The Big Cat (1949)

Director:

Phil Karlson

Writers:

Morton Grant (story)
Morton Grant (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

April 1949 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Western

Tagline:

COUGAR CUNNING THAT DEFIED HUNTERS' GUNS! (newspaper print ad - all caps)

Plot:

1933. A city boy arrives in his late mother's birthplace to discover the locals have been pestered by drought...

Plot Keywords:

Hunting | Feud | Mountain | Rural Setting

Cast

Lon McCallister	...	Danny Turner
Peggy Ann Garner	...	Doris Cooper
Preston Foster	...	Tom Eggers
Forrest Tucker	...	Gil Hawks
Skip Homeier	...	Jim Hawks, Gil' Son
Sara Haden	...	Mrs. Mary Cooper
Irving Bacon	...	Matt Cooper the Mailman
Gene Reynolds	...	Wid Hawks, Gil' Son

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | USA:Approved | Sweden:15

Company:

William Moss Pictures Inc.

Quotes:

Tom Eggers: Ain't you forgettin' this is my property?
Matt Cooper: [with gun pointed at Tom] Ain't you forgettin' this is my gun?

Movie Connections:

Remade as Track of the Cat (1954)

Possibly the best film of Phil Karlson's outdoor adventure period.

Operating with a limited in number but generally talented group of eight actors, director Phil Karlson, soon to be known for his essays into noir, here creates an engrossing adventure film set in 1933 depression and drought wracked southern Utah, and incorporates many of the elements which later will prove vital to his deserved reputation as an important narrator of urban crime. Residents of a small secluded valley are being tormented by a large mountain lion which, due to a shortage of water, has invaded their region to prey upon livestock, and the bounty for the beast of $150 is coveted by two long-feuding neighbours, one of whom, Tom Eggers (Preston Foster) provides a place to live for a city-bred young man (Lon McCallister), the son of the former love of his host and also the nephew of Eggers' rival, Gil Hawks (Forrest Tucker). The well-crafted scenario includes elements of romance, suspense and humour to the basic plot, and a certain darkness of tone has raised the work above most others of its stamp, with crisp editing (Karlson and Harvey Manger) prevailing, and we enjoy particularly fine performances from Foster and McCallister, with a pleasingly large role for veteran character actor Irving Bacon, a standout as a farmer doubling as a preacher.