1952: The Big Sky (48th)

What else happened this year? Let's see... we'd be in Korean war times... Other than that, for me 1946 - 1966 is 'cold war stuff' which is very vague, but very right.

What is the plot - in one sentence? In 'The West' two (definitely not gay) guys seek adventure and their fortune, traveling with a bunch of French trappers, diplomatically protected by a beautiful Native American princess.

I don't have time for your nonsense, just spoil it for me? They overcome some obstacles (though not a bear, which I would have assumed from this) and are saved by the princesses tribe. She arranges to marry the least Kirk Douglasey one of the two men, and they have sex in a tent, but then leaves. After a while, he turns back, saying he'll see the rest of the men when they return for more trade next year.

What is the meaning of the title? They mention that out here in the frontier-lands, you get a really big sky, a few times.

Here's a scene from the end of the movie, where the two on the right have just had tee-pee sex. It goes: Uncle, Kirk Douglas, nephew of uncle, and princess. You watch this many movies, you don't need character names.

Anything that's not aged well? Does a woman get slapped around? Hmm... what's aged badly? There's a drunk-and-simple-minded-but-excellent-fighter of a Native American called 'Poor Devil' who is played by a guy whiter than me, but I guess that's how it was then. Surprisingly, the tribes seem to be played by genuine native american people, and the princess is very pretty, in fact she looks like an Indian-Caucasian friend of mine. A very brief look at any page says that this was the only movie that she was in, I can see why she made that decision, she's treated like that cat who's persued by Pepe Le Pew.

Any thoughts? This is a very episdoic piece of story, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it did feel a bit kitchen sink-ish. The two: fight, make friends, head to town, end up in prison where they meet one of their uncles, who leads them to a boat, where they fight a fire and some attackers, get into a battle with Native Americans (twice), hide in a waterfall, get back to the boat, defeat a bad guy called Streak (twice, once by outsmarting him), get shipwrecked, then end up back at the princesses camp. That's fine, it's a lot of events, but there's not really much in the way of character development or anything, it is at least it's fun to watch it all happen. You will agree though, that it's a great lot of danger and peril for what one of them to get laid by Native royalty, and the rest of the gang to rip off the rest of the tribes and getting some pelts to trade.

This is another of the great Western movies where there has to be a female to romance because it would be too gay if she wasn't there. This is particulary notable as the princess is close to being the only woman in the movie, and she doesn't say a word of English (she does have some adventures of her own though, and manages to get help to save everyone at the movie's climax).

There's also the addition of Streak, a guy with a streak of white in his hair like a skunk, who pops up a couple of times as the representative from a different company, he's the villain of the piece and a real asshole. The crew of the boat is a bit more fun, they include a few reprobates and a giant Frenchman who was almost definitely a wrestler or something.

Would you recommend this? So, after a short time, the two join a French pelt ship, and head up into uncharted territory. They have some adventures, and disembark from time to time to new adventure. If that description has hints of Aguirre: Wrath of God, and Apocalypse Now to it, that's fair, but it's not as good as those (though that's no crime).

Final thoughts? This was fine, it was certainly entertaining. A few extra thoughts:

Kirk Douglas and some other guy (tm) are in competition for the princess, and she chooses 'the other guy' at the end (they have sex in a tent, then he leaves, only to return - you can't blame him). But in this movie, Kirk Douglas is the nicer guy, and she probably should have fucked him, not that it's up to her of course.*

We first meet 'the other guy' whistling like a bird, something which gets a callback later on to help him get out of trouble - it would be too specific not to get a callback.

This movie also suffers from that most Western of Tropes: inexplicable narration. This time it's from the uncle of one of the boys, who gets them the job with the French boat, but I really don't know why the narration occurs. See also: handwritten notes or letters explaining what's going on, often in beautiful script, from presumably illiterate cowboys.

 

 

That's it! 48 done - I'm going to take a break at 50 because it's impacting my enjoyment of these movies. Anyway, this one and all others will be a click away.