The Big Country

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

In The Big Country Gregory Peck plays a seafaring man who heads west to marry Carroll Baker, the daughter of rancher Charles Bickford. Bickford is currently embroiled in a water-rights feud with covetous Burl Ives, so both he and his daughter are hoping that Peck can take care of himself. But Peck, who doesn't belief in fisticuffs, appears to be a coward, especially when challenged by Bickford's cocksure foreman Charlton Heston. The far-from-cowardly Peck decides to distance himself from the machismo overload at the Bickford spread, settling for a romance with headstrong schoolmarm Jean Simmons, whose water-rich lands are being fought over by the two warring ranchers. When Jean is kidnapped by Ives' no-good son Chuck Connors, Peck decides to take action. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Subtitle: Spa, Fre
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (Cinemascope)
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Audio: PCM Mono
• Features:
  • Original theatrical trailer
  • English: mono
  • French: mono
  • French and Spanish subtitles

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Won Best Supporting Actor - 1958 (Burl Ives)
•     Nominated Best Drama or Comedy Score - 1958 (Jerome Moross)

• British Academy of Film and Television Arts

•     Nominated Best British Film - 1959 (William Wyler)

• Directors Guild of America

•     Nominated Best Director - 1958 (William Wyler)

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Won Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Pictu - 1958 (Burl Ives)

• London Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2006

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Gregory Peck - James McKay
       Jean Simmons - Julie Maragon
       Carroll Baker - Pat Terrill
       Charlton Heston - Steve Leech
       Burl Ives - Rufus Hannassey
       Charles Bickford - Maj. Henry Terrill
       Alfonso Bedoya - Ramon
       Chuck Connors - Buck Hannassey
       Chuck Hayward - Rafe
       Buff Brady - Dude
       Jim Burk - Cracker
       Dorothy Adams - Hannassey Woman
       Chuck Roberson - Terrill Cowboy
       Burt Mustin
       Bob Morgan - Terrill Cowboy
       John R. McKee - Terrill Cowboy

• Director:

  William Wyler

• Producer:

  Gregory Peck, William Wyler

• Screenwriter:

  Robert Wilder, Sy Bartlett, James R. Webb

• Book Author:

  Donald Hamilton

• Cinematographer:

  Franz Planer

• Composer (Music Score):

  Jerome Moross

• Editor:

  Robert Belcher, John D. Faure

• Costume Designer:

  Emile Santiago, Yvonne Wood, Eddie Armand

REVIEW:

• Burl Ives, better known for his singing, won an Oscar as a tyrannical land baron in this sweeping Western saga, a sprawling, nearly three-hour epic about two families feuding over water rights. It featured Gregory Peck opposite two love interests (Carroll Baker and Jean Simmons), and it had a major role for Charlton Heston as well. Even television's The Rifleman, Chuck Connors, was part of the cast. Staggering vistas and a grandiose story make this an emblematic Western, though its emotions are transparent. Some critics believed that it was an allegory about the Cold War. Veteran director William Wyler had survived the anti-Communist blacklisting of the McCarthy era and, a year later, would go on to direct Ben-Hur. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi