How the West Was Won (1962)

I'd seen this title many times over the years, thanks primarily to its all-star cast. For a profitable epic, it's had a pretty middling reception on rating sites, but it did net some Academy Awards. I chose to watch it not long after my last John Wayne western because I knew no better way to kill 164 minutes last night.

No other western I know takes place over such a long period. It's divided into five chapters, spanning from 1839 to 1889. The focus is on the westward-moving Prescott family, including but not limited to patriarch Zebulon (Karl Malden), matriarch Rebecca (Agnes Moorehead), and daughters Eve (Carroll Baker) and Lilith (Debbie Reynolds). Eve takes a shine to wandering fur trader Linus Rawlings (James Stewart), while Lilith falls for gambler Cleve van Valen (Gregory Peck). Their lives are partly affected by the California Gold Rush, the War Between the States, and other armed conflicts.

The Big Country (1958)

I said before that I couldn't really characterize William Wyler's directorial style. Now I must be getting the hang of it, because as I watched TBC, I thought of two others: Friendly Persuasion and The Westerner. They're all set in the 19th century and have protagonists who are big on peace.

Rather unusually for a western, the hero in this one, James McKay (Gregory Peck), is a ship captain -- and a fish out of water. He comes to the frontier because it's home to Patricia Terrill (Carroll Baker), his intended. Apparently, no one warned him that her wealthy father, Henry (Charles Bickford), is leading one side of a feud with the rugged Hannassey clan, led by Rufus (Burl Ives), over access to a waterhole on land owned by Julie Maragon (Jean Simmons), who's on good terms with Jim and Pat but unwilling to sell to either patriarch. Like Julie, Jim doesn't let social closeness color his judgment of the situation. But to call him neutral would be misleading; he simply seeks a third option....

Baby Doll (1956)

I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to see a Tennessee Williams story about a young woman regarded as immature if not babyish. When I learned that it was controversial, I expected something along the lines of Lolita. Fortunately, I soon confirmed that the title character (Carroll Baker), who never uses her real first name, married as a virgin at 18 -- less than half the apparent age of her husband, Archie Lee Meighan (Karl Malden), but that wasn't the scandal.

The Meighans have had a deal not to do something unspecified until her upcoming 20th birthday; from his eagerness, it's not hard to guess what. Understandably, she doesn't share his eagerness, not least because he hasn't been the great businessman she was led to believe. In desperation for success, Archie secretly sabotages the industry of rival Silva Vacarro (Eli Wallach) and then tries to talk him into a merger, leaving Baby Doll to entertain him for a while. Things get mighty suggestive between her and Vacarro, tho it's not the conquest he chiefly has in mind....