Big Country The (1958)

An Oscar nominated Score (by Jerome Moross his only Academy recognition) and some terrific imagery mark this story of a sea captain (Gregory Peck) as a "fish out of water" in the West as he follows his fiancee (Carroll Baker) home. Her father (Charles Bickford) who’s family has been feuding with another (headed by Burl Ives) is not sure he approves; the ranch foreman (Charlton Heston) is sure he doesn’t. Jean Simmons plays a schoolmarm caught in the middle and Chuck Connors (TV’s The Rifleman) plays a son trying to live up to his father’s (Ives) standards. This essential Western by director William Wyler (and adapted by his older brother Robert Detective Story (1951) and Jessamyn West) features Ives’ Oscar winning Best Supporting Actor performance on his only nomination. Another of the film’s fine performances is given by Alfonso Bedoya as Ramon the Mexican ranch-hand.

Purchase this DVD now at

or buy the Blu-ray Disc here