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Dustin Hoffman, Faye Dunaway, Martin Balsam, Richard Mulligan, Chief Dan George ... see more see more... , Jeff Corey , Kelly Jean Peters , Carol Androsky , Cal Bellini , Ray Dimas , Alan Howard , James Anderson , Jack Bannon , Don Brodie , Emily Cho , Bert Conway , Lou Cutell , Thayer David , Aimee Eccles , William Hickey , Phil Kenneally , Ken Mayer , Ruben Moreno , Jack Mullaney , Herbert Nelson , Alan Oppenheimer , Steve Shemayne , Robert Little Star , M. Emmet Walsh , Jesse Vint , Helen Verbit , Leonard George , Bud Cokes

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 stinging allegory about th... read more read more...e bloody results of American imperialism. As a misguided 20th-century historian listens, 121-year-old Jack Crabb (Dustin Hoffman) narrates the story of being the only white survivor of Custer's Last Stand. White orphan Crabb was adopted by the Cheyenne, renamed "Little Big Man," and raised in the ways of the "Human Beings" by paternal mentor Old Lodge Skins (Chief Dan George), accepting non-conformity and living peacefully with nature. Violently thrust into the white world, Jack meets a righteous preacher (Thayer David) and his wife (Faye Dunaway), tries to be a gunfighter under the tutelage of Wild Bill Hickock (Jeff Corey), and gets married. Returned to the Cheyenne by chance, Jack prefers life as a Human Being. The carnage wreaked by the white man in the Washita massacre and the lethal fallout from the egomania of General George A. Custer (Richard Mulligan) at Little Big Horn, however, show Crabb the horrific implications of Old Lodge Skins' sage observation, "There is an endless supply of White Men, but there has always been a limited number of Human Beings." ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

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84% liked it

16,273 ratings

Critics

96% liked it

25 critics

PG, 2 hr. 19 min.

Directed by: Arthur Penn

Release Date: December 14, 1970

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DVD Release Date: April 29, 2003

Stats: 787 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (787)

  • rubystevens
    September 29, 2010
    rubystevens
    one of the more unusual westerns ever made and one of my favorite films as a kid. starring dustin hoffman as a supposedly 121 yr old man, the only white survivor of the battle of the little big horn. ranging from black comedy to drama to slapstick and back, it's a highly entert... read moreaining picaresque and also one of the first films to address native american rights in any way. a bit dated now and i think dustin is probably miscast (his accent is particularly bad) but i still love it. and chief dan george is awesome! <3
  • mjgildea
    July 13, 2008
    mjgildea
    Dustin Hoffman turns out a great but overlooked performance as a 121 year-old man who tells his life story. Little Big Man is a good movie but has a tone that changes way too much for its own good. It hits everything from black comedy to slapstick to heartbreaking. Just like with... read more the movie Little Big Man is a precursor to, Dances With Wolves, I felt completely ashamed to be white. The Bill Hicock scenes were too few but at the same time great. Chief Dan George was amazing and had some of the best lines ("does she show pleasant enthusiasm when you mount her?"), the gay Indian/Native American (whatever your pleasure) was great and Faye Dunaway was very entertaining for the few brief moments she was in this movie.
  • garyX
    July 14, 2007
    garyX
    Essentially a vehicle for Dustin Hoffman, this is the changing face of the west told from the point of view of an old man reminiscing about his life (although you're never quite sure how much of this tall tale is actually true!). Part comedy, part comment on the treatment of nati... read moreve americans, it's always entertaining and Hoffman is great as a man caught between two conflicting worlds.
  • rb84
    December 8, 2011
    rb84
    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.

    The ambition of the film stands out - they really did try to capture the wonderful, un... read moreusual voice of the book - like True Grit, a standout book in the tradition of Twain. Hoffman is the only actor who could carry the part off, and he does it great justice, even if he is a bit mannered at times. Chief Dan George is unforgettable as his 'Grandfather.' Fay Dunaway is a fabulous Mrs. Pendrake -his lusty 'step-mother.' There is a great sense of beauty and calm in the shooting of this terrible tale of Indian massacre, and Penn tries hard to capture the spirit of the book.

    I'm afraid two things let the enterprise down a bit. One is the script from the normally excellent Calder Willingham (co-author of Paths of Glory and other outstanding films). He makes the Indians too nice, caught up in the revisionist spirit of the times. In Berger's book, make no mistake, the Indians were extremely violent, both to other Indians and white men. You know from the very beginning, when Jack's family is massacred by the Cheyenne and he is abducted - but in the film, by the Pawnee. Guess he did not want too much ambivalence, so the Indians are, pardon the expression, 'whitewashed.' Throughout the movie, white people are portrayed as depraved and crazy and Indians, somehow spiritual and nice (other than eating dog!). He's got Jack Crabb's voice, but not the true plot.

    The second thing is ketchup. There is too much of the stuff, and it looks terrible. Scenes of violence have become a lot more realistic, and this has more of the red stuff than a busy Saturday night at McDonalds.

