Heston – The Big Country

Heston doesn’t smile much in The Big Country. He’s the Major’s (Charles Bickford) hard-bitten boy – the son he never had – and his foreman. He’s cowboy tuff and cowboy gruff. He’s also plain unhappy that the girl he’s loved so long has saddled up with an Eastern greenhorn, Gregory Peck. It ‘sticks in his craw’ – Big time – and he’s not going to leave quietly …

Charlton Heston  -  The BIg Country
Charlton Heston – The BIg Country

As the film ends, Big transitions are in the offing. The battling patriarchs – Burl Ives and Charles Bickford – are dead – along with Ives’ troublesome son Buck (Chuck Connors). It’s seems a ‘given’ that Heston will become the new boss of the Major’s empire – alongside his proper partner Carroll Baker; while the Hannassey’s (Ives’ bunch) homestead is in disarray with no one at its helm; meanwhile the “Big Muddy” now rises under Gregory Peck and Jean Simmons.

As Peck and Simmons ride off into the sunset – we are sure that Heston and Carroll Baker will complete their own circle (though we don’t get to see it).

One wonders though, if there still isn’t an untold story on the horizon …

The only problem is: where do you find the players? – another cast like this?

The answer is …

You can’t.

Heston NRA
Heston NRA

In this 2002 file photo, Charlton Heston acknowledges applause at a benefit honoring him at the
National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.
(Photo by Steve Sisney/The OklahomanArchives)

Heston … Part 2 … Western Filmography

Heston … Part 2 … Western FilmographyThe Savage -1952Susan Morrow / HestonArrowhead – 1953The Pony Express – 1953Far Horizons – 1955Donna Reed / HestonThree Violent People – 1956The BIg Country – 1958Major Dundee 1965Will Penny – 1968The Last Hard Men – 1976The Mountain Men – 1980Tombstone – 1993

via Heston … Part 2 … Western Filmography.

Heston … Part 2 … Western Filmography

heston pics 2

The Savage -1952
Susan Morrow / Heston

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Arrowhead – 1953

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The Pony Express – 1953

Far Horizons

Far Horizons – 1955
Donna Reed / Heston

three violent people

Three Violent People – 1956

The BIg Country

The BIg Country – 1958

Major Dundee 1965

Major Dundee 1965

Charlton Heston 5

Will Penny – 1968

The Last Hard Men

The Last Hard Men – 1976

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The Mountain Men – 1980

Tombstone

Tombstone – 1993