U.S. distributors Kino Lorber have confirmed that they will release on Blu-ray Robert Altman's
Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976), starring Paul Newman, Joel Grey, Kevin McCarthy, Burt Lancaster, Harvey Keitel, Shelley Duvall, and Geraldine Chaplin. The release is scheduled to arrive on the market on December 9th.
Synopsis: Robert Altman revisits American history -- following the critical smash
Nashville -- with this scathing indictment of celebrity and politics in the Wild West. Paul Newman (
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) stars as Buffalo Bill Cody, a man who has parlayed his legend into a grand moneymaking scheme. Employing a group of talented gunslingers and horseback riders, Bill's carnival show promotes an exaggerated view of American history. However, when the company recruits equally legendary Native American Chief Sitting Bull (Frank Kaquitts) and his interpreter, William Halsey (Will Sampson) to appear as defeated victims in the show, the lies begin to catch up with Buffalo Bill. While the appearance of President Grover Cleveland (Pat McCormick) further helps carve Bill's name in history, it is revealed that Sitting Bull is not completely done with Bill. Altman's adaptation of Arthur Kopit's play contains his signature roaming camera and sprawling cast, as well as conveys a sarcastic, cynical tone that aims to debunk myths created by the real-life legends on which the film is based. As the manipulative Buffalo Bill, a man whose conscience finally catches up with him, Newman delivers a comical and impassioned performance, adding yet another memorable character to his, and director Altman's, oeuvre.