Little Big Man - "You Go Down There"

[@Dionysos37]

When Hoffman tells Custer that he'll soon be a "greasy spot," that's an actual quote from a meeting between Oglalas and Custer before Little Big Horn. They had made an agreement to avoid fighting and by which the Native peoples could remain free...and they smoked a pipe on it. Then the Natives emptied the pipe and showed Custer the ashes, saying, "if you break your word, this is what will be left of you."

[@tranz2deep]

Oh, it's better than that. The white man call the misbegotten fight Custer's Last Stand or The Battle of the Little Big Horn. The Cheyenne and Sioux call that fight The Battle of the Greasy Grass.

[@waltersobchak4565]

@@ladybirdstarshine4692 based

[@reuterromain1054]

@@henrythompson5224 Right, it was with Cheyenne leaders, not the Ogallala-Sioux.

[@markschafer7510]

Love it...And the Truth is Natives..atleast,Some? Hate Snow..It's White..it's Cold and on Their Land

[@onegg04]

Daaaamn. Cold 🥶

[@Rack44-p4p]

"You go down there if you got the nerve." God I love that line!

[@UglyHans]

It gets every time to.

[@henrythompson5224]

This isn't the Washita.

[@Rack44-p4p]

@@henrythompson5224 I swear to God, at the end of the video that smile said, "Sucker!"

[@namyarasree]

So do I, Paul Hoon..!!!

[@philippecuenoud2949]

America's history in nine words.

[@jimmieburnett8543]

One of the best UNDER rated movies ever .......... It has history, Comedy mix that is outstanding. It's a good day to die. One of my all-time favorite lines.

[@Gunners_Mate_Guns]

That is a great line. "I had him. I had him, but this time, instead of a knife or a gun, I had the truth." Brilliant scene, definitely.

[@rxchamberlain]

This is one of my top 20 movies ever made. I snuck into it at a movie theater in 1971? I was 13 and actually understood the whole anti war theme. It has so many wonderful messages that we could learn today...but we haven't unfortunately. It like all great works, mixes incredible sadness with brutal humor. I think it is a hugely underrated work of art and all the cast and producers should have been very proud of what they did.

[@myearsloveit]

top 3

[@nikispaniki]

One of my favorite too. The quote I’ve made my sons remember: “ Deception was his life’s blood”.

[@jimc4839]

Agree

[@nobodyimportant2534]

Boomer lmao

[@HoldenNY22]

Irxchanberlain. I agree with you. I also saw the Movie in the H+Theaters when I was about your age. I thought then it was a great Movie. I have not seen the MOvie again outside of KZbin Clips I have not seen this Movie listed either on Standard Cable or even on some of the Premium Channels like Showtime or HBO. I think the Move has an underlying Radical Message and also the message about how the U.S. treated Native Americans despeicably that the Establishment doesn't want people to see. I also think Dances with Wolves owes a lot to LIttle Big Man which was a Book first. Both books are books that I would eventually like to read- Little Big Man I think would be more of a Priority for a read. I also would like to see LIttle Big Man again if I can find some way to see it again.

[@protamine4]

You want me to think that you don't want me to go down there, but the subtle truth is you really don't want me to go down there! Richard Mulligan should have received an Oscar nomination for Little Big Man. His madness during the Battle of Little Big Horn was hilariously played.

[@Gunners_Mate_Guns]

So true. He even briefly reprised his role as Custer in the movie "Teachers" back in the 1980s.

[@robertdunkes3499]

For some reason this scene has stuck with me my entire life, and I use it in casual conversation sometimes. Its funny to see how many people know what I am referring to when I say..."You go down there"

[@paulmurphy7476]

Absolute Classic, and them ain't helpless women and children, you go down there, if you got the nerve!!!

[@jjgreen5206]

Because Robert you have to have a reason to say it. You can’t just hijack a scene or line and use it to sound cool. It has to have emotional weight and meaning, and you aren’t very smart when it comes to either of those things

[@johnbrian118]

Because people have all kinds of nerve and end up a greasy spot

[@EyeLean5280]

Yes, it's super memorable.

