The Oscar-winning Western is particularly renowned for its music.
Our TV movie pick for tonight (Friday, 16 January) is The Big Country, the classic Western epic from 1958.
Set in the late 19th century, the film follows the retired and wealthy sea captain, Jim McKay (Oscar-winner Gregory Peck, To Kill a Mockingbird), as he arrives in the Old West.
There, he becomes embroiled in a feud between his future father-in-law, Major Terrill (Charles Bickford, A Star is Born), and the rough and lawless Hannasseys over a valuable patch of land.
The Big Country was directed by legendary filmmaker William Wyler (Ben-Hur, Roman Holiday), with the movie also starring Academy Award-winner Charlton Heston (Planet of the Apes) and Jean Simmons (Spartacus).
On top of this, Burl Ives (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) is part of the cast and actually won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in the 1958 Western.
Acclaimed for its epic story, its wide-open vistas, its performances, its famous fist fight between Heston and Peck’s characters, and its soundtrack by Jerome Moross, The Big Country holds a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Popular film magazine Empire once even placed the nearly three-hour epic in the 187th position in a list of the 500 greatest movies of all time.
The Big Country is airing on TG4 at 9.15pm in the channel’s Friday night Western slot. It’s also available to rent on Apple TV, Google Play, Prime Video and the Sky Store.
The Big Country Trailer
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