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Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History LessonRating:
Release Date: 08 May, 2001 Retail Price: $19.98 OUR Price: $17.98 You SAVE: $2.00! Cast: Complete Cast (8 total) |
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson Reviews
Beginner's Altman......
If you had never heard of Buffalo Bill or read e e cummings' poem, I think it is doubtful you would appreciate the satire of this Robert Altman film. As a teenager, I read a youth-oriented biography of Buffalo Bill, and from that gathered he was a "real" hero who killed and skinned lots of buffalo. Also around that time (1950s?) the musical `Annie Get Your Gun' with Ethyl Merman first wowed Broadway crowds and Doris Day made an Annie Oakley film (the title escapes me) that led folks to think kindly of Bill who gave her a job in his show. Bill was viewed as a sort-of early PT Barnum. Given my changing attitudes as I matured and came to understand the sick mentality and wanton ways of early Western Americans who killed wholesale, I have perhaps a better appreciation of Altman's effort. Even so, I don't find this film particularly entertaining (i.e. I won't waste time watching it again).
In those insensitive days of yore, "the only good Indian was a dead Indian" or so the cowboys in Western films often said. By 1976, when Altman first released BUFFALO BILL AND THE INDIANS, OR SITTING BULL'S HISTORY LESSON, many people's consciousness had been raised, but I seem to recall the film was not an overwhelming success, because many of us still did not quite understand the atrocities that had been committted. As a result, many of us really noticed Altman only a few years later when he made the film MASH.
This film BUFFALO BILL makes me feel sad because I was once so ignorant as to believe mistreatment of Indians was "the American Way." After all, I was a fan of "Death Valley Days" hosted on tv by the actor Ronald Reagan, who pointed out week after week "how the west was won." It would be years before someone made a satirical film of the same name.
This is not Paul Newman's best film. I guess by the 1970s he wanted to be seen as a serious actor, so he went out of his way to make films which did not feature him as male cheesecake. Newman has proved time and again he can do drama and comedy, but he's a lot funnier in "Rally Round the Flag" a leftest spoof of the Pentagon Brass.
The DVD is technically fine, and certainly if you are interested in Altman's progress as a director this is a good place to begin. Joel Grey, Geraldine Chapman and Burt Lancaster are featured in the film. The fellows who played the Indians were not provided credits on the DVD cover, though I think I saw their names briefly in the film credits.
One of Altman's best
I saw this film when it was first released in 1976 with two other people in the theater. Its beautiful to look at, funny (as only Robert Altman can be) and Altman gets great performances from his huge cast (Paul Newman, Joel Grey, Kevin McCarthy, and a nearly silent Shelly Duvall are wonderful). Don't expect history or any deep revelations. It gives you plenty to think about, and plenty of laughs along the way.
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