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The Big Country

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This article is about the 1958 film. For other uses, see Big Country (disambiguation).

The Big Country
Theatrical release poster by Saul Bass
Directed byWilliam Wyler
Written by
Based onAmbush at Blanco Canyon
by Donald Hamilton
Produced by
  • Gregory Peck
  • William Wyler
Starring
CinematographyFranz F. Planer, ASC
Edited by
Music byJerome Moross
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • August 13, 1958 (1958-08-13) (Atlantic City)[1]
Running time
166 minutes
CountryUnited States
Languages
  • English
  • Spanish
Box office$3.5 million (US and Canada rentals)[2]

The Big Country is a 1958 American epic Western film directed by William Wyler, starring Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker, Charlton Heston, and Burl Ives. The supporting cast features Charles Bickford and Chuck Connors. Filmed in Technicolor and Technirama, the picture was based on the serialized magazine novel Ambush at Blanco Canyon by Donald Hamilton[3] and was co-produced by Wyler and Peck. The opening title sequence was created by Saul Bass.

Burl Ives won the Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor for his performance, as well as the Golden Globe Award. The film was also nominated for an Academy Award for the musical score, composed by Jerome Moross. The film is one of the few in which Heston plays a major supporting role rather than the lead.

Plot

Former sea captain, James McKay, travels to the American West to join his fiancée, Patricia, where she lives on an enormous ranch owned by her father, Henry Terrill. The ranch is named Ladder Ranch. Mr. Terrill has the biggest ranch in the area and everyone refers to him as "The Major." One of Terrill's hands named Steve Leech picks up McKay at the stagecoach depot in town and delivers him to the home of Patricia's friend, Julie Maragon, who is the town's only schoolteacher. Patricia introduces Jim McKay to Julie and they become fast friends. Leech offers to escort McKay and Patricia back to the ranch, but Patricia refuses. However, Jim & Patricia are accosted by a group of drunks led by Buck Hannassey who is the son of Rufus Hannassey, the Major's bitter enemy. In spite of the harassment and mockery by the drunken Hannassey gang, McKay surprises Patricia by making light of the incident in stating that he has experienced far worse during his life as a sailor. Patricia is incredulous that McKay insists that the boys meant no harm.

The next morning...the Major's foreman, Steve Leech, tries to trick McKay into riding a bucking bronco stallion named "Old Thunder." Sensing that Leech seems too eager to get him on that particular horse, McKay declines the invitation. McKay will later find out that the cowboys who work for the Major always go through the same ritual with newcomers. It is seen as a joke to have any newcomer bucked off of Old Thunder. McKay then brings a pair of dueling pistols once owned by his father and presents them to the Major as a gift. When the Major learns of Buck Hannassey's drunken harassment of his daughter and future son-in-law the day before, he gathers his men and leads a raid to the Hannassey ranch. McKay tries to defuse the situation...but, the Major refuses to change his mind. The Major's cowboys find neither Rufus nor Buck at the Hannassey place so, they settle for terrorizing the Hannassey women and children instead. Plus, they shoot holes in the Hannassey's water tank which threatens the very survival of the Hannasseys since water is a precious commodity in the area. Then, they ride into town where they find Buck's posse and proceed to beat & humiliate them while Buck hides in the back of a wagon intimidated by the cowboys. Meanwhile...back at the ranch, McKay privately rides and tames Old Thunder after many unsuccessful attempts. McKay swears his only witness, the ranch hand Ramon, to secrecy.

Drive-in advertisement from 1958

A gala is held on the Terrill ranch later that evening in honor of Patricia's upcoming wedding to McKay. At the height of the festivities, an armed Rufus Hannassey crashes the party and accuses the Major of the hypocrisy of pretending to be a gentleman when his actions earlier that day speak otherwise. Rufus accuses the Major of scaring women and children and goads Terrill into a direct confrontation...man to man. Terrill doesn't take the bait and Rufus finally strides out of the house & rides away on his horse. The next day, McKay secretly goes to Julie Maragon's abandoned ranch, known as the "Big Muddy." The Big Muddy Ranch is the location of the town's only nearby river and as such it is a vital source of water for both the Terrill and Hannassey cattle during times of drought. McKay persuades Julie to sell the Big Muddy Ranch to him in the hopes of securing a wedding gift for Patricia. Plus, McKay wants to end the conflict between Terrill and Hannassey by allowing both the unrestricted access to the river. When Ramom reveals to the Major and Patricia that McKay has left to go riding into the Big Country, they are immediately alarmed. Paticia is concerned that McKay will be lost or injured in the unfamiliar area. So, the Major sends out a search party led by Steve Leach in order to bring McKay home. What they don't realize is McKay is proficient with his compass from his days of sailing around the world. McKay isn't lost at all and shows up at the camp of the search party that night. Everyone tells McKay that he was foolish to ride out alone.

