A video essay analyzing the terrific screenplay of the epic western /”The Big Country/” (1958), directed by William Wyler and written by *inhales*… James R. Webb & Sy Bartlet & Robert Wilder; aAdaptation by Jessamyn West & Robert Wyler (don’t confuse him with Robert Wilder); based on the novel by
Donald Hamilton.

We’ll take a look at how each of its seven major characters make the movie’s world shine thanks to their surprising similarities and differences. And this is also the best film to discuss the subject of masculinity, by opposing true manliness to infantile braggadocio.

Jim McKay (Gregory Peck) arrives in the west to settle down with his fiancée Pat (Carroll Baker), daughter of Major Henry Terrill (Charles Bickford), who’s in a decades-long feud with the Hannassey clan, led by Rufus (Burl Ives, stealing the show).

The boastful men of the land like Buck Hannassey (Chuck Connors) and Terrill foreman Steve Leech (Charlton Heston) provoke Jim, but he doesn’t need to prove his courage to anyone as he intends to buy the land of Julie Maragon (Jean Simmons) and put an end to the feud.

Also mind how beautifully composed are Wyler’s scope frames.

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