''The Big Sky'' is a 1952 American
Western film produced and directed by
Howard Hawks
Howard Winchester Hawks (May 30, 1896December 26, 1977) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter of the classic Hollywood era. Critic Leonard Maltin called him "the greatest American director who is not a household name."
A v ...
and written by
Dudley Nichols, based on the novel of
the same name by
A.B. Guthrie Jr. The cast includes
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in ''The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. Do ...
,
Dewey Martin,
Elizabeth Threatt
Elizabeth Coyote Threatt (April 12, 1926 – November 22, 1993) was an American model and actress, best known for her starring role in Howard Hawks's 1952 film '' The Big Sky'', where she is in a love triangle with Kirk Douglas and Dewey Martin. ...
and
Arthur Hunnicutt
Arthur Lee Hunnicutt (February 17, 1910 – September 26, 1979) was an American actor known for his portrayal of wise, grizzled, and old rural characters. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in ...
, who was nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role while worki ...
. Though not considered among Hawks's major achievements by most critics, the film was chosen by
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for ''The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008, when he retired. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has ...
for his alternative list of the Top 100 American Films.
Plot
In 1832, Jim Deakins (
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in ''The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. Do ...
) is travelling in the
wilderness
Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...
when he encounters an initially hostile Boone Caudill (
Dewey Martin). However, they soon become good friends and head together to
St. Louis on the
Missouri River in search of Boone's uncle, Zeb Calloway (
Arthur Hunnicutt
Arthur Lee Hunnicutt (February 17, 1910 – September 26, 1979) was an American actor known for his portrayal of wise, grizzled, and old rural characters. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in ...
). They find him when they are tossed in jail for brawling with fur traders of the Missouri River Company. When 'Frenchy' Jourdonnais (
Steven Geray
Steven Geray (born István Gyergyai, 10 November 190426 December 1973) was a Hungarian-born American film actor who appeared in over 100 films and dozens of television programs. Geray appeared in numerous famed A-pictures, including Alfred H ...
) comes to bail Zeb out, Zeb talks him into paying for Jim and Boone too.
The two men join an expedition organised by Zeb and Frenchy, who owns a sailing barge called 'Mandan'. Taking about 30 other trappers with them, they begin to travel 2,000 miles up the Missouri and into the
Yellowstone River
The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the Western United States. Considered the principal tributary of upper Missouri, via its own tributaries it drains an area with headwaters across the mountains an ...
to seek trade with the
Blackfoot
The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'' or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or " Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Bla ...
Indians, in competition with the
Missouri Fur Company
The Missouri Fur Company (also known as the St. Louis Missouri Fur Company or the Manuel Lisa Trading Company) was one of the earliest fur trading companies in St. Louis, Missouri. Dissolved and reorganized several times, it operated under various ...
. Zeb has brought along Teal Eye (
Elizabeth Threatt
Elizabeth Coyote Threatt (April 12, 1926 – November 22, 1993) was an American model and actress, best known for her starring role in Howard Hawks's 1952 film '' The Big Sky'', where she is in a love triangle with Kirk Douglas and Dewey Martin. ...
), a pretty Blackfoot woman Zeb had found several years earlier after she had escaped from an enemy tribe. She is the daughter of a chief and Zeb plans to return her to her family as a means of establishing trade with the tribe. On the journey, they encounter another Blackfoot that Zeb knows, Poordevil (
Hank Worden
Hank Worden (born Norton Earl Worden; July 23, 1901 – December 6, 1992) was an American cowboy-turned-character actor who appeared in many Westerns, including many John Ford films such as ''The Searchers'' and the TV series ''The Lone Ra ...
); they take him along too. Later, Teal Eye falls into the river and is rescued from
rapids
Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence.
Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade''. ...
by Boone.
The Missouri Company knows about the threat to their monopoly. One day, it makes its move. A party led by Streak (Jim Davis) captures Teal Eye and tries to burn the boat, but Frenchy wakes up before the fire causes much damage. Poordevil tracks the enemy and Zeb and Jim rescue the woman. Later the expedition puts in at a company trading post and leaves a warning not to interfere. A week later they repulse an attack by
Crow Indians. Jim is separated from the group and shot in the leg. Boone, followed by Teal Eye and Poordevil, finds him, extracts the bullet and waits for his friend to heal. When they rejoin their band, they find Streak trying to buy the boat and the goods on it. Jim compares the bullet dug out of his leg with one of Streak's and finds them to be the same. Streak and his men are killed in the ensuing shootout.