[@caracasboogie]

Tell a fool the truth, they think your lying, Tell a fool a lie and they think your telling the truth. Best movie scene ever.

[@Diafiori]

"I had 'im." One of the best scenes in this movie. Dustin Hoffman was great, and Richard Mulligan gave an epic performance.

[@ericmccaulley5008]

Should have gotten that at least a nomination.

[@nazcalito]

"This ain't the Wa-shee-ta river, Gen'ral, and they ain't he'pless women and children waitin' fer ye!"

[@suzycreamcheesez4371]

and they werent

[@JimmySteller]

That line always makes me shudder, given how Crabb had to watch his wife and child be butchered at the Washita River.

[@protamine4]

I drive across the Washita (Wa-shee-ta) River regularly on I-35 and each time I think of this quote.

[@benjaminwebb5759]

My favorite movie. My favorite movie quotes are in LBM.

[@benjaminwebb5759]

@@protamine4 Ouachita

[@markrush5942]

one of the greatest movies ever!

[@rklewis2]

Humor, irony, sadness. It covers a lot of ground, for sure.

[@motoman2WH3]

Seemed so bizarre when I first saw it on TV. But gradually it sank in: This wild tale isn't really about some crazy old man spinning yarns to a reporter. It's about the arc of the decline & fall of the Native American way of life as the West became "civilized." The consequences of Manfiest Destiny. Told to the (contemporary, white American) audience thru the eyes of this crazy old man spinning yarns to a reporter. The Chief's death scene should've remained as in the book, to complete the story. The false happy ending ("...Sometimes the magic works,...") spoiled the message. Hollywood just had to tack on happy endings in those days....

[@jonmerriman1938]

"but this time what I held in my hand wasn't a knife, but the truth."

[@stevenpatzner6962]

What a flick! They sure don't make them like this anymore!👍

[@ysgol3]

I think the Washita massacre in this film, especially when Sunshine dies, trying so hard to escape, just after seeing her baby die first, is the most heartbreaking movie scenr I've EVER seen.

[@johnbrian118]

😢😢😢😢

[@biggzcorey]

This is a movie I never saw until a couple years ago, and I couldn't believe I had never heard of it. It is a very underated film.

[@Trebia217BC]

One of my favorite movies. I like The Outlaw Josie Wales also. Both had Chief Dan George who should get a lot of credit for what he brought to both movies. Love this one.

[@TheBraisedCarcharter]

Watched this as a child and not only did it open my eyes of the atrocities that befell the natives, but showed me a deeper level of humanity.

[@DevilMaskMedia]

Richard Mulligan was brilliant in this film.

[@travisbest9041]

Yes he was. This performance should be celebrated. It is 'Dr. Strangelove' in nature but he really does draw you in and makes you understand how a prat like this could be propped up by the establishment.

[@DevilMaskMedia]

Travis Best Spot on.

[@williamcasey8791]

i agree

[@suzycreamcheesez4371]

he was great

[@tylsimys67]

Should had shared the oscar with Chief Dan George.

[@heliotropezzz333]

Dustin Hoffman is my favourite actor - so good in everything he does.

[@windowho1129]

Best movie ever made! I’ve never seen any film as funny and emotionally devastating as Little Big Man. Changed the way I look at films.

[@Cissy2cute]

@TheAlliswell - So true. In recent movies (70s on) he is always portrayed as an arrogant SOB. In reality, he was doing his job but was very sympathetic towards the Indians. He had said that if he were Indian, he would be one of the hostiles, as he understood that they were fighting for their families and way of life. Even one of his Indian scouts said he "had the heart of an Indian". I recommend the book "A Terrible Glory" by James Donovan for a more balanced view of this complicated man.

[@QueenBDreamwalker]

"there won't be NoThing left but a greasy spot" one of my favorite lines😂

[@Gunners_Mate_Guns]

This movie is packed with great lines. My favorite was (when referring the flamboyantly gay Little Horse) "He had become a Hemanay, for which there is no word in the English language."

