Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson
A cynical Buffalo Bill hires Sitting Bull to exploit him and add his credibility to the distorted view of history presented in his Wild West Show.A cynical Buffalo Bill hires Sitting Bull to exploit him and add his credibility to the distorted view of history presented in his Wild West Show.A cynical Buffalo Bill hires Sitting Bull to exploit him and add his credibility to the distorted view of history presented in his Wild West Show.
- Awards
- 1 win
- Prentiss Ingraham
- (as Allan Nicholls)
- Oswald Dart
- (as Robert Doqui)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe film was entered into competition at the 26th Berlin International Film Festival in 1976, and won the top prize, the festival's Golden Bear. However, Robert Altman declined the award in protest over the re-cutting of the film at the hands of Executive Producer Dino De Laurentiis.
- GoofsSitting Bull joined Cody's show in 1885. The performing arena shows several Wyoming state flags, but Wyoming wasn't granted statehood until 1890, and that flag wasn't adopted until 1917.
- Quotes
William F. 'Buffalo Bill' Cody: My daddy was killed tryin' to keep slavery outta Kansas.
Oswald Dart: How'd he do that, sir?
William F. 'Buffalo Bill' Cody: Well, my daddy hated slavery with such a passion, that rather than let the coloreds get in to becomin' slaves, he just fought to keep 'em all out of the state.
- Crazy creditsRobert Altman's Absolutely Unique and Heroic Enterprise of Inimitable Lustrel
- ConnectionsFeatured in Luck, Trust & Ketchup: Robert Altman in Carver Country (1993)
- SoundtracksQui sola vergin rosa
Composed by Friedrich von Flotow
From his opera "Martha"
Performed by Evelyn Lear
The two biggest flaws, though, are these: Compared to most of Altman's films, much of the dialogue in this movie is very "stagy" and theatrical. I suppose it's supposed to be that way because of the questions of "myth" and "legend" that the story concerns itself with, but my impression was that such theatrical-sounding dialogue didn't mesh well with Altman's typically naturalistic style of filming.
The other problem I had is that the whole subject matter -- myth vs. reality, history vs. reality, show business vs. reality, etc. -- isn't really explored with any depth or subtlety. We're constantly being reminded that Buffalo Bill is a man who created his own legend out of lies, and that that is the basis of modern show business to this day, but really, that just didn't strike me as being a particularly insightful observation. This is hardly the first movie to point out that lies are often more "real" (or more attractive) than the truth, and Altman doesn't seem to bring anything new to the table.
Still, it's Altman, which means it's well-made, entertaining and beautiful to look at. I don't think this will ever be considered one of his major works but it's certainly worth a look.
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Buffalo Bill and the Indians
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $7,100,000 (estimated)
- Runtime2 hours 3 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1