The Big Country (1958)
(On TV, August 2020) In theory, there’s a lot that I should like about The Big Country – big expansive colour vistas of the American wild west, an undercurrent of how civilization tames the excesses at the frontier, a legendary feud between two grander-than-life characters, the unusual sight of Charlton Heston reduced to a supporting role, and a wealth of subplots to choose from. Alas, in practice The Big Country is often excruciatingly dull – the wealth of subplots turns out to be an issue when the film can’t effectively pick which one to develop, and still ends up at an excessive 166 minutes in length. I’m not saying it’s bad – The film noticeably perks up whenever Burl Ives makes an appearance, the last half-hour finally gets going with some action, leading to a few scenes that I really don’t mind. But it’s a lot of work to get there, and a better filmmaker would have found a better way. Certainly, a more economical one… although considering the mood of the time (during which Hollywood wanted to bring audiences back from the TV screen through widescreen colour epics worth the trip to the theatre), I’m not sure that this twenty-first century criticism of The Big Country would even have been a possibility during the film’s production.