The Cavalier daily :: Wednesday, April 14, 1971 :: University of Virginia Library

We sit in the darkness, hushed as
the withered face slowly speaks. "I
knew Custer for what he was, and
the Indians for what they was," He
is Jack Crabb, the only white
survivor of the Battle of the Little
Big Horn.

We don't realize the powerful
effect this narrator has on us as he
begins his fantastic life story. We
will believe everything he says as his
image fades and dissolves into the
scene of his rescue by the
Cheyenne.

"Little Big Man" is not really a
film — it is a dream on a long strip
of plastic material that comes to
life when light flickers through it. It
comes to life when Dustin
Hoffman's phenomenal energy
bursts across the screen. It comes to
life when Arthur Penn's direction is
mystical, nostalgic, and humorous.

* * *

Jack Crabb, the American
innocent. Novelist Thomas Berger's
interpretation of Voltaire's Candide
out West. He is Tom Sawyer and
Huck Finn. Jack Crabb, however, is
the voice of naivete hardened by
disillusion and experience. He is a
man of a thousand faces and a
thousand trades. He tells us his life
as both a white man and a "human
being," a Cheyenne Indian.

Four Of The Many Faces Of Dustin Hoffman As Jack Crabb In "Little Big Man"

To say Dustin Hoffman's
performance as Crabb is excellent
would be to restrict this actor's skill
with typical critical rhetoric.
Hoffman has not only produced
his best screen performance, but
one which I believe will be
considered a classic by film
historians. Witness his droll humor
during Crabb's "gunfighter period,"
where Hoffman's style is
reminiscent of silent comedians. Or
simply watch the expressionable
qualities of his face, the mobility of
it. The portrayal of Crabb, like
Scott's creation for "Patton," is a
total, believable character,
dominating the film.

The supporting cast is highly
efficient in supplying the
background of characters that
criss-cross through Jack's life. Chief
Dan George gives one of the most
memorable performances of the
year as Liveskins, adopted
grandfather to Crabb. One other
noticeable performers was Richard
Mulligan as a flamboyant Custer.
Faye Dunaway appears to have
slightly scratched the surface of
Mrs. Pendrake and plays her in a
stereotyped manner which upsets
the performances of the other
players. Martin Balsam handles his
small part of Allarydice T.
Merriweather with a flair that was
absent from his role in "Catch-22."

Functional Script

Calder Willingham's script is
functional, which is not to demean
its importance in the film. The
script functions well for the
director, in that it covers material
that Penn has dealt with before and
makes it seem fresh and new, while
opening other areas for the
director's craft to work upon. The
film was shot by Larry Stradling in
a manner that makes the scenery
look real, yet somehow unnatural.
There is a curious quality captured
in each frame, a quality which
resembles a fusion of a museum
diorama and a dream-vision. Editor
Dede Allen has quite an
achievement in the first hour of the
film, but the remainder of the film
appears to be sluggish and heavy.
The passage of time is never evident
in the first half of the film, whereas
the last part of the film seems
obsessively conscious of time.

Arthur Penn's direction is... (is a
case study of a masterpiece that
didn't turn out as great as it should
have? Or is it an example of an epic
style? Or am I and others so totally
wrapped up with the "auteur"
theory that "direction" now means
"theme," or message?

* * *

Arthur Penn didn't attract much
attention until 1967 when "Bonnie
and Clyde" was panned by Time
magazine one week, then given
cover treatment two weeks later. It
was around this time that I recall a
surge of American journals claiming
movies were art. (Now there are
"film" critics and "movie" critics
according to John Simon — I
maintain our generation's strong
interest in "the film as art," or "the
cinema" would never have
developed to the current level of
acceptance if the press hadn't told
us movies were works of art.)

"Bonnie and Clyde" an
American tragedy of comedy and
violence. Two years later in 1969,
Penn directed "Alice's Restaurant"
which is perhaps his most complex
and demanding film. Both these
films lead to "Little Big Man," and
in places, their influence is felt in
whole scenes.

Faye Dunaway's mere presence
recalls "Bonnie and Clyde,"
although it would be stretching the
mind to find a justifiable similarity
between the two characters she
portrayed. The sexual curiosity
surrounding weapons and the
power of the gun are vividly
portrayed when Caroline teaches
Jack how to shoot and squeals with
ecstasy when he develops his skill.
The stagecoach hijacking is filmed,
edited and musically scored in a
manner which was used during the
hold-ups and getaways of "Bonnie
and Clyde."

Gentle Characterization

The Cheyenne are portrayed
with a type of gentle humor that
characterized Penn's treatment of
the youths in "Alice's Restaurant."
Jack Crabb is not exactly an Arlo
Guthrie, yet his voice also leads us
through the film. He, however
knows much more concerning the
events than Arlo did in his film.

Penn's handling of the "Alice's
Restaurant" plot was both
sympathetic and critical of the
protagonists. In "Little Big Man"
this balance is essential but not
used sufficiently. Jack Crabb says,
"I knew Custer for what he was and
the Indian for what he was." As I
saw the film, the cards were slightly
stacked in the Indians' favor, while
whites were the villains.

(Perhaps Jack shouldn't have
narrated his entire story? Penn
seemed to drop Arlo after a while,
when he chose to place more
emphasis on the story of Ray and
Alice. In "Little Big Man" it
appears that not only does Dustin
Hoffman portray Jack Crabb, but
Penn, through his direction, does so
also.)

Can we take everything Jack
Crabb says as a fact? When speaking
of Custer, he says the General's
hatred of the Indian and his
personal ambition had become
fused. Custer felt he needed one
major Indian battle to clinch the
nomination for the Presidency, and
that "that is a true historical fact."
The statement seems to be thrown
in for reassurance that we can (and
are expected to) believe Crabb. I
want to believe him, but I
remember how often he lies
throughout the film.

Arthur Penn's direction is
excellent. There is a flair which
typified "Bonnie and Clyde," and
"Alice's Restaurant" that is used
extensively in "Little Big Man." My
only complaint is that visually the
Battle of the Little Big Horn is not
exciting. Sine this is the climax of
the film, I thought Penn would
have created a more memorable
battle than the one now seen.

(Continued On Page 4)