Daily Dialogue — May 13, 2013

“I am, beyond a doubt, the last of the old-timers. My name is Jack Crabb. And I am the sole white survivor of the Battle of Little Big Horn, uh, uh, popularly known as Custer’s Last Stand.”

— Little Big Man (1970), screenplay by Calder Willingham, novel by Thomas Berger

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is recounting a legend, courtesy of alexmatu. Today’s suggestion by Barbara Thomas.

Trivia: Dustin Hoffman was entered into The Guinness Book of World Records as “Greatest Age Span Portrayed By A Movie Actor” for Little Big Man in which he portrayed a character from age 17 to age 121.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary from Barbara: “When I saw this theme, I immediately thought of one of my all time favorite films, Little Big Man (1970). In the opening, it seems that Jack Crabb (Dustin Hoffman) is going to tell a story about himself. But in the end, he’s realized it’s not just his story.

“Well, that’s the story of this old Indian fighter. That’s the story of the Human Beings, who was promised land where they could live in peace. Land that would be theirs as long as grass grow, wind blow, and the sky is blue.”

Or maybe he made it all up.”

This is one of those movies where I can remember exactly where I was when I saw it. I was visiting my brother in Charlottesville, Virginia where he was in the second year of law school. He knew I loved movies, so off we went to see this crazy satire. Wonderful movie. Not available on video or DVD for many years, but finally you can see it now — and you should. A precursor to Forrest Gump. And thanks, Barbara, for recommending it.