Patricia is relieved when McKay and the others return to Ladder Ranch. However, she begins to imply that McKay is no match for the Big Country. Leech calls McKay a liar when McKay explains that he was never really lost or in danger. McKay again refuses to be goaded into a fight with Leech. Patricia is disappointed that McKay would allow any man to call him a liar. She considers it an embarrassment to herself as well as McKay. She says that you don't allow a hired hand to insult you. McKay and Patricia don't see eye to eye on much of anything and reconsider their engagement. Everyone is upset and goes to bed. Before dawn and without an audience, McKay challenges finally challenges Leech to a "farewell" fight. The prolonged fistfight ultimately ends in a draw. Later that same morning, Julie Maragon arrives to tell Patricia about McKay's purchase of the Big Muddy Ranch as a wedding gift. Initially, Patricia is convinced to make amends with McKay. However, when she learns of McKay's plan to allow the Hannasseys equal access to the water, Patricia leaves McKay for good.

Wanting to lure the Major into an ambush in the canyon leading to his homestead, Rufus takes Julie Maragon hostage. Although McKay personally promises Rufus equal access to the water, he finds himself in a clash with Buck. They are given an ultimatum by Rufus to settle their disagreement like gentlemen and he forces them into a shootout using the old dueling pistols. Buck fires before the signal and misses. His bullet grazed McKay's forehead and thus, leaves Buck open to be shot by McKay. Buck hides again...this time under a wagon! The display of cowardice convinces McKay to spare Buck. The frustrated Buck jumps to his feet and grabs another gun from a nearby cowboy. McKay is unarmed at this point. Rufus shoots to kill his own son all the while insisting that it is not honorable for Buck to shoot an unarmed man. Then, Rufus accompanied by McKay, Julie and Ramon ride down into Blanco Canyon. Rufus challenges the Major for a final confrontation of a one-on-one showdown. Armed with rifles, the two old men advance and kill each other. With that, the feud between the Terrills and the Hannasseys is ended. McKay, Julie and Ramon ride off together to start a new life on the Big Muddy Ranch.

Cast

Production

"The Big Country"
Main theme from the film by Jerome Moross.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Robert Wyler and Jessamyn West wrote the first screenplay for the film based on the Donald Hamilton story that had been serialized in The Saturday Evening Post. Leon Uris wrote a second screenplay and Robert Wilder wrote another, with the final script by James R. Webb and Sy Bartlett. After arbitration, Webb, Bartlett and Wilder received screenplay credit and Wyler and West received adaptation credit. Uris was not given credit as his script deviated too much from the original story.[4]

Director William Wyler was known for shooting an exorbitant number of takes on his films, usually without explaining to the actors what to do differently except "[make it] better", and this one was no exception. Many of the actors, including Jean Simmons and Carroll Baker, were so traumatized by his directing style that they refused to speak about the experience for years. Simmons later said they constantly received rewrites for the script, making acting extremely difficult. Gregory Peck and Wyler, who were good friends, fought constantly on the set and had a falling out for three years, although they later reconciled. Wyler and Charles Bickford also clashed, as they had done 30 years previously on the production of his 1929 film Hell's Heroes. Burl Ives, however, claimed to have enjoyed making the film.

Before principal photography was complete, Wyler left for Rome to start work on Ben-Hur, delegating creation of the final scenes involving McKay and Julie to his assistant Robert Swink, whose resulting scenes pleased Wyler so much that he wrote Swink a letter stating: "I can't begin to tell you how pleased I am with the new ending... The shots you made are complete perfection."[5]

Locations

The Blanco Canyon scenes were filmed in California's Red Rock Canyon State Park in the Mojave Desert. The ranch and field scenes with greenery were filmed in the Sierra Nevada foothills near the town of Farmington in central California.[6] Today the working cattle ranch named Snow Ranch is used regularly by NAR[clarification needed] and Tripoli High Power and Estes Rocket flyers of all ages.

