''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 ...

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. D ...

, Dewey Martin, Elizabeth Threatt 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 for his alternative list of the Top 100 American Films.

Plot

In 1832, Jim Deakins (

) is travelling in the wilderness 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 (

). They find him when they are tossed in jail for brawling with fur traders of the Missouri River Company. When 'Frenchy' Jourdonnais ( Steven Geray) 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 a ...

to seek trade with the Blackfoot Indians, in competition with the Missouri Fur Company. Zeb has brought along Teal Eye ( Elizabeth Threatt), 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 ...

); they take him along too. Later, Teal Eye falls into the river and is rescued from rapids 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

as Jim Deakins * Dewey Martin as Boone Caudill * Elizabeth Threatt as Teal Eye *

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 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 second-most populous city in Canada and most populous c ...

as Labadie *

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 of the '' Chicago Reader'' 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 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 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-d ...

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

* * * * {{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