    Nevertheless, it is well worth seeing, but is not a patch on the Coen Brother's new version of True Grit for capturing the era. It is more like the John Wayne version of this wonderful novel.
  • fb704730572
    December 3, 2011
    fb704730572
    Before there was Forrest Gump, there was Little Big Man, a film that gives its' satirical take on the wild west and the Indian wars through the eyes of one man, Dustin Hoffman. The tone is wildly erratic, which is to be expected to some extent for a satirical film, as it is part ... read moreblack comedy and part drama, but this does lead to some of the good dramatic moments being lost between the comedic scenes. The performances, however, are really strong all around, and there is some very funny moments and smart satire. The execution is also strong, which makes this strange mix ultimately hold together.
  • sayers1977
    June 9, 2011
    sayers1977
    An odd film that doesn't seem to know whether it should be aiming for comedy or tragedy at certain points. It's almost a mix of 'Forrest Gump' and 'Dances With Wolves' and both those have taken the best moments from this film. Hoffman is clearly enjoying himself in an early star ... read morerole and although the film goes on a little too long there is a lot to enjoy, as the film is quite episodic and if you don't enjoy one segment they'll be another soon to enjoy. Specail mention to Chief Dan George as Hoffman's 'Grandad'. A great moving and comedy performance. My only big gripe with the film is the sudden ending. Why couldn't the story carry on with Hoffman's character getting older? There is a large gap that demands for a sequel. Little-er Bigger Man?
  • DrStrangeblog
    October 14, 2010
    DrStrangeblog
    Here's the best advice you'll get all day: skip Dances With Wolves and watch this instead. Ahead of its time for its knowledgeable and sympathetic depiction of Indians, unflinching in the underhanded and brutal manner in which white man overran these United States. And y... read moreet still sprinkled with humor and grand-scale adventure, delivers the message clearly without sermonizing or using emotionally manipulative tactics, unlike that other Old West epic.
  • alush1
    January 20, 2008
    alush1
    Little Big Man starring Dustin Hoffman and the great Chief Dan George is a timeless piece of film genius.A film quite ahead of it's time in it's telling the story of how the west was won from the perspective of the Native North Americans.Reflects the tragedy of the American Holoc... read moreaust almost as well as the book Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.The film had a great book from which to work-Little Big Man and has elements of Dickensian humor throughout in displaying hypocracy,society in general and the shakiness of "history".A film that runs the gamut of emotions-skillfully blending comedy with tragedy long before it became a Hollywood fad.
  • ileo
    December 30, 2007
    ileo
    Hilarious!
  • KLFilmmaker
    December 9, 2007
    KLFilmmaker
    This is the Forest Gump of the 70's. Loved this as a kid and it still holds up.

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Critic Reviews

June 11, 2008
Variety

Might it be a serious attempt to right some unretrievable wrong via gallows humor which avoids the polemics? This seems to be the course taken; the attempt at least can be respected in theory. Full Review

Roger Ebert
October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

An endlessly entertaining attempt to spin an epic in the form of a yarn. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
September 30, 2010
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Arthur Penn offers a new take of the culture clash between the White men and Native Americans in this revisionist. satirical, tone-shifting Western starring Dustin Hoffman and Faye Dunaway. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
April 21, 2008
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Penn seems to have little feel for the Western genre, but despite that the amazing thing is that this mock epic Western came out as well as it did. Full Review

Elbert Ventura
August 30, 2003
Elbert Ventura, PopMatters

This outraged reconfiguration of an all-American genre may be set in the Wild West, but it's also very much a bulletin of its time. Full Review

Scott Weinberg
August 26, 2003
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com

Easily one of the most entertaining (and presently overlooked) Westerns of the early 1970s. Full Review

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
May 9, 2003
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

A picaresque masterpiece about an inimitable American anti-hero whose wild adventures are delivered into our hearts and minds with the robust vitalities of comedy. Full Review

John A. Nesbit
May 9, 2003
John A. Nesbit, Old School Reviews

truly magical movie that works well Full Review

John J. Puccio
May 3, 2003
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis

One of Dustin Hoffman's best films, one of Arthur Penn's best films, and one of Hollywood's best films. Full Review

Matt Brunson
May 2, 2003
Matt Brunson, Creative Loafing

One of the great films of the early 70s.

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Facts

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    • Shotgun Guard: Goodby, Hello.
    • Old Lodge Skins: Sometimes the magic works, sometimes it doesn't.
    • Burns Red In The Sun: There is a pain between my ears that I do not understand.
    • Jack Crabb: Might I ask who I are addressin'?
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Little Big Man Trivia

  • In what movie did Dennis Hoffman play a man who spent his entire life growing up between the Native American "Human Beings" and the western settlers?  Answer »
  • Who starred in the movie "Little Big Man?"  Answer »
  • Who Connects The Graduate , Little Big Man, Papillion, Lenny, Rain Man ?  Answer »
  • Chief Dan George is known for quite a few movies - "Shadow of the Hawk", and "Little Big Man", to name two - and he has portrayed Native American characters of different nations and tribes.... but what Native American nation is he really from?   Answer »
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