Little Big Man

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Little Big Man

PG-13

1970

2h 30m

Western

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

91%

Tomatometer

79 Reviews

87%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

When a curious oral historian (William Hickey) turns up to hear the life story of 121-year-old Jack Crabb (Dustin Hoffman), he can scarcely believe his ears. Crabb tells of having been rescued and raised by the Cheyenne, of working as a snake-oil salesman, as a gunslinger, and as a mule skinner under Gen. Custer (Richard Mulligan). As if those weren't astonishing enough, he also claims to be the only white survivor of the infamous Battle of the Little Bighorn.

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Critics Consensus

An ambitious tall tale that boldly meshes farce with historical tragedy, Little Big Man is both an amusing comedic showcase and a persuasive political statement.

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Stefan Kanfer

TIME Magazine

Nov 10, 2023

The '70s has its first great epic. Blood brother to the 1903 one-reeler, The Great Train Robbery, Little Big Man is the new western to begin all westerns.

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Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

Nov 10, 2023

You wind up disappointed, wishing you'd liked it better. It goes wrong in a subtle way -- the wrongness seeping into your bones, so that when the movie is over, you don't really feel like talking about it.

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David Denby

The Atlantic

Nov 10, 2023

Leaving aside the question of Penn's altering the tone of the movie according to who is being slaughtered, I question the artistic and political ethics of building up the desire for revenge in the audience.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Nov 6, 2025

4/4

One of the great films of the 1970s.

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Kat Halstead

Common Sense Media

Jan 17, 2024

Adapted from an epic novel into an equally epic film, this is a Hoffman vehicle that sees the actor gallop through endless guises like an extended audition tape.

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Ben Wood

Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Nov 10, 2023

What makes this message picture succeed is its comedy, which Hoffman and the fine supporting cast handle so well. Penn makes us laugh instead of cry, even though blood runs like water.

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Robert P

@Superbad Sep 19, 2026

I own this movie on DVD thus my 4.5 star Rating!

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Moe A

@MrMoe74 Sep 5, 2026

I saw it when I was a kid and loved it - I need to see it again tho

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Max M

@Househuntermax Aug 6, 2026

I like the concept and what they’re trying to do here. But I’ve never been much of a Dustin Hoffman fan so this overly long movie wasn’t for me.

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Alec B

@Alec97 Apr 15, 2026

One of Hollywood's transitional Westerners, made when one view of manifest destiny was shifting to another (or really several others). As a result this movie doesn't feel like it was made to fulfill any mandates or sensibilities. I've known a number of old men who talk exactly the way the voice over narration here sounds, so it feels honest to me even if the picaresque plot often seems ridiculous.

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Leaburn O

@RT35452347 Aug 31, 2025

An alternative Western but one of the very best of its genre. Hoffman is outstanding. The comedy is light but beautifully timed. It’s such a fun drama that you can’t help but stay engaged throughout. A fantastic film that ages well. Watched on DVD.

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Bobby B

@RT44852718 Aug 15, 2025

When this movie first came out i was ten years old and saw it in the theater. I was overwhelmed by the realism of the scenes and the whole pov of the Indians. The clubbing and eating of the dog, the heart-lung shot that spewed blood. It wasn't your typical western with the cowboys vs the indians. I was quite blown away by the whole thing. 50 years later, I went back and saw it again. I couldn't watch the whole thing. Like a lot of movies and actors that I adored when i was young, the years haven't been good to it. Now, I see through the contrived, dated story line. So many things have been done better since the time of this movie. I realise more and more how brainwashed we all were by the inherent cultural zeitgeist in the media of the late 60s and early 70s. It was partly driven by commercial influences. The westerns that i truly love now are the spaghetti westerns that can laugh at themselves.

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Arthur Penn

Director

Dustin Hoffman

Jack Crabb

Faye Dunaway

Mrs. Pendrake

Chief Dan George

Old Lodge Skins

Martin Balsam

Mr. Merriweather

Richard Mulligan

Gen. George Armstrong Custer

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Synopsis

When a curious oral historian (William Hickey) turns up to hear the life story of 121-year-old Jack Crabb (Dustin Hoffman), he can scarcely believe his ears. Crabb tells of having been rescued and raised by the Cheyenne, of working as a snake-oil salesman, as a gunslinger, and as a mule skinner under Gen. Custer (Richard Mulligan). As if those weren't astonishing enough, he also claims to be the only white survivor of the infamous Battle of the Little Bighorn.

Director: Arthur Penn
Producer: Stuart Millar
Screenwriter: Calder Willingham
Production Co: Cinema Center Films
Rating: PG-13 (Some Sexual Content|Intense Battle Sequences)
Genre: Western
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 14, 1970, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 4, 2019
Runtime: 2h 30m

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