Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976)

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Directed by Robert Altman.

Starring Joel Grey, Harvey Keitel, Allan Nicholls, Kevin McCarthy, Paul Newman.

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"Truth is whatever gets the loudest applause." Debunking western myths even more than he did in McCabe and Mrs. Miller (1971), Robert Altman's Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976) sardonically explores the gap between western history and legend in show biz-obsessed America. Megalomaniac "Buffalo Bill" Cody (Paul Newman) assumes the legend created for him by writer Ned Buntline (Burt Lancaster), aided and abetted by his producer (Joel Grey) and his publicist (Kevin McCarthy), perpetuating myths of white triumph over savage "Injuns" in his Wild West show, as audiences cheer him on and buy his merchandise. But when Sitting Bull (Frank Kaquitts) joins the troupe with his interpreter (Will Sampson), his request for authenticity threatens to throw a wrench into the proceedings. Regardless of how Bill may feel about the facts, he must bow to the preferences of the paying public. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

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Buffalo Bill and the Indians, o ...
by CinemaRian in CinemaRian Blog

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"It is inevitable that Buffalo Bill and the Indians will be compared to McCabe and Mrs. Miller, and its also inevitable that the former movie will lose in that comparison. But Robert Altman's second revisionist Western has lots of problems of its own, and even setting aside the earlier masterpiece, it's frankly a poor effort. Based on a play by Arthur Kopit simply called Indians, Altman's adaption centers around the famous showman "Buffalo Bill" Cody, who is played in an unlikely bit of casting by Paul Newman. The movie is inspired one the strangest episodes in American show business. After surrendering to the government and being imprisoned for years, the Sioux chief Sitting Bull (Frank Kaquitts) briefly joined Cody's show, apparently to make some extra cash, or perhaps (as the film speculates) to show the white people how bad the Sioux really were treated. We are not surprised when an inevitable culture clash occurs- Cody refuses to see Sitting Bull as the leader of another na ... " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

is neutral about it.

Exploring thematic terrain similar to Nashville (1975), Robert Altman and co-writer Alan Rudolph turn Arthur Kopit's play Indians into a blunt indictment of contemporary pop culture and the fallacies of western pop history. The star may perpetuate lies to sell tickets, but the audience buys those tickets and worships the star's "heroic" image, guaranteeing that the lies, and their legacy of Native American abuse, will endure. Altman denies a similar star- worshipping satisfaction to his movie audience, obscuring his own star with facial hair and few close shots (as he did with Warren Beatty in McCabe and Mrs. Miller), even as Paul Newman's presence also lends Buffalo Bill "star quality." Audiences and critics did not look kindly on Altman's schematic critique, ensuring that Buffalo Bill and the Indians' ironic view of American history-making was little seen in its Bicentennial year release. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Tags: nativeamerican , conscam , courage , frontier , imperialism
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