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Under the Influence:
Arthur Penn and Little Big Man
Director Arthur Penn (center) with actor Jeff Corey (left) who appeared as Wild Bill Hickock in Little Big Man and director Alexander Payne (right). (Photo: Joe Coomber)
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In October the DGA's Special Projects Committee put on the latest installment in the "Under the Influence: A Dialogue About Films From the '70s" screening. This time they showcased Arthur Penn's 1970 classic Little Big Man starring Dustin Hoffman, Faye Dunaway, Martin Balsam and Chief Dan George. Moderating the discussion with Penn was director Alexander Payne, Citizen Ruth (1996) and Election (1999).
After working in television for NBC's Gulf Playhouse and the Philco Television Playhouse, Penn moved to the prestigious Playhouse 90 where he directed The Miracle Worker. Penn went on to direct the feature version of The Miracle Worker (1962) starring Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke, garnering him his first Academy Award nomination for Best Director. Other films include Mickey One (1965), The Chase (1966), Wait Until Dark (1966) and his Oscar-nominated Bonnie and Clyde(1967), one the keystone films that continues to influence filmmakers today. After receiving his third Oscar nomination for Alice's Restaurant(1969), Penn directed Little Big Man.
What follows are some of the
highlights of the Q&A between Penn and Payne.
How did this film come to be?
I sat on the script for six years and couldn't get it made and I was hot as a pistol. I did Bonnie and Clyde, Alice's Restaurant. What happened was the heads of the studios would be interested and then they would give it to their accounting department or whomever and come back with this astronomical budget. That deterred it from being made for six years. There was also a big prejudice at the point about a film that was sympathetic toward the Indians. Then there was this enormous change and we finished the film for $12 million.
How did you do that? The reason
that I ask, it looks like you shot so many days using so many extras.
You were able to command the
elements, the skies you wanted, snow. That takes time. I have no idea how one goes about doing that on that budget.
First, you have a lot of good luck. Second, you have a really sympathetic crew and cast. People became politicized and believed in the film. Adversity can be your friend or your enemy. That's what we had here.
How did you prepare for this? What is your interest in the Western? How did you prepare as a director for this film?
This is a series of little achievements strung together. That's all it was. I don't want to sound falsely modest. There is a glory to the aesthetics. It's some kind of feeling being at the Little Big Horn and yelling "Action." Wow. I was dazzled. I was just as dazzled there as I was watching it.
I remember talking to Dustin Hoffman a few weeks ago about the first time he met Chief Dan George. Hoffman took his hand and Chief Dan George said, "Where's Faye Dunaway?"
Well, he was a man of good appetites.
How close is the movie to the screenplay?
A lot of it was close to the screenplay.
A screenplay as Harold Clurman said, 'It's not a play, it's a text,' until the actors do it, it's just a text. It all emerged
and then you have the blessings of a great editor.
What about wrangling the Indian extras for the battle scenes?
We were on the Crow reservation in Montana and the Crows didn't have a good reputation like we painted the Pawnee. They were turncoat and didn't have tribal cohesiveness. But the chance for them to revisit the battle of Little Big Horn was so irresistible. They would do things like, in the great charge there was a steep ridge the horseman came down, and two hundred showed up to do it. I showed them what it was and put in a few stunt men and they all said they could do it. We roll and I said, "Action" and over the cliff they came, tumbling off the horses, the horses tumbling. It was a sight. It was their passion. The passions came so high that one of the Crow took the rubber tip off an arrow and shot our stunt man blinding his eye. The battlefield was just vibrating with energy. It was scary so I was worried about the actors. The whole film was a testament to the skill of American crews, stuntmen and actors.
-Bill Kelman
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