William Wyler Videos : The Big Country - Jerome Moross (1958)

the big country jerome moross 1958 william wyler gregory peck jean simmons carroll baker carol burl ives chuck conners music film 1950s westerns classic score main theme

The Big Country - Jerome Moross (1958)

One of my favorite themes from one of my very favorite Westerns. 'The Big Country' is a somewhat overlooked Western epic from 1958, directed by the great William Wyler and Starring Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker, Charlton Heston and Burl Ives, who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his powerful role as Mr. Hennessee, the leader of a poor family clan. It is the Hennessee clan which has had a blood feud with wealthy ex-Civil War Major Henry Terril; Terril's daughter Pat (Carroll Baker) is coming home from the East, bringing with her a dashing new fiance (Gregory Peck) to meet her doting father. It is as her fiance, Jim McKay, automatically is repulsed by the fickle violence of the dog-eat-dog clans that the movies anti-violence themes emerge. It is these themes that make the movie stand out so much from others. Jean Simmons co-stars as the local school teacher and owner of 'The Big Muddy', the home of the whole town's water supply. It is her stubborn nature which keeps the Muddy from falling into the hands of either clan, and from letting the bloodshed reach a tragic head. 'The Big Country' has so much to offer, with the subtleties that underlie the plot, the enjoyably well-done acting (particularily with Jean Simmons, who is horribly underrated), beautiful cinematography, breathtaking directing and a stunning theme, as you are to now hear. 'The Big Country' rises above cliches, is exquisitely done and has a fresh spin on moral and ethical themes that has ...

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