The Big Sky (1952)

Jim Deakins is a frontiersman and Indian trader who is making a perilous journey with a group of other men up the Missouri River to get a large haul of furs from friendly Blackfoot Indians.... See full summary »

Director:

Howard Hawks

Writers:

Dudley Nichols (screenplay), A.B. Guthrie Jr. (novel),

Stars:

Kirk Douglas, Dewey Martin, Elizabeth Threatt

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Kirk Douglas	...	Jim Deakins
Dewey Martin	...	Boone Caudill
Elizabeth Threatt	...	Teal Eye
Arthur Hunnicutt	...	Zeb Calloway
Buddy Baer	...	Romaine
Steven Geray	...	'Frenchy' Jourdonnais (Riverboat Captain)
Henri Letondal	...	La Badie
Hank Worden	...	Poordevil
Jim Davis	...	Streak

Storyline

Jim Deakins is a frontiersman and Indian trader who is making a perilous journey with a group of other men up the Missouri River to get a large haul of furs from friendly Blackfoot Indians. The problem is that they have to get through hostile Indian territory first and they find that they have seriously underestimated the difficulties they will undergo. The large body of men who started the journey are gradually whittled down until only a hardy few, like Deakins, are left.

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Plot Keywords:

river | expedition | missouri river | 1830s | frenchman | 

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Taglines:

Theirs the great adventure... (original one-sheet poster)

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Genres:

Drama | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

19 August 1952 (USA)

Also Known As:

Howard Hawks' The Big Sky

Filming Locations:

Snake River, Wyoming, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures, Winchester Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

140 min 122 min (edited)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While shooting Red River, there was a scene that director Howard Hawks unsuccessfully urged John Wayne to do. It involved his getting a finger mangled between a saddle horn and a rope, resulting in Walter Brennan's amputating it. Hawks reportedly told Wayne, "If you're not good enough, we won't do it", but Wayne wouldn't do it. According to Hawks biographer Todd McCarthy, Hawks did get Kirk Douglas to do that scene in this film, and it came off so funny that Wayne later declared to Hawks, "If you tell me a funeral is funny, I'll do a funeral."

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Goofs

As Jim and Boone approach St. Louis, Zeb, narrating, says they saw the town across the Missouri River. St. Louis is on the Mississippi River, and Jim and Boone, coming from Kentucky, would have seen it directly from the east side of that river.

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Quotes

Zeb Calloway: Keep you eyes open. If you see anything, shoot. Don't bother to aim because you probably couldn't hit nothing no how.

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Connections

Referenced in Ghosts of Mars (2001)

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Soundtracks

"Brandy Leave Me Alone"
(uncredited)
Written by Josef Marais

User Reviews

A Great Adventure Film

"The Big Sky" is one of the most unique and entertaining adventure films ever made. Set in the American frontier of the early 1800s, it's the story of an ambitious party who pole their keel boat up the Missouri River into new territories, far beyond where other white men have ventured, to trade for furs with the Blackfeet Indians.

"The Big Sky" was filmed on location, and this alone makes the film worth watching, for the splenor of the Snake River and Grand Tetons, where the film was actually shot, is breathtaking.

But "The Big Sky" has other virtues which raise it far above the average "scenic". First, is the multi-layered plot. Besides the story of an enterprise, "The Big Sky" is about how men, in a time long past, interacted, when their differences were subordinated to a higher purpose. Second, is director Howard Hawks, whose trademark "naturalistic dialogue" technique is put to wonderful use here. Hawks works on complex relationships - male and female, "Frenchie" and Anglo backwoodsmen, Native Americans and whites - like a conductor a symphony. Third, and perhaps most touching, is the tale of male bonding not only among the group of men, but one-on-one between Jim Deakins, played by Kirk Douglas, and Boone, his young sidekick, played by Hawks protegé Dewey Martin. There's a nice, touching story toward the end.

This is a shamefully underrated film. Superb cinematography (Oscar nominated), rich plot, flawless casting (Arthur Hunnicutt nominated for Best Supporting Oscar), masterful direction, make "The Big Sky" a true classic.