The expedition finally reaches the Blackfoot village and begins trading. Teal Eye then tells a very disappointed Jim that she loves him... like a brother. Boone follows her back to her
teepee. When he emerges much later, he is surprised to find out he is now married. However, Teal Eye makes him buy her from her father, so that he will be free to leave her any time he wants to. With winter coming on, the men soon begin the long return boat trip and Boone goes with them, abandoning Teal Eye. This cools the earlier friendship between Boone and Jim, who confides to Zeb that unlike Boone he would not have left if Teal Eye had chosen him instead. Later that evening, however, Boone changes his mind and decides to return to Teal Eye, which pleases Jim greatly, and the two men remain friends as they finally go their separate ways.
Cast
*
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in ''The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. Do ...
as Jim Deakins
*
Dewey Martin as Boone Caudill
*
Elizabeth Threatt
Elizabeth Coyote Threatt (April 12, 1926 – November 22, 1993) was an American model and actress, best known for her starring role in Howard Hawks's 1952 film '' The Big Sky'', where she is in a love triangle with Kirk Douglas and Dewey Martin. ...
as Teal Eye
*
Arthur Hunnicutt
Arthur Lee Hunnicutt (February 17, 1910 – September 26, 1979) was an American actor known for his portrayal of wise, grizzled, and old rural characters. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in ...
as Zeb Calloway
*
Buddy Baer
Jacob Henry "Buddy" Baer (June 11, 1915 – July 18, 1986) was an American boxer and later an actor with important parts in seventeen films, as well as roles on various television series in the 1950s and 1960s.
In 1941, he came extremely cl ...
as Romaine, one of Frenchy's men
*
Steven Geray
Steven Geray (born István Gyergyai, 10 November 190426 December 1973) was a Hungarian-born American film actor who appeared in over 100 films and dozens of television programs. Geray appeared in numerous famed A-pictures, including Alfred H ...
as 'Frenchy' Jourdonnais
*
Henri Letondal
Henri Letondal (29 June 1901 – 15 February 1955) was a French-Canadian actor, critic, playwright and musician.
He was born in Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by populatio ...
as Labadie
*
Hank Worden
Hank Worden (born Norton Earl Worden; July 23, 1901 – December 6, 1992) was an American cowboy-turned-character actor who appeared in many Westerns, including many John Ford films such as ''The Searchers'' and the TV series ''The Lone Ra ...
as Poordevil
*
Jim Davis as Streak
Reception
To improve business, the film's running time was reduced from 140 minutes to 122 minutes for its general release.
In 1998,
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for ''The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008, when he retired. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has ...
of the ''
Chicago Reader
The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...
'' included the film in his unranked list of the best American films not included on the
AFI Top 100.
Awards and nominations
The film was nominated for two
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
:
*
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
The Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given in honor of an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role while worki ...
–
Arthur Hunnicutt
Arthur Lee Hunnicutt (February 17, 1910 – September 26, 1979) was an American actor known for his portrayal of wise, grizzled, and old rural characters. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in ...
*
Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White –
Russell Harlan
Home video releases
* 1988
Turner Home Entertainment, RKO Collection, VHS,
Soundtrack releases
The eight-minute suite for ''The Big Sky'' was released on ''Lost Horizon: The Classic Film Scores of Dimitri Tiomkin'' (1976), performed by the
National Philharmonic Orchestra
The National Philharmonic Orchestra was a British orchestra created exclusively for recording purposes. It was founded by RCA Records producer and conductor Charles Gerhardt and orchestra leader and contractor Sidney Sax. The orchestra was created ...
conducted by
Charles Gerhardt. Recorded in London in December 1975, the RCA Red Seal album was re-released on audio CD in 1991 and 2010. UPC 8-8697-77933-2-5
The original motion picture soundtrack for ''The Big Sky'' was restored by the
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...
Film Music Archives for a 2003 compact disc release. The limited-edition CD (BYU FMADT111) includes 28 tracks and nearly 80 minutes of orchestral music.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Sky, The
1952 films
1952 Western (genre) films
1950s historical films
1950s English-language films
American historical films
American Western (genre) films
American black-and-white films
Blackfoot in popular culture
Films scored by Dimitri Tiomkin
Films based on American novels
Films based on Western (genre) novels
Films directed by Howard Hawks
Films about Native Americans
Films set in 1832
Films with screenplays by Dudley Nichols
RKO Pictures films
1950s American films