it could have been, with people lusting for land and money, but also with people trying simply to survive.
In this way it is quite satyrical and Dustin Hoffman brings his performance of a west veteran to an incredible high. All in all probably the best western I've ever seen. Highly recommended.
Especially the 70's, but also later, brought us another type of western. A type were the native Americans were shown as the "noble savage" (think about such movies as "A Man called Horse" or "Dances with Wolves").
This alternative western probably has the right of it: neither side was extremely noble and either side could be savage. This picture shows us the west how it could have been, with people lusting for land and money, but also with people trying simply to survive.
In this way it is quite satyrical and Dustin Hoffman brings his performance of a west veteran to an incredible high. All in all probably the best western I've ever seen. Highly recommended.
25 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
Arthur Penn's long, beautifully shot, episodic western opens in a hospital ward where ancient Jack Crabbe (a barely-recognizable Dustin Hoffman) is interviewed by a reporter (William Hickey) about his experiences with the Cheyenne as an old "Indian fighter". What follows is Jack's life story from the time he was adopted by the Cheyenne ("who call themselves the 'Human Beings'") after the massacre of his parents, to the climactic Battle of the Little Big Horn (Custer's Last Stand). The tone throughout is satirical, sometimes whimsical, and there are many very funny as well as genuinely touching scenes, as the action moves from Jack's youth as a Cheyenne brave; his capture, more cowardly than brave, by the U.S. cavalry; his adoption by a Puritanical preacher and young wife (played with great style and comic sensuousness by Faye Dunaway); and spells as con-man, black-clad gunfighter, store-owner, Indian scout and drunk. Hoffman is excellent, but equal credit goes to Chief Dan George as Jack's adopted Cheyenne grandfather, Old Lodge Skins, who is the heart and soul of the story, and the rest of the cast all perform brilliantly. As an indictment of White America's destruction of the native inhabitants, this film is more uncompromising than the book on which it is based, and while the white characters in general are portrayed as vicious, dishonest or contemptible, the character of General Custer is given a thorough mauling (Custer ends the final battle as a raving lunatic). The film may take a few liberties with historical accuracy, but the result is an engrossing, entertaining and moving black-comedy which I could not recommend too highly.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Diluted Medicine, Man
Having just completed the source novel by Thomas Berger, I thought I'd see the film again after all these years. I'm glad I did, though it was not a pure pleasure. Read more
Published 5 months ago by The Outsider
An early Hoffman classic
CAREFUL - A FEW SPOILERS
Christopher Columbus "discovered" America but the Indians, the indigenous Americans, were already there. Read more
Christopher Columbus "discovered" America but the Indians, the indigenous Americans, were already there. Read more
Published 6 months ago by RR Waller
There is an endless supply of White Men, but there has always been a...
Recounting how the West was won through the eyes of a white man raised as a Native American, Arthur Penn's 1970 adaptation of Thomas Berger's satirical novel was a comic yet... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Pyke Bishop
Little Big Man a classic
A much under estimated film, a classic which holds both comedy and tragedy, great performances from Dustin Hoffman and Faye Dunaway, anyone who has not seen this film would be in... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Tegsy
History of the wild west with bags of fun and sadness
Top film cant get for love or money in the U.K shops.
a bargain on Amazon.
This film is a adventure from start to finish you wont want to leave the room
a bargain on Amazon.
This film is a adventure from start to finish you wont want to leave the room
Published 11 months ago by Von
Great epic story
Great story and performance by Hoffman and Chief Dan George. Longing to know the rest of the story of his life. Was it as adventourous as Forrest Gump's..?
Published 20 months ago by Ragnar Frederiksen
Not in the Shops
I first saw this film several years ago after reading the book and enjoyed them both very much. I am tired of modern films that tend to be all CGI's so I am buying DVD's of these... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Mr. Les Valder
Little Big Man
What can I say, Dustin Hoffman is brilliant in the title role and goes through various stages in his life in this tale which is based on a real character, you will not be... Read more
Published on 24 May 2010 by K. P. Tregaskis
Not a Five Star Film.
I freely admit that I am biased towards Westerns and that I generally tend to give them positive reviews. Read more
Published on 17 April 2009 by Bob Salter
Thoroughly enjoyable, if a little different.
I first saw this years ago and thought I would watch it again as I thoroughly enjoyed it.Dustin Hoffman is excellent as we follow him through his life story,living with the white... Read more
Published on 1 Mar 2009 by Gino
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