Robert Altman directed Buffalo Bill and the Indians (aka “Sitting Bull’s History Lesson”), a revisionist Western film, largely scripted by Alan Rudolph, and inspired by Arthur Kopit’s 1968 play, “Indians.”
Grade: B
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Theatrical release poster
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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.
The feature was shot in Panavision by cinematographer Paul Lohmann.
The loose, episodic narrative centers on the performances and behind-the-scenes intrigues of Buffalo Bill Cody’s famous “Wild West Show,” a popular 1880s spectacle that starred the former Indian fighter, scout and buffalo hunter.
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.
Sitting Bull proves that he was not a murdering savage but a quietly heroic man, an embodiment of what the whites convinced themselves to believe–via propaganda and delusion–about their own history.
Sitting Bull also refuses to portray Custer’s Last Stand as a cowardly sneak attack. Instead, he asks to act out the massacre of a peaceful Sioux village by marauding bluecoats.
The inclination to fire him is reversed, when the star of the show, Annie Oakley (Shelley Duvall), sides with Sitting Bull.
Altman skewers American historical myths of heroism, in this case the particular notion that it’s the noble white men fighting bloodthirsty savages who had won the West.
He uses the setting to criticize Old West motifs, dissecting the western hero as a showbiz creation who can no longer distinguish between his fabricated image and factual reality.
The film was poorly received at the time of its release, when the country was in more celebratory mood during its bicentennial. To wit: the crowd-pleasing Rocky won the 1976 Best Picture Oscar!
And it did not help that Buffalo Bill came out after Altman’s 1975 masterpiece, Nashville.
A big commercial flop, it failed to recoup its production budget.
About Buffalo Bill
William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846 – January 10, 1917), better known as Buffalo Bill, was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman.
One of the most famous figures of the American Old West, Cody started his legend at the young age of 23. Shortly thereafter he started performing in shows that displayed cowboy themes and episodes from the frontier and Indian Wars.
He founded Buffalo Bill’s Wild West in 1883, taking his large company on tours in the United States and, beginning in 1887, in Europe.
*AMOUR: Abandoned, Misunderstood, Overlooked, Underestimated, Revisited.
Cast
Paul Newman as Buffalo Bill, credited as “The Star”
Geraldine Chaplin as Annie Oakley, credited as “The Sure Shot”
Burt Lancaster as Ned Buntline, credited as “The Legend Maker”
Kevin McCarthy as Major John M. Burke, credited as “The Publicist”
Joel Grey as Nate Salsbury, credited as “The Producer”
Harvey Keitel as Ed Goodman, credited as “The Relative”
John Considine as Frank E. Butler, credited as “The Sure Shot’s Manager”
Frank Kaquitts as Sitting Bull, credited as “The Indian”
Will Sampson as William Halsey, credited as “The Interpreter”
Pat McCormick as President Grover Cleveland, credited “President of U.S.
Shelley Duvall as Mrs. Frances Cleveland, credited as “The First Lady”
Allan F. Nicholls as Prentiss Ingraham, credited as “The Journalist”
Robert DoQui as Oswald Dart, credited as “The Wrangler”
Evelyn Lear as Nina Cavallini, credited as “The Lyric Soprano”
Credits:
Directed by Robert Altman
Screenplay by Alan Rudolph, Altman, based on Indians by Arthur Kopit
Produced by Dino De Laurentis
Cinematography Paul Lohmann
Edited by Peter Appleton, Dennis M. Hill
Music by Richard Baskin
Distributed by United Artists (USA); Dino De Laurentiis Productions (overseas)
Release date: June 24, 1976 (US)
Running time: 123 minutes
Budget $7.1 million
Box office $7.2 million
