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The Big Country

The Big Country (1958)

October. 01,1958
|
7.9
|
NR
| Drama Western Romance

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.

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Steineded
1958/10/01

How sad is this?

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CommentsXp
1958/10/02

Best movie ever!

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FirstWitch
1958/10/03

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

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Geraldine
1958/10/04

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

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darbski
1958/10/05

***SPOILERS*** This story follows Donald Hamilton's basic premise: intellect, courage, and perseverance will win the day. Mr. Hamilton is the author of the really great action/thriller series of books about a character named Matt Helm. Now, younger readers will probably never appreciate these book as much as us old farts do, but trust me they were great. The difference lies in how Hollywood dealt with the control of the story by the screenwriter. THIS movie is one of the best conversions (of western stories) ever made. Two others are Elmore Leonard's "Hombre", and Louis Lamour's "The Quick And The Dead". All good reads, but when shown on the screen, they are different and better than the author had originally produced. This is very rare, indeed, because usually is it exactly the opposite. Mr. Helm's character Matt Helm is transformed from a serious assassin to a drunken clown, complete with circus acts. By the way, Dean Martin was a great actor who could play great parts if the were given him. P.S. Eastwood would have made a perfect Matt Helm. Enough griping.In this story Gregory Peck plays Jim McKay, a fellow who is a very wealthy shipping magnate who comes west to marry a beautiful, but spoiled, and flawed, girl, Pat Terrill, played perfectly by Carol Baker. On the way, he is misunderstood, and misinterpreted to the point of deadly stupidity. Burl Ives plays Rufus Hannassey, A barrel of a man who has without a doubt one of the soliloquys I've ever heard. Short, sweet, eloquent, to the point, and daring. I liked him immediately. Chuck Connors plays his son - a cowardly bully who's hobby is probably pulling wings off of flies. Jean Simmons is the darkly beautiful Julie Maragon, the REAL love interest. The fatal flaw in not understanding someone plays out to a tragic, but hopeful end, in this almost Shakespearean drama. There is plenty of action, but, in the end, it is applied intelligence that wins the day - as it should be. The battle between brute force and brains is played out every day in life, and in this movie the right side wins. I rank this as one of the very best westerns (and movies) ever made. It is a 10 plus.

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jf-90133
1958/10/06

Certainly one of the best western movies ever. I won't add to the spoilers (there have been enough of those already). But I will add that the original book of the same name by author Donald Hamilton is a must-have... it's just as good and is in fact different by a bit - enough to make it a great read and fill in more background details such as the backstory about the dueling pistols. The book is out of print, so you'll have to find a copy and it will not be cheap. Look for about $30 for a paperback copy. As you'll see, it's well worth every cent.

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v_haritha_in
1958/10/07

James McKay (Peck), a refined man, comes to a lawless town in the Old West and makes it a better place. It is a very common premise in the Westerns over the decades (Destry Rides Again, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, A Fistful of Dollars). But what make this movie unique are the characters and the way we perceive them over the course of the movie. General Henry Terrill (Bickford)and Rufus Hannassey (Ives) are the heads of two rival families in town. Terrill is rich, well-spoken and has a beautiful daughter, Patricia (Baker), who is engaged to McKay. Hannassey is poor and rough and has three ruffians for sons. But, we soon discover that appearances are deceptive. General Terrill, Rufus Hannassey, Patricia and Steve Leech (Heston), the General's foreman, are all products of their environment and have their own good and bad qualities. Even McKay is not perfect; though his is more of a weakness (he is not very good at judging) his feelings for women. The spectrum of characters also include Julie Maragon (Simmons), a young lady caught in the feud and yet managed to stay strong and keep her values, and Buck Hannassey (Connors), Rufus's slithery elder son with no redeemable qualities. A couple of characters alter their way of seeing things after their interaction with McKay but they never go out of their personalities. And, the romance has a modern day touch to it.A description of the movie would not be complete without mentioning its three excellent fight scenes. They are entirely different from one another in style, context and purpose and add depth to the movie.The cast could not be better. The locations are well chosen and convey the idea that we are indeed in a "big country". And, there is not a dull moment in spite of its length. A must watch for fans of Westerns.

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poe426
1958/10/08

I've always liked Gregory Peck, and I think he's great here, but it's Charlton Heston's nuanced performance that prompts these comments. I've stated elsewhere (in my comments for TREASURE ISLAND, for instance) that Charlton Heston was more than capable of playing a believable Bad Guy and that he could've made a career out of doing just that had he so chosen; and one of his finest turns came in THE BIG COUNTRY. Shakespearean in scope, THE BIG COUNTRY features Heston as the ranch foreman Steve Leech. It's a nuanced performance, with Leech at first coming off as little more than a hard-driving b****** with a thing for the woman who would become Peck's girl- but the character goes through a very dramatic change that showcases Heston's range: the "Bad" Guy morphs into a Not So Bad Guy After All. The times Heston impresses on screen are about as numerous as the films he starred in (or even co-starred in, or had what amounted to a bit part in). The man was a consummate professional and it's always a pleasure to watch him work. There'll never be another like him.

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