Arthur Penn (The Left Handed Gun, Bonnie and Clyde, The Missouri Breaks) directs Calder Willingham’s screenplay based on Thomas Berger’s 1964 novel of the same name about Jack Crabb (Dustin Hoffman), who lives through a series of Wild West misadventures. The film is framed as a 121-year-old Crabb narrates his life story to a historian (William Hickey) as his memories play out in flashback.
LITTLE BIG MAN
What’s it rated? PG-13
When? Monday, Oct. 13, at 5:30 p.m.
Where’s it showing? The Bay Theatre of Morro Bay
We meet Crabb in 1859 as a 10-year-old surviving an Indian massacre. Through his long life, he’s taken in by the Cheyenne and raised by tribal leader Old Lodge Skins (Chief Dan George). Later he returns to “white” society and goes through a series of reinventions including an apprentice snake oil salesman, a gunslinger, a merchant, a muleskinner, a trapper, and a hermit. We follow as he meets Wild Bill Hickok (Jeff Corey) and George Armstrong Custer (Richard Mulligan). The sweeping revisionist Western epic also stars Faye Dunaway, Martin Balsam, and M. Emmet Walsh.
The tall tale mixes farce with (often inaccurate) history and is consistently amusing as it follows the less-than-brave exploits of Crabb as it re-examines Old West mythology. It’s also notable for its humanizing portrayal of Native American culture. (139 min.) ∆
This article appears in Oct 9-19, 2025.