In 1865, when Jack is 16, he is captured by U.S. Cavalry troopers during a skirmish and renounces his Cheyenne upbringing in order to save himself from being killed.
Jack saves the now-blind and elderly Old Lodge Skins, but Sunshine, their child, and her sisters are killed. It is a revisionist Western: Native Americans are depicted sympathetically, and the United States Cavalry are depicted as villains. 121-year-old Jack Crabb recounts his life, from being captured by the Cheyenne at age 10, to being raised by them, to living with white folks again and ultimately to being present at Custer's Last Stand at Little Bighorn, with many adventures, interesting characters, life stages and tragedies in between. [8], The old Indian chief dies at the end of the novel but not in the film. As Custer's troops are slaughtered by the combined Sioux and Cheyenne group, Custer begins to rave insanely. All outdoor Indian scenes other than the Little Bighorn battle were filmed near Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The famous cavalry officer George Armstrong Custer pays a visit and suggests the couple restart their lives further west and assures them they have nothing to fear from Indians. He was interviewed many times, with some writers claiming him to be the only surviving witness from the U.S. side of Custer's Last Stand. On the whole, audiences like their entertainment dramatically compact and homogenous, but I want the opposite.

Little Big Man is a novel by American author Thomas Berger, first released in 1964. | Due to editing, and much to Smith's chagrin, no blinks were visible in the finished film. As Jack gets older, he unwittingly makes an enemy of another boy, Younger Bear; however, Younger Bear eventually owes his life to Jack when he saves Younger Bear's life from a Pawnee brave.

A little later in November 1868, Custer and the 7th Cavalry make a surprise attack on the Cheyenne camp at the Washita River. While in a drunken stupor, he is recognized by Wild Bill Hickok, who gives him money to get cleaned up. Sunshine becomes his wife and bears him a child. The screenplay by Calder Willingham was nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award as Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium. When he witnesses Mrs. Pendrake having sex with the soda shop owner, Jack leaves the Pendrake household and renounces his foster parents and religion. Some months later, Jack becomes a partner in a general store and marries a Swedish woman named Olga. In 1865, when Jack is age 16, he is captured by U.S. cavalry troopers after skirmish between them and the local Cheyenne. "[12] Roger Ebert, of the Chicago Sun-Times, agreed, giving the film four stars out of four stars, and describing Little Big Man as "an endlessly entertaining attempt to spin an epic in the form of a yarn."[13]. It was among AFI's 400 movies nominated to be on their list of America's greatest 100 movies.

[2], Jack begins his story in a flashback to 1859, when he was 10 years old. In 1866, Jack becomes the apprentice of the snake-oil salesman Meriweather. "[9], Little Big Man received widespread acclaim from film critics. The film is largely concerned with contrasting the lives of American pioneers and Native Americans throughout the progression of the boy's life. Jack again encounters Younger Bear, no longer a Contrary, is now the henpecked husband of the long-lost Olga. Taglines | Little Big Man is a 1970 American Western film directed by Arthur Penn and based on the 1964 novel Little Big Man by Thomas Berger. Jack is given the name "Little Big Man" because he is short but very brave. The film would have become dramatic, even melodramatic, instead of being picaresque. After spending time in U.S. Army custody and going through interrogations and debriefing, Jack, being a minor, is put in the foster care of Reverend Silas Pendrake and his sexually frustrated wife, Louise, who tries to seduce Jack. [citation needed], This article is about the film. The film, however, is consistent with historical records of other encounters between Indians and the U.S. Cavalry; the Cavalry's common tactic was to wait until the warriors had left the camp to hunt, or to lure the warriors away with assurances of good hunting, and then to attack the unprotected village. For other uses, see, Old Lodge Skins awaits death, as does Jack, Wood, Robin, "Arthur Penn," Praeger Film Library (1969), p. 120-123, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, "Cinematic Treasures Named to National Film Registry", "Wild Bill Hickok is murdered — History.com This Day in History — 8/2/1876", "Curley is buried at Little Big Horn — History.com This Day in History — 5/23/1923", "7th Moscow International Film Festival (1971)", "Complete National Film Registry Listing | Film Registry | National Film Preservation Board | Programs at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress", "Reference to Mulligan reprising his Custer role in, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Little_Big_Man_(film)&oldid=978309616, United States National Film Registry films, Films based on works by Thomas Berger (novelist), Cultural depictions of George Armstrong Custer, American Western (genre) comedy-drama films, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2020, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2016, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Articles with unsourced statements from November 2018, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Ruben Moreno as Shadow That Comes in Sight, This page was last edited on 14 September 2020, at 03:56.

He prepares to commit suicide, but sees Custer and his troops marching nearby, and decides to return to his quest for revenge. She attempts to mold her brother into a gunslinger named "the Soda Pop Kid". Jack tricks Custer into leading his troops into a trap at the Little Bighorn (1876) by truthfully telling Custer of the overwhelming force of Native Americans hidden within the valley.

He is reluctant at first, but finally agrees. Having been adopted by the Cheyenne and reared in their culture, Crabb tells the Historian that he has perspective on both Caucasian and Native American life in the 19th century. I also wanted to show that not only were the Indians going to be destroyed, but they were also condemned to live. The film won a Special Mention at the 7th Moscow International Film Festival in 1971. Curley gave several variations of his participation in the battle, and the accuracy of his later recollections has been questioned. Jack's business partner turns out to be a thieving scoundrel. Hoffman was nominated as Best Actor by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. The traumatized Olga does not recognize Jack, who makes no attempt to make her remember him.

He recounts being captured and raised by indians, becoming a gunslinger, marrying an indian, watching her killed by General George Armstrong Custer, and becoming a scout for him at Little Big Horn. At 4:15 p.m., a gunslinger named Jack McCall walked in and shot Hickok in the back of the head.

Some interior and various footage was shot on Hollywood sets.
Disheartened, Jack withdraws from life and becomes the town drunk living in Deadwood, South Dakota for the next several years. Hickok is shot and killed while playing cards and, with his last breath, asks Jack to bring some money to a widow he was having an affair with.