letters noting the red-baiting president's hypocrisy in praising a film written by a blacklisted communist sympathizer. The final irony (apparently lost on Wilson's supporters) was, as Jan Herman points out, that Josh's agonizing decisionâwhether to go to war or stick to his pacifist beliefsâwas Wyler's focus, not Wilson's. 25
Wyler's next film would explore similar issues with the same muddled results, but within the generic conventions of the western. Wyler had not made a film in that genre since 1940's The Westerner with Gary Cooper. Now, in the spirit of the times, he would make a âbigâ western. By the mid-1950s, television had absorbed a substantial portion of the movie audience. In an effort to compete, theatrical films became bigger and more expensive as directors began experimenting with Technicolor, Cinerama, CinemaScope, and Technorama. To shoot The Big Country , Wyler hired Franz Planer, and together they decided to make the film in Technorama and Technicolor.
Wanting to retain full artistic control of his projects, Wyler decided to form a partnership with Gregory Peck, who had become a close friend since their work on Roman Holiday . Their first venture was supposed to be a comedy, however, not a western. In December 1957 Peck announced that they would make a film about an art heist from the Prado museum in Madrid, and they hired Michael and Fay Kanin ( Woman of the Year ) to write a script. The screenplay proved unsatisfactory, and the project was shelvedâthough Wyler would later make a similar film, How to Steal a Million , with Audrey Hepburn (Peck's Roman Holiday costar) in Paris.
While that first project was unraveling, James Webb, a prolific writer of westerns ( Vera Cruz and Apache ; he would later write How the West Was Won and Cheyenne Autumn ) brought to Peck's attention a story by Donald Hamilton, âAmbush at Blanco Canyon,â which had been serialized in the Saturday Evening Post and later expanded into a novel titled The Big Country . Peck showed the story to Wyler, noting that it had at least six good parts and was âan anti-macho western.â 26 Wyler liked the project, and the two friends divided up their responsibilities and formed two separate production companiesâWyler's was called World Wide Productions, and Peck's was Anthony Productions. Wyler would be in charge of artistic matters, while Peck, in addition to having casting and script approval, would choose the livestock, horses, and riders. Peck, who also had a development deal with United Artists, arranged for that studio to finance and distribute the film.
Again, Wyler had problems with the script. Five writers were listed on the final credits, including Robert Wyler and Jessamyn West; Leon Uris (uncredited) also worked on the script. Ironically, the Writersâ Guild of America, successor to the Screen Writersâ Guild, would be called on to arbitrate the credits on this film (as the latter had done on Friendly Persuasion ), although Wyler claimed to have little recollection about who had written what. Donald Hamilton was originally hired to adapt his story, though he warned Wyler and Peck that he had no real screenwriting experience. When this proved to be a problem, the producers turned to Sy Bartlett, who had helped Wyler get into the air force and was now a screenwriter working with Peck. Robert Wilder, whose name is also on the credits, was a novelist ( Flamingo Road ) and a friend of Robert Wyler's.
Wyler assembled a big-time cast to complement the size of the picture. In addition to Peck, he signed Burl ives, fresh from his stage success as Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (a role he would repeat in the film) to play Rufus Hannassey; Charles Bickford, who had not worked for Wyler since Hell's Heroes , to play Henry Terrill, patriarch of the family feuding with the Hannasseys; Carroll Baker as Pat Terrill, who is engaged to Peck's character Jim McKay; and Jean Simmons as Julie
Wyler's next film would explore similar issues with the same muddled results, but within the generic conventions of the western. Wyler had not made a film in that genre since 1940's The Westerner with Gary Cooper. Now, in the spirit of the times, he would make a âbigâ western. By the mid-1950s, television had absorbed a substantial portion of the movie audience. In an effort to compete, theatrical films became bigger and more expensive as directors began experimenting with Technicolor, Cinerama, CinemaScope, and Technorama. To shoot The Big Country , Wyler hired Franz Planer, and together they decided to make the film in Technorama and Technicolor.
Wanting to retain full artistic control of his projects, Wyler decided to form a partnership with Gregory Peck, who had become a close friend since their work on Roman Holiday . Their first venture was supposed to be a comedy, however, not a western. In December 1957 Peck announced that they would make a film about an art heist from the Prado museum in Madrid, and they hired Michael and Fay Kanin ( Woman of the Year ) to write a script. The screenplay proved unsatisfactory, and the project was shelvedâthough Wyler would later make a similar film, How to Steal a Million , with Audrey Hepburn (Peck's Roman Holiday costar) in Paris.
While that first project was unraveling, James Webb, a prolific writer of westerns ( Vera Cruz and Apache ; he would later write How the West Was Won and Cheyenne Autumn ) brought to Peck's attention a story by Donald Hamilton, âAmbush at Blanco Canyon,â which had been serialized in the Saturday Evening Post and later expanded into a novel titled The Big Country . Peck showed the story to Wyler, noting that it had at least six good parts and was âan anti-macho western.â 26 Wyler liked the project, and the two friends divided up their responsibilities and formed two separate production companiesâWyler's was called World Wide Productions, and Peck's was Anthony Productions. Wyler would be in charge of artistic matters, while Peck, in addition to having casting and script approval, would choose the livestock, horses, and riders. Peck, who also had a development deal with United Artists, arranged for that studio to finance and distribute the film.
Again, Wyler had problems with the script. Five writers were listed on the final credits, including Robert Wyler and Jessamyn West; Leon Uris (uncredited) also worked on the script. Ironically, the Writersâ Guild of America, successor to the Screen Writersâ Guild, would be called on to arbitrate the credits on this film (as the latter had done on Friendly Persuasion ), although Wyler claimed to have little recollection about who had written what. Donald Hamilton was originally hired to adapt his story, though he warned Wyler and Peck that he had no real screenwriting experience. When this proved to be a problem, the producers turned to Sy Bartlett, who had helped Wyler get into the air force and was now a screenwriter working with Peck. Robert Wilder, whose name is also on the credits, was a novelist ( Flamingo Road ) and a friend of Robert Wyler's.
Wyler assembled a big-time cast to complement the size of the picture. In addition to Peck, he signed Burl ives, fresh from his stage success as Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (a role he would repeat in the film) to play Rufus Hannassey; Charles Bickford, who had not worked for Wyler since Hell's Heroes , to play Henry Terrill, patriarch of the family feuding with the Hannasseys; Carroll Baker as Pat Terrill, who is engaged to Peck's character Jim McKay; and Jean Simmons as Julie
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