The Big Country (1958)
Directed by William Wyler
Written by James R. Webb, Sy Bartlett, and Robert Wyler from a novel by Donald Hamilton
1958/USA
United Artists/Anthony Productions/Worldwide Productions
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Steve Leech: All I can say, McKay, is you take a helluva long time to say good-bye.[/box]
William Wyler directed in more genres than just about any director and was excellent in all of them. Here is his Western.
Jim McCay (Gregory Peck) is the son of a wealthy New England shipping family. He comes West to marry Julie Morgan (Carol Baker), the daughter of Maj. Henry Terrill (Charles Bickford), a wealthy cattleman. His intent is to become foreman of the father’s ranch.
There are a lot of people who are not happy to see Jim arrive. One of these is Steve Leech (Charleton Heston), the ranch’s current top hand, who is sweet on Julie. Others are the wild and savage Hannassy brothers, sons of the ranch’s neighbor Rufus Hannassy (Burl Ives). All the young men try to get a rise out of the newcomer, who refuses to fight – much to the shame of his fiancee.
Jim finds himself stuck in the middle of a long-standing feud between Rufus Hannassy and Henry Terrill. This now looks to escalate into a range war. With Jean Simmons as a schoolteacher who owns land that both ranches depend on for water and Chuck Connors as the meanest of the Hannassy sons.
This is a very solid Western, with good performances and beautiful cinematography. I like that the issues are more complicated than good guy vs. bad guy.
Burl Ives won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The Big Country was nominated for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZTtyQ6TtB0
Trailer
