The Big Country, which is on BBC 2 in the present day, is taken into account one of many best Westerns ever made.
The Oscar-winning movie starring Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker, Charlton Heston and Burl Ives was the favorite film of sitting US President Eisenhower, who screened the image on the White House for 4 consecutive nights.
However, capturing the story of a New Englander arriving within the Old West to a household feud was no simple feat in any respect for the actors.
Jean Simmons was “so traumatised” by her expertise on the 1958 film that she ended up not speaking about it till the late Eighties.
When the actress lastly opened up, she revealed: “We’d have our lines learned, then receive a rewrite, stay up all night learning the new version, then receive yet another rewrite the following morning. It made the acting damned near impossible.”
The biggest source of clashes on The Big Country set was director William Wyler, who would go on to helm Ben-Her.
Although he and Gregory Peck had got on filming 1953’s Roman Holiday, the pair fought constantly on this picture.
It got so bad one day that the star ended up storming off set with Wyler telling the press: “I wouldn’t direct Peck again for a million dollars and you can quote me on that.”
Peck and Wyler wouldn’t communicate for 3 years till they finally reconciled, however the director was certainly true to his phrase because the pair by no means made one other film collectively.
The filmmaker additionally clashed with Charles Bickford, who had feuded with him on the set of 1929’s Hell’s Heroes.
Wyler most popular capturing many retakes which might make the actor irritable, typically refusing to say strains he didn’t like and never giving totally different performances between the a number of takes he was pressured to movie.
https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/films/1908687/The-Big-Country-Jean-Simmons-Gregory-Peck