Don't Touch the White Woman! (1974)

A highly stylized surreal farce about the events leading up to Custer's Last Stand anachronistically reenacted in an urban renewal area in modern Paris.

Director:

Marco Ferreri

Writers:

Rafael Azcona, Marco Ferreri

Stars:

Marcello Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Michel Piccoli

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Catherine Deneuve	...	Marie-Hélène de Boismonfrais
Marcello Mastroianni	...	George A. Custer
Michel Piccoli	...	Buffalo Bill
Philippe Noiret	...	Gen. Terry
Ugo Tognazzi	...	Mitch
Alain Cuny	...	Sitting Bull
Serge Reggiani	...	The Mad Indian
Darry Cowl	...	Maj. Archibald
Monique Chaumette	...	Sister Lucie
Daniele Dublino	...	Government Official
Henri Piccoli	...	Sitting Bull's Father
Franca Bettoia	...	Rayon de Lune (as Franca Bettoja)
Paolo Villaggio	...	The CIA Agent
Franco Fabrizi	...	Tom (as Franco Fabrizzi)
Laurente Vedres	...	(as Vedres et Boutang)

Storyline

Director Mario Fererri reenacts the events leading up to the Battle of the Little Big Horn in this wild, highly stylized surreal farce set in and around a gaping excavation for a huge urban renewal project in 1974 Paris. The anachronistic backdrop highlights the incongruity of the broad comic characterizations of real life figures George Armstrong Custer, Sitting Bull, and Buffalo Bill.

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Plot Keywords:

spaghetti western | slapstick comedy | italo western | buffalo bill cody character | george armstrong custer character | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Western

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Did You Know?

Quotes

George A. Custer: Whoever dies for the country hasn't lived in vain. I, on the contrary, will live for the country because I'm not that stupid.

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Connections

Referenced in The Games Women Play (1995)

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Soundtracks

Falling in Love Again
(uncredited)
Written by Friedrich Hollaender
English lyrics by Samuel Lerner (1930)
Opening sung by Philippe Noiret

User Reviews

Dated attempt to screwer French & American Capitalism and Manifest Destiny

1974's DON'T TOUCH THE WHITE WOMAN! is an an odd, farcical critique of Capitalism and Manifest Destiny setting General Custer's Battle of the Little Bighorn in the early'70's with Richard Nixon as President, and a large, controversial, construction pit in Paris, France filling in for the site of the famed Montana massacre. The location of the pit, known as Les Halles, had been Paris's central wholesale marketplace for nearly 800 years before being razed to make way of a multi-tiered commercial business center/modern shopping mall, and - particularly important to the City's growth - a central railroad hub (something that it's helpful to know in order to fully "get" an allegory in the film regarding the need to displace or eliminate the local Natives in order to make way for the railroad). Additional contemporary political commentary surfaces when justifications given for taking action against the Natives, parallel those used by the French against the Algerians, and by both the French and Americans in Vietnam. If all this makes the movie sound thoughtful or fascinating, I am sorry to report that it is neither, the most interesting aspects being the broad performances by an all-star cast led by Catherine Deneuve (Madame Boismonfrais; trans. Freshwood?), Marcello Mastroianni (Gen. Custer), Michel Piccoli (Buffalo Bill), Philippe Noiret (Gen. Terry) and La Cage aux Folles co-star, Ugo Tognazzi as Custer's famed Indian Scout, Mitch Bouyer, portrayed here as a duplicitous chameleon playing both sides, while selling "Indian artifacts" to tourists that are actually made by white women in sweatshop conditions.

Details

Country:

France Italy

Language:

French

Release Date:

23 January 1974 (France)

Also Known As:

Don't Touch the White Woman!

Filming Locations:

Les Halles, Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Films 66, Mara Films, Laser Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1