[@ge2623]

I saw this as a kid and to this day I still quote lines from it.

[@chrisperrien7055]

I highly suggest this movie, but at the same time, I highly suggest reading " Black Elk Speaks" and then understand the subversion going on with this movie. It is "Forrest Gump" , but was done on an "Old West" timeline

[@markrush5942]

hoffman did "little big man" and "rainman" definitely two of my all time favorite movies......definitely

[@WoodsToLiveBy]

The mental gymnastics Custer uses to justify himself are hilarious. In a previous scene, Custer explains that he thinks everything Jack tells him will be a lie. So here he turns to Jack for what he expects will be a quick "Don't go down there" which he'll interpret as the reverse. When Jack instead says "You go down there," it catches him up short for a moment, until Custer finds a way to work it out in his head to make it work out in his favor anyway.

[@JA-ru3il]

😂

[@sidDkid87]

"But sometimes grass don't grow, wind don't blow and the sky ain't blue" (not from this scene but from this great film)

[@tranz2deep]

Exactly. All of that was true elsewhere... but not where men wanting an excuse were gathered.

[@Daron7181]

“You go down there IF YOU GOT THE NERVE!” You’re gonna be fighting actual fighting men not women old people and children.

[@RobMacKendrick]

Fabulous movie. Even better book. Both deserve a lot more attention.

[@UNUSUALUSERNAME220]

Richard Mulligan captured the oblivious vanity that Custer was known for. Custer would put cinnamon oil in his mustache and hair, he was never far away from a mirror, there are more photos of Custer than Grant from the Civil War. Blind vanity and hubris were the slow poisons that finally caught up with him. He was just as affected by those character flaws as a hatter working with Mercury, or a painter working with lead paint. The outcome was the same.

[@AssinnippiJack]

When Custer met his demise,his rank was that of colonel. He had been breveted to a general during the Civil War but when the war ended so did the rank.

[@dwightharley3924]

+AssinnippiJack Lieutenant Colonel

[@DarkFilmDirector]

That's always been US military practice. A battlefield commission is temporary for battlefield necessity of command. After the major war ends, so does the necessity and you go down to your permanent rank, but you can rise back through the ranks more quickly based on account of your valuable experience.

[@dwightharley3924]

Major General was his brevet rank in the Civil War....not a battlefield commission. He was already a commissioned officer. His rank reverted back to Lt. Colonel after the war with the downsizing of the regular Army

[@DarkFilmDirector]

Switched the terms accidentally. Same principle. Wasn't permanent.

[@donaldkoelper5807]

+AssinnippiJack: You are correct, sir. But military protocols being what they were in the period following the U.S. Civil War, many people at the time still accorded him the public honor of being called "General."

[@pdmullgirl]

One of the best movies ever made! Love this movie. Great scene. ❤️💜💚

[@robertonline6543]

Everyone saids the graduate is his best movie. But this will always be my all time favorite Dustin Hoffman movie.its weird I hardly ever see it played.

[@coolhand100]

how many of you are natives?...i ask because, i am native my self. Crow that is. this movie was filmed around the part of Montana. I grew up on.quite a few of my family members were in this movie as stand ins as Morning Star Cheyenne's...LMBO. but i guess what im geting at is that. this movie has authentic feel for how are poeple where and how we were treated...

[@harpmanb]

Felix Vinatiere was Custer's 7th Cavalry regimental band leader. He's NFL kicker Adam Vinatiere's great-great-grandfather. The band didn't play at LBH, though. Custer needed the band's horses more than their music. The only "battle" the band got to play Garryowen at was at the Battle of the Washita. They only made it through the first verse, however, before having to stop because the players' spittle froze up their instruments in the freezing cold.

[@sngrytr1]

"You want me to think that you don't want me to go down there, but the subtle truth is that you really don't want me to go down there".

[@tylsimys67]

"Catch 22" anyone?

[@eshswam]

Lmfao that made me laugh!!!

[@WoodsToLiveBy]

One of my favorite moments of this terrific movie!

