The Big Cat (film)

Last updated

The Big Cat
The Big Cat (1949 film) video cover.jpg
DVD cover
Directed by Phil Karlson
Screenplay by Morton Grant and Dorothy Yost
Story byMorton Grant
Produced byWilliam Moss (producer)
Cinematography W. Howard Greene
Edited by Harvey Manger
Music by Paul Sawtell
Distributed by Eagle-Lion
Release date
  • 1949 (1949)
Running time
75 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
The Big Cat

The Big Cat is a 1949 American outdoor action film in Technicolor directed by Phil Karlson. The cast included Lon McCallister, Peggy Ann Garner, Preston Foster, Forrest Tucker, Skip Homeier, and Gene Reynolds.

Contents

Karlson said the film "was a complete social statement. That was my answer to John Ford's The Grapes of Wrath ." [1]

Plot

Drought during the 1930s forces a large cougar to come down from the high country in Utah to prey on farmers' cattle. This has prompted many farmers to pursue and kill the cat, but so far all have failed.

Danny Turner (Lon McCallister) arrives in the area to move into his mother's birthplace now owned by his stepfather Tom Eggars (Preston Foster). Tom is constantly threatened by a hostile neighbor, Gil Hawkes (Forrest Tucker). Shortly after Danny arrives Tom and Gil have a scuffle, a sure sign of a soon-to-be war. When Danny arrives he meets Doris Cooper (Peggy Ann Garner), whom he develops a crush on. After some close calls with Gil, the drought and the cougar become such big issues that the mayor of a nearby town announces that a hunt be started for the big cat. The hunt is unsuccessful, with the Eggars' dog chasing the cougar back to its lair and the party left behind. Tom tells Danny that he may have to move away and live with the Hawkes family due to the troubles he is having around the farm.

The next day he goes to the hill to show Gil and his family that he will come live with them. Gil's son Jim (Skip Homeier) teases Danny about his failure to kill the cougar and their dislike of Tom. Danny then refuses to live with them because he remembers Gil is the one who mistreated his mother and refused to let her marry Tom. Tom hears this and attacks Gil, and the two fight. Danny and Jim also get into a fight when the angered Jim accuses Danny of starting the fight. Danny and Tom win both fights and Tom tells Gil that Danny will continue living with him.

The next morning Tom takes Danny hunting, but due to his dislike of killing animals Danny refuses to take a shot at a deer. Understanding this, Tom takes the gun and shoots the deer himself. However, the cougar hears the noise and follows them to Tom's cabin. While Tom and Danny are in the shed, preparing to cut up the deer, the cougar enters the farm and nibbles at the carcass. Tom fires at the cougar and pursues it into the woods. Meanwhile, Danny goes back into the woods to retrieve a gun he left there. Tom chases the cougar, firing at it, but the cougar then surprises him by attacking from above. The cougar kills Tom and runs off into the wilderness.

Grieved at Tom's death, Doris pleads for Danny not to go after the dangerous cougar, but the vengeful Danny vows to do so. With his dog, Danny leaves in search of the cougar. He and his dog have an eventful chase with the cat before they corner it inside a small cave. Unable to see in the dark, Danny and his dog are at a disadvantage and are attacked by the cougar. In the ensuing battle, Danny's dog is almost killed, but Danny is able to kill the cougar. Later Danny and Doris celebrate the cat's defeat. With the cat gone, Gil and Jim will no longer be a threat to Danny and Doris, now possible lovers.

Cast

Production

Scenes were shot in Cedar Breaks, Parowan Canyon, Hoosier Lake, and Strawberry Point in Utah. [2] :288 On February 12, 1954, it was reissued by Carroll Pictures. The film was released for theatrical and screenings on March 26, 1954, by Samba Pictures, Inc. [3] The film, which entered the public domain in 1976, has been released on DVD. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cougar</span> Large species of cat native to the Americas

The cougar, also known as the puma, mountain lion, catamount, or panther, is a large cat native to the Americas, second only in size to the stockier jaguar. They are not technically grouped with the "true" big cats, as they are slightly smaller than other big cats, and they lack the vocal physiology to roar. Its range spans the Canadian Provinces of the Yukon, British Columbia, and Alberta, the Rocky Mountains, and other areas in the Western United States. Their range extends further south through Mexico, where they are found in nearly every state, to the Amazon Rainforest and the southern Andes Mountains in Patagonia. The puma inhabits every mainland country in Central and South America, making it the most widely distributed large, wild, terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere, and one of the most widespread on planet Earth. It is an adaptable, generalist species, occurring in most American habitat types. It prefers habitats with dense underbrush and rocky areas for stalking but also lives in open areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forrest Tucker</span> American actor (1919–1986)

Forrest Meredith Tucker was an American actor in both movies and television who appeared in nearly a hundred films. Tucker worked as a vaudeville straight man at the age of fifteen. A mentor provided funds and contacts for a trip to California, where party hostess Cobina Wright persuaded guest Wesley Ruggles to give Tucker a screen test because of Tucker's photogenic good looks, thick wavy hair and height of six feet, five inches.

