Little Big Man
Short description
Little Big Man is a Western that unfolds as a life story told in retrospect. Its narrator is Jack Crabb, a man of extreme old age who recounts how, as a boy, he was taken in and raised by Cheyenne Indians after his pioneer family was lost. He is given the name Little Big Man, spends years among the tribe, then returns to white society, where he moves through a series of occupations and keeps drifting back and forth between the two worlds. His path eventually brings him into contact with General George Armstrong Custer and the campaign that ends at the Little Big Horn, where he is present at the battle.
Arthur Penn directed the film, which followed Bonnie and Clyde in his filmography, from a screenplay by Calder Willingham and a production by Stuart Millar. Dustin Hoffman plays Jack Crabb, with Faye Dunaway as Mrs. Louise Pendrake, Chief Dan George as Old Lodge Skins, Martin Balsam as Mr. Merriweather, Richard Mulligan as Custer and Jeff Corey as Wild Bill Hickok. The production had a budget of 15 million dollars and took in 32 million dollars worldwide.
Critics rated it 8 out of 10 across 80 reviews, while on TMDB it holds 7.4 out of 10 from 741 votes, indicating broad approval from both professional reviewers and audiences. The film mixes adventure, comedy and drama within its Western setting and runs 139 minutes.
What's left behind the scenes
- To play the old man, Dustin Hoffman spent five hours in the makeup chair.
- Marlon Brando was supposed to play the role of the Chief, but he refused, and the role went to Chief Dan George.
- To speak with the raspy voice of a 120-year-old man, Dustin Hoffman locked himself in the dressing room and screamed at the top of his lungs for over an hour.
- In December 2014, the film was added to the U.S. National Film Registry, possessing cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance.
- Legendary makeup artist Dick Smith conceived and created a latex mask for the elderly Crabb (played by Dustin Hoffman) that even allowed the actor to blink. For the early 1970s, this was a truly revolutionary invention. After watching the film later, Smith was deeply disappointed that Hoffman's face was never shown in a close-up on screen.
- In this film, Dustin Hoffman set an absolute record for the age range of a character played by a single actor in one production. Hoffman plays his hero from the age of 16 to the age of 120.
- Amy Eccles, who played the Native American wife of the main character, is of Chinese descent.
- Plans to film this movie first became known in 1965 (Arthur Penn was to direct and Calder Willingham was to be the screenwriter), but nothing came of it at the time. In 1967, Penn's crime action film 'Bonnie and Clyde' was released; it was such a box-office success that Penn was able to easily revive the shelved project, especially once the recently popular Dustin Hoffman agreed to play Crabb.
- During the attacks at Washita River and Little Bighorn in the film, the tune “Garry Owen” plays – the official hymn of the Seventh Cavalry Regiment, commanded by General Custer.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