[@namyarasree]

I've seen that movie in 1971. It's a great western, now mythique. I remember I enjoyed it, and specially that scene when Cheyennes Indians are the winners against Custer..! The book must be really interesting.

[@JA-ru3il]

They did kill Custer lol

[@favorsham]

Gotta love Jack's sly smile at the very end - Custer has just doomed himself with his own gigantic ego. That being said, LBM's portrayal of Custer is a little too over the top. He viewed Indians similar to much of the political and military leadership. It never occurred to him that he might lose - Custer's biggest concern was that the Indians might get away, so he divided his force and disobeyed orders by attacking. Not too bright. Btw, Custer graduated dead last in his class at West Point.

[@Acein3055]

Great movie. Thanks for posting one of my favorite parts.

[@badrivanov3931]

This and Son of the MorningStar are great but underrated films

[@marvelsucksnow6424]

Watching this in remembrance of the beautiful day that we won

[@53rdAndThird]

... that smile at the end...

[@robertmoran]

This should have been said in Nam, Shock & Awe and Afghanistan. Stellar.

[@adriancozad8308]

Excellent film

[@sidDkid87]

"you want me to think that you DON'T want me to go down there but the subtle truth is you really DON'T want me to go down there!" - "hmm-ha-hA-HA!" - "Well, are you reassured now, Major?" this is one of my favorite scenes from my favorite movies "Little Big Man"

[@ge2623]

"Sometimes the magic works, sometimes it doesn't"

[@raiderdavis5555]

why its called faith and not harry potter

[@rmas32]

"Custer was a pussy!" Sgt.Maj. Plumly "We Were Soldiers"

[@rick2112rkrk]

Delivered with perfection and timing by Sam Elliott!

[@Kodos13]

"You ain't."

[@dropteamjoe4284]

those vietnam soldiers were pussies too bitch

[@timpassmore7455]

Still one of the most powerful scenes ever filmed.

[@Gunners_Mate_Guns]

Me too. It's actually called Crow Agency. I still have home movie footage of it we took when we were there back in the early 1970s, now transferred to DVD. For some reason, lots of magpies were there that particular day, clearly on film.

[@jago76]

Sort of a forgotten movie, but one of the best. Why isn't it shown on TV?

[@Gunners_Mate_Guns]

I'm glad to see that someone else agrees with me. That scene is absolutely brutal, but not gratuitously so. Knowing what Custer had done to the Cheyenne, I find it impossible to feel a bit of pity for him because of his fate, moments after this scene here.

[@forestkaat]

One of the first, if not THE first to show how tragic the massacres were & the lies that were told. Dustin was so great in this.

[@grantorino2009]

Richard Mulligan is a bloody GENIUS!!

[@jackritter144]

I remember that movie! It reminds me of the song "Please Mr. Custer."

[@draconis4403]

+Jack Ritter (GsUncle) "I dont wanna go, there's an injun out there, who is fixin to take my hair. I had a dream the other niiiiight ,about the coming fight ,when someone yelled attack! There I stood with an arrow in my back! PLEASE MR. Custer, I dont wanna go!" XD

[@ffrederickskitty4607]

sheb wooley

[@MrKillerDuckful]

honestly i saw it in a class and id say its my fav movie its just so good haha better then half the crap out now a days

[@HarbingerOfBattle]

The way Custer reasoned in this film was simply maddening

[@terrencewildman1732]

BTW A few seconds later, the major (the bald guy) gives the most expressive "oh, shit" look you will ever see in a movie.

[@pigmanobvious]

Cannot argue with you here!

[@rogersmith6411]

Right on

[@ailorablue]

I love this movie. I quote it once in a while and no one except my dad knows what the hell I'm talking about. :D "Throw up three."

[@ffrederickskitty4607]

hickock on the floor re: lulu kane's money: don't tell my wife or i'll really be in trouble.

[@ge2623]

I quote it also to this day and get the same looks. But I don't care. I'm not missing out they are.

