Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson
| Buffalo Bill and the Indians | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Robert Altman |
| Produced by | Dino De Laurentis |
| Written by |
Alan Rudolph Robert Altman |
| Starring |
Paul Newman Joel Grey Kevin McCarthy Harvey Keitel Will Sampson Allan F. Nicholls Geraldine Chaplin John Considine Burt Lancaster Bert Remsen Evelyn Lear |
| Music by | Richard Baskin |
| Cinematography | Paul Lohmann |
| Edited by | Peter Appleton Dennis M. Hill |
| Distributed by |
United Artists (USA) Dino De Laurentiis Productions (overseas) |
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Release date
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Running time
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123 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson is a 1976 revisionist Western directed by Robert Altman and based on the play Indians by Arthur Kopit. It stars Paul Newman as William F. Cody, alias Buffalo Bill, along with Geraldine Chaplin, Will Sampson, Joel Grey, Harvey Keitel and Burt Lancaster as Bill's biographer, Ned Buntline.
As in his earlier film MASH, Altman skewers an American historical myth of heroism, in this case the notion that noble white men fighting bloodthirsty savages won the West. However, the film was poorly received at the time of its release, as the country was celebrating its bicentennial.
The story begins in 1885 with the arrival of an important new guest star in Buffalo Bill Cody's grand illusion, Chief Sitting Bull of Little Big Horn fame. Much to Cody's annoyance, Sitting Bull proves not to be a murdering savage but a genuine embodiment of what the whites believe about their own history out west. He is quietly heroic and morally pure.
Sitting Bull also refuses to portray Custer's Last Stand as a cowardly sneak attack. Instead, he asks Cody to act out the massacre of a peaceful Sioux village by marauding bluecoats. An enraged Cody fires him but is forced to relent when star attraction Annie Oakley takes Sitting Bull's side.
Like many of Altman's films, Buffalo Bill and the Indians is an ensemble piece with an episodic structure. It follows the day to day performances and behind-the-scenes intrigues of Buffalo Bill Cody's famous "Wild West Show", a hugely popular 1880s entertainment spectacular that starred the former Indian fighter, scout and buffalo hunter. Altman uses the setting to criticize Old West motifs, presenting the eponymous western hero as a show-biz creation who can no longer separate his invented image from reality.
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Wikipedia