The Big Country

I'm not going to go on living in the middle of a civil war.

Retired sea Captain James McKay (Gregory Peck) arrives in the sprawling land of the West to marry fiancée Patricia Terrill (Carroll Baker). With an amiable, almost pacifistic approach to life, McKay confounds the ranchers he is now mixing with. Particularly the Terrill ranch foreman Steve Leech (Charlton Heston) who takes an immediate dislike to him. Not only that but it seems that James has landed right in the middle of a family rivalry between the Terrill's and the Hannassey's: just as it's about to fully ignite into war.

Directed by William Wyler (Ben-Hur/Mrs. Miniver), The Big Country is adapted from a short story called Ambush at Blanco Canyon that was written by Donald...

Gregory Peck ("McKay") is a well off, retired, sea captain who arrives to marry his fiancée "Pat Terrill" (Carroll Baker) and finds himself amidst the mother of all turf wars between her father "Major Terrill" (Charles Bickford) and his arch rival "Rufus Hannassey" (Burl Ives) and his disparate sons. Add to the mix, quite a bit of rivalry from Charlton Heston ("Leech") who is the Major's right hand man, and a man who has designs on "Pat" and finally Jean Simmons who own the "Old Muddy" - the river that both are essentially fighting over and we've got a great recipe for a top class action adventure. It has the greatest of cinematography, a score that you instantly recognise and performances - especially, I felt, from Ives that really do reso...