[@bgmcc907]

‘My heart soars like a hawk’. ‘Let us smoke to your return’. ‘I could have kissed her’. 😆

[@GrooveDoctor77Musician]

A great early Dustin Hoffman movie , hard to find ,I bought a Vhs of the movie in the 90s ,still watch it, full of great main features of the west with 1960s Anti war.sentiment,.. portraying Gen Custer as a vain buffoon, w /genocide of the Indian a main theme, several battles including Custers last stand,. Chief Dan George plays an outstanding part as ole Lodge Skins, Martin Balsam also a great comical swindler part, & the life /death of Wild Bill, ..a great movie and Hoffmans best I think

[@Mo66F]

@Ceaaa22 1) This movie was one of the first to call the colonization what it really was: genocide. This movie was one of the first to show the “battle” at the Washita as what it really was: A massacre. Mainly to women and children. It’s one of the first movies showing Indians as what they were and are: Human beeings with their own way of philosophy and values. And it shows the so called civilized whites as beeing ignorant to this.

[@makenna88]

The fellow who played Custer did such a good job.

[@ZelbeQahi]

Richard Mulligan reprised this role on another film called "Teachers" with Nick Nolte. Mulligan plays an escaped mental patient that dresses the parts of American history in class. He is Custer when he is escorted, with respect and dignity, from the school, saber and all! Mulligan was a feature character on the ancient sitcom, "Soap" with a very young beginning Billy Crystal.

[@anorthosite]

"I...HAD...Him !!" Best Western movie before "Dances With Wolves".

[@Swift2001]

One of the best movies about Vietnam.

[@lunigal]

The psycological game Mule Skinner is playing is called the Double Reverse Custer... In my little group of family and friends...

[@benrusi2289]

Great experience to be a part of the shooting crew!

[@ge2623]

That would have been great. You're lucky.

[@EShelby2127]

Before this there is a segment where he says "You want me to reverse a Custer decision???" Custer's ego reminds me of an orange haired chief with bone spurs, currently in office.

[@ge2623]

One wants to destroy Indians the other wants to destroy America.

[@Idol2Idol]

Excellent movie. Brilliant performance from everyone. Esp Dustin Hoffman

[@37Dionysos]

Next line: "Ahh HAD him."

[@WeedTuber420]

I love this movie great film

[@Ween745]

It's only a movie! It's created history, don't let it sway your opinion. You have to study to learn the real truth of things, and not just the crap that's on tv or told to you by "teachers".

[@robertarnold1687]

Where should I study history?,…face book or a confederate statue 😂

[@terrencewildman1732]

Custer in his bold action intercepting Confederate cavalry at Gettysburg (when the Cons were trying to seize Union supplies and attack from the rear), probably saved the Union. It is sad that all most people remember him for is the Little Bighorn. And don't forget; the Indians won the battle, but lost the war, becaus the US Govt. got serious after losing Custer, so the LIttle Bighorn ultimately has no winners.

[@diabetichoneybee8796]

What a pair of “Goonads!”

[@TheTriplelman]

My favorite movie, just bought a autograph picture, when he was a drunk and Buffalo Bill recognize him as the kid.

[@gregcrowe8885]

Make me cry happy and sad

[@protamine4]

"You want me to think that you don't want me to pull out of Syria, but the subtle truth is you really don't want me to pull out! Well, are you reassured now, General Mattis?"

[@garcia9068]

Love this movie

[@thandai72]

I love this movie

[@Gunners_Mate_Guns]

Agreed Mulligan's Custer is fantastic, with the comical arrogance so great that he is a homicidal narcissist. If you've ever seen the movie "Teachers," Mulligan briefly dons the Custer costume one more time, this time for a classroom.

[@iknas1]

Thank you for the text,it was very kind of you.

[@camblood9817]

Custer wasn't brave, just incredibly stupid.

[@sidDkid87]

Sounds like you knew him personally - I love this film, but don't be fooled by Hollywood - one way *OR* the other - your assessment of him can hardly be considered fair or accurate

[@rickroscoe4734]

Custer was very brave. He led cavalry charges in the Civil War against determined rebel forces and defeated them. Little Big Man was a character assassination of a very great man. In the 60's, Hollywood was on a "noble red man" binge. Native Americans could do no wrong and so all white men were evil. It wasn't a bad movie, but it was not history. It was pure fantasy.

