The Big Country may not be William Wyler's best work, but it's illustrative of his style and introduced the famous director to the big star of his next film, Ben Hur. Ironically, Charlton Heston expressed doubts to his agent over taking such a small part in the Wyler's western, but Heston listened to his wiser agent and accepted a supporting role under lead actor and co-producer Gregory Peck.

The simple story is dwarfed by the southwestern scenery (actually shot near Stockton, California) with its wide vistas and rugged canyon. In fact, it's a running joke to call attention to its bigness, yet Peck's character, James McKay, declares to one of his detractors that he's seen such vastness before—on the ocean.

McKay plays the eastern greenhorn, attempts to bring his Atticus Finch peacemaker ways to the Wild West. A longtime feud between stubborn iconoclasts Major Henry Terrill (Charles Bickford) and Rufus Hannassey (Burl Ives), over a watering hole threatens to break out. To prevent western war Julie Maragon (Jean Simmons) holds onto the property and allows the two feuding families to both water their cattle. Simmons represents the independent Western woman, and from her introduction it's pretty clear who she's going to end up with. (can't leave a good woman unattached in any Hollywood Western)

McKay has come west in pursuit of Terrill's beautiful daughter (Carroll Baker), and looks very much out of place in the beginning with his eastern hat and his refusal to abide by the tough guy persona expected of "real men" in Marlboro country. One of these traditional western men is Heston's character, Steve Leech, the Terrill foreman who also hankers for the boss' daughter. Leech finds ways to put McKay in his place until the two engage in a mano on mano in a private fistfight that Heston claims was as strenuous as racing chariots. It took three days to film, and required lots of falling down shots.

The classic situation of the "haves" and the "have nots" runs through the story—Bickford represents the wealthy rancher with the large herd of cattle and fine western mansion while the Hannasseys shack up in a white trash lifestyle. Still, the Hannassey patriarch Burl Ives preaches a strict western code of honor where you treat men fairly and do the right thing. Much of his Big Daddy role is reprised here in Ives' Academy Award winning supporting role, and he absolutely takes over the film whenever he's on screen, giving the audience a favorite to root for.

Chuck Conners (of The Rifleman television series) provides comic relief as the likeable, cowardly ruffian who has fantasies of wooing Julie Maragon to give his father exclusive access to the vital watering hole. Conners also becomes fodder for some of Ives' funniest lines. One time Ives seriously advises his son to "take a bath sometime" if he's serious about wooing Maragon, and his response to Conners' query whether his father "wanted" him is classic—"Before you was born, I did!"

Credit John Ford for providing a blueprint for the Western genre. Clearly Wyler has learned from Ford's example, creating memorable characters within the broad scope of the story and providing comic relief. Although Ives' big frame carries much of the story, Peck lends the moral backbone to the New West. Alfonso Bedoya lends humanity and humor as well. The pleasant Mexican ranch hand seems like he was plucked right out from a John Ford movie (actually, he's most recognizable from his role in John Huston's The Treasure of the Sierre Madre). Just his timing and facial expressions give the right touch to Peck's symbolic taming of Old Thunder, the wild bucking horse that all greenhorns must ride as part of the hazing ritual.

And give square jawed Charlton Heston his due. Typically over the top when he grabs Carroll Baker and forcefully kisses her (Heston might have thought he was still performing film noir from A Touch of Evil), he hits his marks. Wyler must have wanted that scene played as such. Not the most eloquent director, Wyler would shoot countless takes until the actor gave what he wanted.

Heston's character starts out with a huge Western chip on his shoulder (thinking that a man has to make his own law), but he begins to transform after his fistfight with Peck—incomporating the Western ethical code into America as they move into the civilized modern era.

Overall, The Big Country is a serviceable western. Despite its predictable plot, the film contains some memorable acting, some inspired scenery, and that BIG theme song. As Charlton Heston explained after a special tribute showing at the landmark Egyptian Theater, "it's connected with the American ethos—America was made for Westerns."