The Big Country is the epitome of “they don’t make ’em like they used to.” And Gregory Peck was “the Dude,” long before the Coen brothers came along.
I can’t think of a better way to lose yourself in a fictional world for close to three hours than to watch this 1958 classic western. It has a moral resonance and a textured ambiguity regarding right and wrong, alongside enough gunplay and cowboy hijinks to satisfy the most discerning connoisseur of the genre.
Peck, grave, even statesmanlike, in the role of James McKay, a former sea captain come west to woo Patty Terrill (Carroll Baker), has to remake himself to survive in the rough and tumble world of the feuding Terrills and Hannasseys. His survival and growth in this hostile environment holds our attention, occurring by fits and starts, unpredictably, yet convincingly.
There are many enjoyable supporting performances, not least of all Burl Ives as the Hannassey patriarch, and Charlton Heston as the Terrill foreman Steve Leech.