[@makennamurphy3734]

Rick Roscoe This was made during the Vietnam War. It's making a statement: "Our military is doing this to Vietnamese nationals.* Don't kill the brown-complected people." Custer is a plot device, a symbol. No one is smearing anyone's military record. *see: My Lai massacre, etc - and no tangential arguments, either.

[@melody9665]

Jhon Adam yes l agree with you on that one, they were bastards, there is no glory in killing woman, children, and babies, no honour about it at all, yet don't forget, down through the ages the Indians did that too. torture, woman, children, and babies. there is no glory in killing people who cant fight back.

[@sidDkid87]

melody collis Well said . . .

[@windstorm1000]

The movie is a brilliant satire with flashes of truth about the 'wasichus'. Little Big Man made the right decision eventually.

[@lakotasue]

I STILL use this quote! LOL

[@facebookamyfriedman6083]

lakotasue allan me too alot

[@markrush5013]

l knew then l had him..

[@pretorious700]

In the top 10 westerns ever made IMO

[@jjgreen5206]

Best scene by far in the movie

[@jackritter144]

yes draconls! Those are the lyrics. My wife and I are STILL playing it and laughing our heads off. I like how he says MISTER Custer, not colonel. Speaking of Mule skinner, remember the song Mule Skinner Blues ? (recorded by The Fendermen.) It's up there w/ Please Mr Custer. The Fendermen were really in the zone when they sang that one.

[@dannypalmer7701]

Greasy spot like frybread! 😂❤

[@tomservo5347]

Custer had incredible luck during his career and it fed a reckless abandon and ego. I think when Gibbon showed up at the Little Bighorn after the battle the overall feeling was Custer had it coming. Indian fighters like John Gibbon with a degree of intelligence actually came to respect the Natives and befriended some of the chiefs. Gibbon soon became known to the Natives as one of the few who kept his word and actually tried helping them as an agent. He's a little known extraordinary soldier.

[@hangemhigh2000]

This is the part where Custard should have payed attention and studied more as cadet Custard. Mule Skinnier is one bad dude, what they'd call street smart today..

[@NormAppleton]

+Mr. Midshipman like Ratso Rizzo

[@suzycreamcheesez4371]

lol! Custard!

[@kristallmenschkristallwolf1969]

well we dont know its been that way but a real good dialog

[@Crintingnut]

Also, according to biographies, he was one of the most extravagent leaders in several civil war battles - casualty levels among his own men were high, thanks to his impetuosity. Was he completely sane, I wonder?

[@silvert00]

Custer WAS last in his class at westpoint.....

[@cathylarkins9949]

He graduated 34 out of a class of 34...Robert E Lee was the headmaster of West Point at the time...Custer was also up for court martial after the Civil War for his treatment of his own men ... Custer was a brute and he got what he deserved

[@Spenner56]

Lieutenant-Colonel Custer graduated from West Point 34th out of a class of 34. He was court-martialled in 1867 for disobeying orders,treating his men cruelly and abandoning two of them to the Indians.Reinstated the following year,he massacred 103 Cheyenne (including women and children) and earned from the Indians the epithet "Squaw-killer" (source : The Guiness Book of military Blunders).

[@lunigal]

it is called the double reverse Custer

[@downhilltwofour0082]

The Sicilian standoff! Never try to outsmart a Sicilian!

[@tommcnally3646]

One of my all time favorite flicks

[@bgmcc907]

Oh, yeah. ‘I will avert my eyes at the appropriate moment’.

[@benjaminwebb5759]

The original Forest Gump idea, this movie is.

[@heliotropezzz333]

I've not seen Forrest Gump . Jack Crabb, the protagonist here is not dumb. He just starts out naive. It reminds me of Voltaire's 'Candide', which is a satire on optimism. Like that the protagonist goes through a lot of life experiences that challenge his optimism/naivety. The difference is that Candide doesn't learn from experiences as far as I remember, but Jack Crabb does.