The Yorkshire Film Archive collects, preserves, and shows film made in, or about Yorkshire. Our collections are non-fiction, dating from the 1890s to the present day, and providing a rich and visually compelling record of all aspects of lives, cultures, landscape, industries, major events and everyday activities, many of which are available to watch, free of charge, on our website.
This film is part of Free
Battle of Little Big Horn
As the craze for playing cowboys and Indians ebbs, Waddingtons introduce a game for boys to re-enact the famous Sioux and Cheyenne victory.
From the collection of:
Overview
When almost every boy, and not a few girls, donned a western gun belt, holster and six shooter, Waddingtons appear to have come up with a real winner in 1964 with this board game of cavalrymen and βRed Indians.β Using some striking action sequences from an unknown Western, boys (most probably) are inspired to imaginatively deploy the lifelike plastic figures to reconstruct their own battle scenes of "Custer's Last Stand."
By 1964 some twenty feature films had been made depicting General Custer β one with Ronald Reagan. On television too, westerns like Rawhide and Bonanza were popular at the time. Apparently the object of the game was to try to reverse the bloody victory of the Sioux and Cheyenne in 1876 against the US cavalryβs attempt to force them onto reservations β which they soon succeeded in doing. But by the mid-1960s, at the height of the civil rights protests, the racist attitude towards Native Americans, as seen in films like the Searchers of 1956, was beginning to change. 1964 was the year of Buffy Sainte-Marieβs βNow That the Buffalo's Goneβ, while Marlon Brando supported protests by the National Indian Youth Council.
Related
Spy Ring Spy Ring
1965 1 mins Location: Leeds
There is never a dull moment in this International Spy Game of foreign spies competing to trick their way into sixteen different embassies.
Yorkshire Post: Sports Fan Yorkshire Post: Sports Fan
1973 1 mins Location: Leeds
An Olympic Games hopeful bundles into a Leeds newsagents, only to be met by a new shopkeeper from The Smoke, bemused by the Yorkshire Post.
The Big Country The Big Country
Promotional 1970 16 mins Location: Newcastle upon Tyne
Tuning into the biggest consumer market for television advertising in Britain with Trident TV.
Moorhouse Lemon Cheese Moorhouse Lemon Cheese
1966 1 mins Location: Leeds
Butter, eggs, and lemons, what else could better evoke the healthiness of the countryside than this delicious traditional desert topping?
Railroader Railroader
1964 1 mins Location: Leeds
The great Western way of dog eat dog as opponents try to dynamite each other in their pursuit of what really matters in life, railways and money.
Future Scientists Future Scientists
1966 1 mins Location: Leeds
With the subatomic world getting ever smaller, Waddingtons recognised that a microscope was just what was needed βfor the man of the future.β
China O'Brien: The Reunion China O'Brien: The Reunion
Documentary 2024 60 mins
Cynthia Rothrock, Richard Norton and Keith Cooke reunite three decades on from the groundbreaking martial arts classic.
Women in Action Panel Discussion Women in Action Panel Discussion
Inside Film 2024 28 mins
Action Xtreme - the UK's leading action film studio - hosts this panel discussion with four leading women in action cinema - Soo Cole, Jo Rolison, Jadey Duffield and Ioanna Karavela.
Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A Starve Acre - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 24 mins
Daniel Kokotajlo talks to Nia Childs about Starve Acre, his folk horror about a couple digging deep into grief in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.
Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A Sky Peals - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 30 mins
Sky Peals director Moin Hussain and lead actor Faraz Ayub talk to Tomisin Adepeju about their magic realist drama.
Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell Inside the Archive: The Early Films of Michael Powell
Documentary 2024 42 mins
Documentary exploring the BFI National Archiveβs role in rediscovering and remastering the early films of Michael Powell.
Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels Inside the Archive: The Riviera Revels
Short documentary 2024 12 mins
Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film at the BFI national archive, explores the origins of a series of comic travelogues, and Michael Powell's involvement in making them.