Little Big Man

Continuity mistake: When Jack and Mrs. Pendrake meet in the whorehouse and talk through a screen of glass beads, Jack is standing very close to the screen, that's why it's out of focus when the camera is on her "looking through his eyes". However, in one shot it's not, and that looks quite strange because Jack hasn't moved away from the screen. (01:46:35)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: When the coach with Jack and Olga is chased by Indians the man on the coach box killed by an arrow in his back disappears and reappears. (00:50:25)

NancyFelix

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Mistakes

Factual error: The worst historical distortions in this film must concern legendary "Wild Bill" Hickock. First of all he wasn't killed by a teenage boy, but one John McCall, a man in his 30's. McCall sneaked behind Hickock who was in the middle of a poker game and shot him through the head killing him instantly. Secondly this took place on August 2 1876, about five weeks AFTER the Custer's Last Stand. (01:46:30)

S.Holmes

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Quotes

Younger Bear: I have a wife. And four horses.
Jack Crabb: I have a horse... and four wives.

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Questions

Question: In all honesty I have little (if any) anthropological knowledge of what life was like for Native Americans in the USA in the nineteenth century. But it seemed to me that, for much of the time, the Native Americans in the movie did not resemble the members of a 'hunter gatherer' society whose way of life was under threat from the onset of the modern industrial world. Instead the Native Americans seemed to live, act and behave much more like the members of a 1960's hippie commune. How accurate is that?

Rob Halliday

Answer: Some members of tribes like the Cheyenne joined in the 'modern' world to some extent, using guns and even putting on Western clothes and eating Western food. While nowhere near the technological nous of the white settlers, the natives were far from being hunter gatherers at this point.

Answer: Well observed sir! What you say is correct. I admit I probably was wrong in calling Native North Americans 'hunter gatherers' as I think some tribes had agriculture and permanent settlements well before Columbus ever reached the American Continent. I also think that the Cherokee consciously tried to adapt to modern life by building houses and becoming farmers. My point was more that it seemed to me that the portrayal of many Native Americans in Little Big Man did not seem historically accurate, but showed them as being more like 1960's hippies. But I am fully aware that this may have been intentional, since the film was giving a 1960's 'spin' on the legends of the 'Wild West'. But please, do not take my posts on this website too seriously. I am fully aware that this was a film made to entertain people, it was not meant to be a historical documentary. And it was the fictional recollections of a 121 year old man. And the film poster said 'Little Big Man was either the most neglected hero in history OR A liar of insane proportion', so you are invited to have your doubts about anything that happens in the film.

Rob Halliday

Rob, you may want to look into reading the novel the film was based on written by Thomas Berger. He wrote some pretty twisted stuff.

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