Reception

Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote in a negative review, "for all this film's mighty pretensions, it does not get far beneath the skin of its conventional Western situation and its stock Western characters. It skims across standard complications and ends on a platitude. Peace is a pious precept, but fightin' is more excitin'. That's what it proves."[7] Variety called the film "one of the best photography jobs of the year", with a "serviceable, adult" storyline "which should find favor with audiences of all tastes."[8] Harrison's Reports declared it "a first-rate super-Western, beautifully photographed in the Technirama anamorphic process and Technicolor. It is a long picture, perhaps too long for what the story has to offer, but there is never a dull moment from start to finish and it holds one's interest tightly throughout."[9] Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post called it "super stuff. Franz Planer's photography of Texas is downright awe-inspiring, the characters are solid, the story line firm, the playing first-rate, the music more than dashing in this nearly three-hour tale which should delight everybody."[10]

John McCarten of The New Yorker wrote, "Of those involved in this massive enterprise, Mr. Bickford and Mr. Ives are the most commendable as they whoop and snort about the sagebrush. But even they are hardly credible types, and as for the rest of the cast, they can be set down as a rather wooden lot."[11] Philip K. Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times called the film "too self consciously 'epical' to be called great, but at its best, which is frequently, it's better than good."[12] The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote that the picture's attempts to convey a message were for the most part "superficial and pedestrian," and found that "the pivotal character of McKay, played on a monotonously self-righteous note by Gregory Peck, never comes alive. It is mainly due to the power of the climactic canyon battle, and Burl Ives' interesting playing as Rufus, that this remains a not unsympathetic film, decorated pleasantly by Jean Simmons and with spirit by Carroll Baker."[13]

The film was a big hit, being the second-most popular movie in Britain in 1959.[14] On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 100% based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10.[15]

President Dwight D. Eisenhower liked the movie so much, he screened it on four successive evenings in the White House during his second administration.[16]

Playmobil designed an entire cowboy line based on the architecture of the film.[citation needed]

In a poll of 500 films held by Empire, it was voted 187th-greatest movie of all time.[17]

Accolades

Ives won the Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor, as well as a Golden Globe Award. The film was also nominated for an Academy Award for the musical score by Jerome Moross.[18]

Award Category Nominee(s) Result
Academy Awards Best Supporting Actor Burl Ives Won
Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture Jerome Moross Nominated
British Academy Film Awards Best Film from any Source Nominated
Directors Guild of America Awards Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures William Wyler Nominated
Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Burl Ives Won
Kinema Junpo Awards Best Foreign Language Film William Wyler Won
Laurel Awards Top Action Drama Nominated
Top Score Jerome Moross Nominated

Preservation

The Academy Film Archive preserved The Big Country in 2006.[19]

Comic book

Main article: The Big Country (comics)

A comic-book adaptation of the novel and tie-in to the movie was first released in 1957.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Four Eastern Openings For 'Big' This Week". Motion Picture Daily: 2. August 13, 1958.
  2. ^ Cohn, Lawrence (October 15, 1990). "All-Time Film Rental Champs". Variety. p. M146.
  3. ^ "Detail view of Movies Page". Afi.com. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  4. ^ "New York Soundtrack". Variety. March 26, 1958. p. 7. Retrieved October 10, 2021 – via Archive.org.
  5. ^ Miller, Gabriel (2013). William Wyler: The Life and Films of Hollywood's Most Celebrated Director. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky. p. 357. ISBN 978-0813142098. Retrieved April 9, 2017.
  6. ^ "Orvis Cattle Company page about the film locations".
  7. ^ Crowther, Bosley (October 2, 1958). "War and Peace on Range in 'Big Country'". The New York Times: 44.
  8. ^ "The Big Country". Variety. August 13, 1958. p. 6.
  9. ^ "'The Big Country' with Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker and Charlton Heston". Harrison's Reports: 128. August 9, 1958.
  10. ^ Coe, Richard L. (August 22, 1958). "'Big Country' Is a Whopper". The Washington Post. p. B10.
  11. ^ McCarten, John (October 11, 1958). "The Current Cinema". The New Yorker. p. 93.
  12. ^ Scheuer, Philip K. (August 10, 1958). "Lengthy 'Big Country' Jogs, Lopes and Gallops". Los Angeles Times: E1.
  13. ^ "The Big Country". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 26 (301): 14. February 1959.
  14. ^ FOUR BRITISH FILMS IN 'TOP 6': BOULTING COMEDY HEADS BOX OFFICE LIST Our own Reporter. The Guardian (1959-2003) [London (UK)] 11 Dec 1959: 4.
  15. ^ "The Big Country". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  16. ^ Coyne, Michael (1997). The Crowded Prairie: American National Identity in the Hollywood Western. New York, NY: I. B. Tauris. p. 92. ISBN 978-1-86064-259-3.
  17. ^ "Empire Features". Empireonline.com. December 5, 2006. Archived from the original on May 22, 2012. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  18. ^ "Jerome Moross: The Big Country". Classic FM. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  19. ^ "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.
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