The Big Country is a 1958 American epic Western film directed by William Wyler, starring Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker, Charlton Heston, and Charles Bickford. The supporting cast features Burl Ives 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 at the enormous ranch owned by her father, Henry “The Major” Terrill. After a meeting with Patricia’s friend, schoolteacher Julie Maragon, McKay, and Patricia are accosted by a group of drunks led by Buck Hannassey, the son of the Major’s ardent and implacable enemy Rufus Hannassey − with whom he’s had a longstanding feud over water access for cattle. In spite of the harassment and mockery, McKay surprises Patricia by making light of the incident and stating that he’s experienced worse and the boys meant no harm, they were just drunk.
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