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Little Big Man is a 1970 film directed by Arthur Penn and based on the 1964 novel by Thomas Berger. It is a picaresque comedy and drama about a Caucasian boy raised by the Cheyenne nation during the 19th century. A major part of the film involves contrasting the lives of American pioneers and Native Americans.
The movie stars Dustin Hoffman, Chief Dan George, Faye Dunaway, Martin Balsam, Jeff Corey and Richard Mulligan. It is considered a Revisionist Western, with Native Americans receiving a sympathetic treatment uncommon for Western films in previous decades. Many of the United States Cavalry soldiers are depicted as villains.
Despite its satiric and comedic approach, the film has tragic elements and a clear social commentary about prejudice and injustice. Little Big Man is considered an example of anti-establishment films of the period subtly protesting America's involvement in the Vietnam War by portraying the U.S. Military in a condemnatory manner. Arthur Penn has also stated in an interview featured on a TCM promo that elements of the film were comments on genocide and the holocaust.
Jack Crabb is about 100 years old as the film begins. A collector of oral histories asks him about his past. 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. Written by John Vogel







