The Big Country

The Big Country is a 1958 American epic Western film directed by William Wyler and starring Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker, Charlton Heston and Burl Ives. The supporting cast features Charles Bickford and Chuck Connors. The picture was based on the serialized magazine novel Ambush at Blanco Canyon by Donald Hamilton. and was coproduced by Wyler and Peck. The opening title sequence was created by Saul Bass. The film is one of very few pictures in which Heston plays a major supporting role instead of the lead.

Wealthy sea captain James McKay Gregory Peck travels to the American West to join his fiance Patricia Carroll Baker at the enormous ranch owned by her father, Henry Terrill Charles Bickford, referred to by all as the Major. Terrill has been feuding with Rufus Hannassey Burl Ives, the patriarch of a poorer, less refined ranching clan, over water rights in the arid grazing lands of the high plains.Patricias friend, schoolteacher Julie Maragon Jean Simmons, owns the Big Muddy, a large ranch itself, with a source of water that is vital to Hannassey. Julie allows all to water their cattle and refuses to sell or lease Big Muddy to either side, so as to keep the fragile peace. ........

Source: Wikipedia