Plot
The story begins in 1885 with the arrival of an important new guest star in Buffalo Bill Cody's grand illusion, Sitting Bull, Chief Sitting Bull of Battle of the Little Bighorn, Little Big Horn fame. Much to Cody's annoyance, Sitting Bull proves not to be 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.Cast
* Paul Newman as Buffalo Bill * Geraldine Chaplin as Annie Oakley * Burt Lancaster as Ned Buntline * Kevin McCarthy (actor), Kevin McCarthy as Major Burke * Joel Grey as Nate Salisbury * Harvey Keitel as Ed Goodman * John Considine (actor), John Considine as Frank E. Butler * Frank Kaquitts as Sitting Bull * Will Sampson as Halsey * Pat McCormick (actor), Pat McCormick as Grover Cleveland, President Grover Cleveland * Shelley Duvall as Frances Cleveland, Mrs. Grover Cleveland * Allan F. Nicholls as Prentiss Ingraham * Robert DoQui as Oswald Dart * Evelyn Lear as Nina Cavallini * Mike Kaplan as Jules Keen * Bert Remsen as Crutch * Bonnie Leaders as The Mezzo-Contralto * Noelle Rogers as Lucille DuCharme * Denver Pyle as McLaughlin * Ken Krossa as Johnny Baker * Fred N. Larsen as Buck Taylor * Jerri Duce as The Cowboy Trick Rider * Joy Duce as The Cowboy Trick Rider * Alex Green as The Mexican Whip and Fast Draw Act * Gary MacKenzie as The Mexican Whip and Fast Draw Act * Humphrey Gratz as The Old Soldier * Dennis Corrie as Rancher * Patrick Reynolds (actor), Patrick Reynolds as President Cleveland's AideAltman's interpretation
Like many of Altman's films, ''Buffalo Bill and the Indians'' is an ensemble cast, 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", 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. Most of the film was shot on location in Alberta, Canada, mostly on the Stoney 142, 143, 144, Alberta, Stoney Indian Reserve. Frank "Sitting Wind" Kaquitts, who played Sitting Bull, had been elected the first ever chief of Alberta's Nakoda (Stoney) First Nation, after three bands had amalgamated the year before.Critical reception
A preview showing in New York in May 1976 received a mixed reaction from the press. Following this, Altman recut the film slightly by removing a few of the Wild West show acts. Charles Champlin of the ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote that "[Altman's] films are sometimes pretentious and sometimes exasperating, but they are not often boring, although his latest, 'Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson' is all three." He went on, "using Newman as neither villainous, heroic nor romantic but only as a fairly uninteresting lout seems a dire waste, and there is an air of low-energy distraction throughout 'Buffalo Bill.' For the last 20 minutes it is as if nobody knew how to get off that dusty reservation but would have been glad to." Arthur D. Murphy of ''Variety (magazine), Variety'' wrote that the film "emerges as a puerile satire on the legends of the Buffalo Bill era, silly when it's not cynical, distasteful throughout its 123 minutes. Paul Newman has rarely been seen so badly." Gary Arnold of ''The Washington Post'' stated, "Everyone who cares about Altman's work should find 'Buffalo Bill' an interesting and intriguing experience, but in the last analysis it's an emotionally empty, alienating movie, an ill-advised attempt to project a cynical, apprehensive view of the present onto the past." Jonathan Rosenbaum of ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' wrote that "Altman appears to know a lot more about show business than about the American Indian, and what he knows about the former mainly consists of behavioral observation; by scaling this observation down exclusively to what illustrates his thesis—the hollow fakery of Buffalo Bill and his followers—he thus allows himself precious little to work with, thematically or otherwise. Within five minutes, everything he has to say on the subject is apparent." Among positive reviews, Vincent Canby of ''The New York Times'' wrote, "It's a sometimes self-indulgent, confused, ambitious movie that is often very funny and always fascinating." Gene Siskel of the ''Chicago Tribune'' gave the film a full four out of four stars, writing that while the film's ideas weren't anything special, "Altman's movies are innovative. They surprise us with their physical beauty, their wit, and their style. 'Buffalo Bill's few pompous moments are overwhelmed by the fluid energy of the piece." Penelope Gilliatt of ''The New Yorker'' identified the film as being "about sorts of dreams ... perhaps it is true that white men tend to dream only of things going well, whereas Indians, like many aboriginal people, dream of death, initiation, possibility; the rock face on which waking life has no purchase." On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 71% based on 17 reviews, with an average rating of 6.50/10.Awards
In 1976, the film was entered into the 26th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Bear.References
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