Main Cast: Paul Newman, Joel Grey, Kevin McCarthy, Harvey Keitel, Allan Nicholls
Release Year: 1976
Country: US
Run Time: 123 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
"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
Review
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
Jack Maxsted - Art Director, Bob Eggenweiler - Associate Producer, Anthony Powell - Costume Designer, Tommy Thompson - First Assistant Director, Robert Altman - Director, Peter Appleton - Editor, Dennis M. Hill - Editor, David Susskind - Executive Producer, Richard Baskin - Composer (Music Score), Monty Westmore - Makeup, Tony Masters - Production Designer, Paul Lohmann - Cinematographer, Robert Altman - Producer, Jim Webb - Sound/Sound Designer, Richard Portman - Sound/Sound Designer, Chris McLaughlin - Sound/Sound Designer, Robert Altman - Screenwriter, Alan Rudolph - Screenwriter, Arthur Kopit - Play Author
The film was poorly received at the time of its release, when the country was celebrating its bicentennial.[citation needed] As in MASH, Altman skewers an American historical myth of heroism, in this case the notion that noble white men fighting bloodthirsty savages won the West.
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 to be not 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.
Altman's Cody is a loud-mouthed buffoon, a man who claims to be one with the Wild West but lives in luxury, play-acting daily in a western circus of his own making. Cody’s long hair is a wig, he can't shoot straight anymore or track an Indian, and all his staged battles with ruffians and savages are rigged in his favor. However, this does not keep him from acting as if his triumphs are real, or plaguing his patient entourage of yes-men with endless monologues about himself.
