Something Big (1971)

A man kidnaps the wife of a cavalry commander in order to exchange her for a Gatling gun that's being sold by a gun runner.

Director:

Andrew V. McLaglen

Writer:

James Lee Barrett

Stars:

Dean Martin, Brian Keith, Carol White

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dean Martin	...	Joe Baker
Brian Keith	...	Col. Morgan
Carol White	...	Dover McBride
Honor Blackman	...	Mary Anna Morgan
Ben Johnson	...	Jesse Bookbinder
Albert Salmi	...	Jonny Cobb
Don Knight	...	Tommy McBride
Joyce Van Patten	...	Polly Standall
Denver Pyle	...	Junior Frisbee
Merlin Olsen	...	Sgt. Fitzsimmons
Robert Donner	...	Angel Moon
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Joe Pickins
Judi Meredith	...	Carrie Standall
Edward Faulkner	...	Capt. Tyler (as Ed Faulkner)
Paul Fix	...	Chief Yellow Sun

Storyline

Joe Baker has a dream. He wants to do 'something big.' When he needs a Gatling gun to accomplish this, he seeks out a black marketeer. The price he wants for the gun? A woman! So Baker kidnaps a woman off of the stagecoach, only to find that she is the wife of the commandant of the local Cavalry detachment. Things get further complicated when a girl named Dover McBride shows up. She has come to force Baker to marry her and return east, as he promised to do four years earlier.

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Plot Keywords:

gatling gun | stagecoach | cavalry | drinking | drink | 

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Taglines:

Everybody wants to do something big once in his life. It's just that most people don't have to hold up a stagecoach, steal a girl, and swap her for a gun to do it.

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Genres:

Comedy | Western

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some suggestive content and western violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

November 1971 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ceva măreţ

Filming Locations:

Durango, Mexico

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinema Center Films, Penbar Productions, Stanmore Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

James Lee Barrett apparently wrote this for Peter O'Toole.

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Quotes

[examining corpse]
Colonel Morgan: Well, I'd say he looks healthier than the last time I saw him.
Junior Frisbee: How can he look healthier when he's dead?
Colonel Morgan: It must agree with him.

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Crazy Credits

Paradoxically--considering its definition--the film's title is presented in all lower case letters, as can be seen in the poster.

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Connections

Referenced in My Husband, the Producer (1974)

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Soundtracks

Something Big
Music by Burt Bacharach
Lyrics by Hal David
Performed by Mark Lindsay

User Reviews

Don't forget the subplot

Sure the story's great and the dog's adorable, but I think the subplot's the best part. All Jonny Cobb wanted out of life these days was a woman, but women were hard to find in such an arid place. Ol' Baker's a resourceful guy, though, so let him find Cobb a woman. Give him a little incentive and there's no end to what he could accomplish. So that's what Jonny did. He promised to get him a gatlin gun if Baker would get him a woman. The way this subplot ends makes me laugh out loud. The perfect solution!