The Big Country (1958)

★ 7.6 2h 47m 400 votes IMDb
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Retired wealthy sea captain Jim McKay arrives in the Old West, where he becomes embroiled in a feud between his future father-in-law, Major Terrill, and the rough and lawless Hannasseys over a valuable patch of land.

The Big Country

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Cast

Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck as James McKay Died 2003 · La Jolla, California, USA Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the 12th-g...
Jean Simmons
Jean Simmons as Julie Maragon Died 2010 · Crouch Hill, London, England, UK Jean Merilyn Simmons, OBE (January 31, 1929 – January 22, 2010) was an English actress. She appeared predominantly in motion pictures, beginning with films made in Great Britain during and after World...
Carroll Baker
Carroll Baker as Patricia Terrill Age 94 · Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA Carroll Baker (born May 28, 1931) is a former American actress who has enjoyed popularity as both a serious dramatic actress and, particularly in the 1960s, as a movie sex symbol. After studying unde...
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston as Steve Leech Died 2008 · Wilmette, Illinois, USA Charlton Heston was an American actor renowned for his towering screen presence and roles in some of Hollywood’s most famous epics. Born John Charles Carter on October 4, 1923, in Illinois, he discove...
Burl Ives
Burl Ives as Rufus Hannassey Died 1995 · Hunt City, Illinois, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (June 14, 1909 – April 14, 1995) was an American singer and actor of stage, screen, radio and television. Ives began as an itinerant sing...
Charles Bickford
Charles Bickford as Major Henry Terrill Died 1967 · Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Charles Bickford (January 1, 1891 – November 9, 1967) was an American actor best known for his supporting roles.  He was nominated three times for the Academy A...

Audience Reviews

John Chard 8/10 Feb 07, 2017
I'm not going to go on living in the middle of a civil war.

Retired sea Captain James McKay (Gregory Peck) arrives in the sprawling land of the West to marry fiancée Patricia Terrill (Carroll Baker). With an amiable, almost pacifistic approach to life, McKay confounds the ranchers he is now mixing with. Particularly the Terrill ranch foreman Steve Leech (Charlton Heston) who takes an immediate dislike to him. Not only that but it seems that James has landed right in the middle of a family rivalry between the Terrill's and the Hannassey's: just as it's about to fully ignite into war.

Directed by William Wyler (Ben-Hur/Mrs. Miniver), The Big Country is adapted from a short story called Ambush at Blanco Canyon that was written by Donald Hamilton. Beautifully photographed by Franz Planer on location at the Red Rock Canyon in Mojave, California and at the three-thousand acre Drais ranch in Stockton, the film is epic in many ways. Though the story, with its twin themes of violence begets violence and you don't have to act tough to be tough, is a thin one, it's given such an operatic make over by Wyler that it's not hard to be swept away by it all. Helped enormously by the afore mentioned Planer, music composer Jerome Moross, and an impressive and on form cast (Heston in superb tough guy mode and Burl Ives delivering a Oscar winning performance as head Hannassey patriarch Rufus), it's a big production in many ways.

Overall, The Big Country sees a small story made big as it's told in an astutely classic style. With memorable acting, gorgeous scenery, big music and notable moments of action (a fist fight between Peck & Heston alone is epic and apparently took three days to get right) it's a must see for the Western enthusiast. 8/10
CinemaSerf 7/10 Apr 13, 2023
Gregory Peck ("McKay") is a well off, retired, sea captain who arrives to marry his fiancée "Pat Terrill" (Carroll Baker) and finds himself amidst the mother of all turf wars between her father "Major Terrill" (Charles Bickford) and his arch rival "Rufus Hannassey" (Burl Ives) and his disparate sons. Add to the mix, quite a bit of rivalry from Charlton Heston ("Leech") who is the Major's right hand man, and a man who has designs on "Pat" and finally Jean Simmons who own the "Old Muddy" - the river that both are essentially fighting over and we've got a great recipe for a top class action adventure. It has the greatest of cinematography, a score that you instantly recognise and performances - especially, I felt, from Ives that really do resonate - they engender a sense of just how tough, dangerous, uncompromising and beautiful life for these pioneers must have been. Also how civilised it could be with men of honour and principle prepared to stand their ground - however misplaced that might have been. It's well written, with potent, occasionally sparse dialogue and William Wyler is on top form bringing the big country to the big screen; the bigger the better....

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