<i>The Westerner</i> (1940 film) 1940 film by William Wyler

The Westerner is a 1940 American Western film directed by William Wyler and starring Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan and Doris Davenport. Written by Niven Busch and Jo Swerling, the film concerns a self-appointed hanging judge in Vinegaroon, Texas, who befriends a saddle tramp who opposes the judge's policy against homesteaders. The film is remembered for Walter Brennan's performance as Judge Roy Bean, for which he won his record-setting third Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. James Basevi and Stuart N. Lake also received Academy Award nominations for Best Art Direction, Black and White and Best Story, respectively. The supporting cast features Dana Andrews, Chill Wills and Forrest Tucker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rory Calhoun</span> American actor (1922–1999)

Rory Calhoun was an American film and television actor. He starred in numerous Westerns in the 1950s and 1960s, and appeared in supporting roles in films such as How to Marry a Millionaire (1953).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lon McCallister</span> American actor (1923–2005)

Herbert Alonzo "Lon" McCallister Jr. was an American actor. According to one obituary, he was best known for "playing gentle, boyish young men from the country." Another said he "had an ingenuous appeal that made him a favourite of family audiences, and was particularly at home in outdoor settings featuring dogs and horses. Ultimately his perennial boyishness and slight stature became a handicap for more mature roles."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Preston Foster</span> American actor and singer

Preston Stratton Foster, was an American actor of stage, film, radio, and television, whose career spanned nearly four decades. He also had a career as a vocalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Carson</span> Canadian-American actor (1910–1963)

John Elmer Carson, known as Jack Carson, was a Canadian-born American film actor. Carson often played the role of comedic friend in films of the 1940s and 1950s, including The Strawberry Blonde (1941) with James Cagney and Arsenic and Old Lace (1944) with Cary Grant. He appeared in such dramas as Mildred Pierce (1945), A Star is Born (1954), and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958). He worked for RKO and MGM, but most of his notable work was for Warner Bros.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skip Homeier</span> American actor

George Vincent Homeier, known professionally as Skip Homeier, was an American actor who started his career at the age of eleven and became a child star.

<i>Follow the Boys</i> (1944 film) 1944 film

Follow the Boys also known as Three Cheers for the Boys is a 1944 musical film made by Universal Pictures during World War II as an all-star cast morale booster to entertain the troops abroad and the civilians at home. The film was directed by A. Edward "Eddie" Sutherland and produced by Charles K. Feldman. The movie stars George Raft and Vera Zorina and features Grace McDonald, Charles Grapewin, Regis Toomey and George Macready. At one point in the film, Orson Welles saws Marlene Dietrich in half during a magic show. W.C. Fields, in his first movie since 1941, performs a classic pool-playing presentation he first developed in vaudeville four decades earlier in 1903.

<i>North West Mounted Police</i> (film) 1940 film by Cecil B. DeMille, Arthur Rosson

North West Mounted Police is a 1940 American epic north-western film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Gary Cooper and Madeleine Carroll. Written by Alan Le May, Jesse Lasky Jr., and C. Gardner Sullivan, and based on the 1938 novel The Royal Canadian Mounted Police by R. C. Fetherstonhaugh, the film is about a Texas Ranger who joins forces with the North-West Mounted Police to put down a rebellion in the north-west prairies of Canada. The supporting cast features Paulette Goddard, Preston Foster, Robert Preston, Akim Tamiroff, Lon Chaney Jr. and George Bancroft. Regis Toomey, Richard Denning, Rod Cameron, and Robert Ryan make brief appearances in the film playing small roles.

<i>Little Tough Guys in Society</i> 1938 film by Erle C. Kenton

Little Tough Guys in Society is a 1938 Universal Studios film that starred several of the Dead End Kids. It was the second film that Universal made in their series and the first of three that they made without any of the original Dead End Kids.

<i>New Looney Tunes</i> American animated television series

New Looney Tunes is an American animated television series from Warner Bros. Animation based on the characters from Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. The series debuted on September 21, 2015, on Cartoon Network, and continued with new episodes beginning on October 5, 2015, on Boomerang. Part way through the first season, new episodes would premiere on Boomerang's video on demand service before airing on television.

Don't Worry, We'll Think of a Title is a 1966 American comedy film directed by Harmon Jones and written by Morey Amsterdam, John Davis Hart, William Marks and George Schenck. The film stars Morey Amsterdam, Rose Marie, Richard Deacon, Joey Adams and Andy Albin. Besides the credited cast, there are uncredited cameo appearances by Steve Allen, Milton Berle, Carl Reiner, Irene Ryan, Danny Thomas, Forrest Tucker and others, as well as a non-Stooge appearance by Moe Howard. The film was released in May 1966, by United Artists.

The 1980 Tournament Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held March 20–23 at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. The seventh Tournament Players Championship, it was the fourth at Sawgrass and Lee Trevino won at 278 (−10), one stroke ahead of runner-up Ben Crenshaw.

<i>The Big Chase</i> 1954 American film

The Big Chase is a 1954 American crime drama film directed by Arthur Hilton and starring Glenn Langan, Adele Jergens, Lon Chaney Jr., Jim Davis and Douglas Kennedy. One of the film's scenes was directed by producer Robert L. Lippert Jr. This is the second film in which Langan appeared with Jergens, his real-life wife.

References

  1. Palhares, Publicada por João. "Cine Resort".
  2. D'Arc, James V. (2010). When Hollywood came to town: A history of moviemaking in Utah (1st ed.). Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith. ISBN   9781423605874.
  3. "Turner Classic Movies - Listings from TCM HD and TCM+1". Turner Entertainment.
  4. "Big Cat" via Amazon.