I didn't really expect this to be up my alley, but man this was tedious to watch... It looks nice though, when the print is actually watchable. Otherwise, just ugh...

I didn't really expect this to be up my alley, but man this was tedious to watch... It looks nice though, when the print is actually watchable. Otherwise, just ugh...

Howard Hawks rugged macho western adventure with Kirk Douglas and Dewey Martin as friends aboard a fur trading ship, competing for the affections of rescued Native American woman Tear Eye (Elizabeth Threatt) who the Ship's captain hopes to use as a bargaining chip for safe passage through Indian land.

Differs from your usual western, with some poignant reflections on race relations, such as Arthur Hunnicuts brilliant and succint summary of colonization:

'Grabs. White man don't see nothing pretty unless they want to grab it. The more they grab, the more they want to grab. It's like a fever and they can't get cured. The only thing for them to do is to keep on grabbin' until everything belongs to white men and then start grabbin' from each other. I reckon injuns got no reason to love nothing white.'

Of course it then belies all that goodwill by casting Hank 'Senior Droolcup in Twin Peaks' Worden in redface as drink happy 'Poordevil'.

Ahhh the '50s. Face palm.

The Big Sky was the one and only film of Elizabeth 'Betty' Threatt, a drop dead gorgeous model of Cherokee descent, who dated both director Hawks and lead Douglas (although not at the same time).

267/1001 - 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Howard Hawks rugged macho western adventure with Kirk Douglas and Dewey Martin as friends aboard a fur trading ship, competing for the affections of rescued Native American woman Tear Eye (Elizabeth Threatt) who the Ship's captain hopes to use as a bargaining chip for safe passage through Indian land.

Differs from your usual western, with some poignant reflections on race relations, such as Arthur Hunnicuts brilliant and succint summary of colonization:

'Grabs. White man don't see nothing pretty unless they want to grab it. The more they grab, the more they want to grab. It's like a fever and they can't get cured. The only thing for them to do is to keep on grabbin' until everything belongs to white men and then start grabbin' from each other. I reckon injuns got no reason to love nothing white.'

Of course it then belies all that goodwill by casting Hank 'Senior Droolcup in Twin Peaks' Worden in redface as drink happy 'Poordevil'.

Ahhh the '50s. Face palm.

The Big Sky was the one and only film of Elizabeth 'Betty' Threatt, a drop dead gorgeous model of Cherokee descent, who dated both director Hawks and lead Douglas (although not at the same time).

267/1001 - 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die