The Big Releases and The Westerner
- Detailing every worldwide home video release of William Wyler’s iconic Western
- It couldn’t be seen properly for almost 60 years following original theatrical run
- The not-so Big Country: widescreen epic only available cropped and cut down
- It suffered decades of compromised TV broadcasts, videotapes and LaserDiscs
- Four distinct home video transfers to date: cropped, terrible, better and best
- Finally: after many slipshod MGM releases film now has the transfer it deserves
- New cure for the “mumps”: remastered releases correct anamorphic stretching
- Everything and the kitchen sink: remastered German discs have most extras
- Spotlighting The Westerner, Wyler’s other most notable entry in the genre
The Big Country: Making of a Masterpiece, Part 2 | Collectors Guide, Part 2
Contents
- Preserved transfer
- Restored transfer
- Remastered restored transfer
- Extras
- The Westerner (1940)
- Related articles
Preserved transfer
For 34 years, The Big Country could only be seen in pan and scan TV broadcasts, commencing with its edited September 23, 1962 US network première, opening the second season of The ABC Sunday Night Movie and repeated on April 11, 1965. It was comprehensively hacked up and swapped around on TV, only to be seen again ‘complete’ and uninterrupted when issued on the first VHS and Betamax tapes in 1986, and a 1990 Japanese LaserDisc (reissued 1995). Though all were still missing half the original image, at least they were undistorted and had the correct grading.
US VHS: 1986, 1990, 1997, 2000 – all pan and scan
In 1996, its widescreen home video début came via MGM/UA’s extras-laden US LaserDisc, then from 2001 onwards MGM released the first round of trailer-only DVDs worldwide from the same source. However, don’t do the film a disservice by watching it via any of them as said source is an unrestored, yellowed print of uniformly poor, near-bootleg quality. The earlier cropped releases are actually clearer and despite being much-reissued, the DVDs are among the worst looking official discs I’ve ever seen. To compound their sins, the anamorphically-shot Technirama master was incorrectly transferred, resulting in very noticeable stretching. Ugh. None were ever corrected and the exact same discs were endlessly repackaged and reissued everywhere until at least 2016.
The LaserDisc extras have all since been reissued on more recent releases, while just a few repackaged DVDs may be of interest. In 2001, MGM Spain issued a 44-page Digibook edition, while in 2004 the film was number 2B in the UK-only Westerns: The Classic Collection 77+ weekly series with a now rare 16-page magazine and DVD plus 8-page booklet that sums the film up nicely. Another notable entry in the series is The Big Trail, another genre epic shot in a short-lived widescreen process and with a mono soundtrack. The series was produced by Italy-based publishers De Agostini, who domestically sold their 2006 DVD separately, with translated booklet only.
Restored transfer
- All: Prime Video HD
- US: BD, also in 9-BD Best of Westerns
- Canada: BD
- UK: BD
- Italy: BD
A three-year photochemical restoration was completed and first screened in 2006, and while a vast upgrade over the preserved transfer, even the project supervisor admitted there was room for improvement. This was mainly due to issues with the grading of the opening credits, along with extensive flickering and some persisting minor scratches. But when MGM’s 4k scan of the restoration was mastered for home video, some inept staffer cocked it up again, so it still suffers from the same degree of stretching as on DVD. Nonetheless, when it appeared on BD in 2011, and later streaming, most reviewers shrugged it off and gave it a free pass – if they even noticed it at all. Even its audio is a downgrade too.
Apart from the distortion, which should be a deal breaker for discerning viewers, the original HD transfer isn’t bad overall and quite watchable if you can correct the botched aspect ratio via software like VLC. But it will still be missing a chunk off the cropped sides and a sliver off the top and bottom, compromising the stunning compositions of director William Wyler and cinematographer Franz F. Planer, a five-time Academy Award nominee. Apart from the different alternate dub Czech disc, all BDs are identical and region free, with six audio and 12 subtitle options covering the main European languages and more. Extras are a five-minute contemporary “Fun in The Big Country” promo narrated by star Jean Simmons, the DVDs’ theatrical trailer but bumped up to HD, and an ABC TV ad.
When theatrically projecting an anamorphic print, correcting any distortion caused by the filming process is a somewhat inexact science and the image frequently ends up with some degree of stretching. This makes faces in particular look fatter, leading to what is commonly referred to as “CinemaScope mumps”. However, said stretching can easily be eliminated altogether in the digital domain, so there’s simply no excuse for it on home video. To wit, The Guns of Navarone (1961): it’s frustratingly stretched on every format, even 4k UHD-BD; how on earth do those turning out such shoddy work hang on to their jobs? Note that as of January 2024, there are no DCPs available of The Big Country and all theatrical screenings are from 35mm restoration prints.
Remastered, restored transfer
US licensees Kino Lorber were rightly dissatisfied with the existing HD master for their planned release, so MGM remastered the previous 4k scan, correcting its three primary issues and leaving little cause for complaint; likewise with its audio. To accompany it, Kino created some nice new extras but also applied a small amount of grain smoothing after the fact, which is also on the UK and French remastered releases.
- US: Kino BD/reissue and 2-DVD/reissue (2018/2023)
- UK: Final Cut BD and DVD (2022)
- Germany: Koch BD/2-DVD Digipak and Media/Digibook (2021/2022) eBay
- France: Sidonis Calysta BD/DVD and DVD (2022), also in 4-DVD L’Ouest de légende
However, it’s apparent that when Germany’s Koch Media licensed the new transfer they left it untouched; consequently their discs show more grain and detail. What’s more, as most of the extras are relegated to a second disc, Koch have a much higher bitrate than the aforementioned single-disc releases; eg their BD’s feature has around 33kbps to the Kino’s 24kbps, while its audio is 24-bit and the Kino 16-bit. The four are all the corrected transfer’s releases to date, and there are BD and DVD screenshot comparisons at Caps-a-holic, Cinefiniac and here:
- Bickford: MGM DVD, BD | Kino BD
- Heston: MGM DVD, BD | Kino BD
- Lasso: MGM DVD, BD | Kino BD
- Trio: MGM DVD, BD | Kino BD
- Ives: MGM DVD, BD | Kino BD
- Peck: MGM DVD, BD | Kino BD
- Duo: MGM DVD, BD | Kino BD
Please leave a comment if the streaming version is upgraded to the remaster and I’ll update the article.
The Big Country – Glenn Erickson
The two permutations of Koch’s three-disc release have a BD and DVD, each with the film and some extras, and a second extras DVD. They’re the undisputed champs, with the best available transfer and almost every single extra ever produced for the film thrown in. The sole exceptions are two non-subtitled French-language featurettes by Jean-François Giré and Patrick Brion (2022, 25:40 and 11:31) that are exclusive to the French releases (in HD on the BD) along with an optional French dub and subs. Strangely though, they don’t include the recut French trailer.
The Koch was initially released as a tri-fold slipcased Digipak with a 16-page matte-finish booklet, then later as an Amazon-exclusive Digibook with a 22-page glossy booklet. The latter is about an inch larger and has a few extra photo pages to accommodate the fact it’s glued in. Like the 1996 US LD, the US, UK and French releases each have a fairly equal selection (see comments section) of around half the German’s copious extras and all three, bar the first run of the US discs, come with slipcases; both US runs also have reversible cover art (BD-only). The German sets are already sold out and the US discs are on their second pressing; there’s “zero chance” of a 4k release anytime soon as that could only be justified by yet another restoration, so now’s the time to buy!
This was the only film to feature Gregory Peck with his sons from his first marriage; Jonathan, Carey Paul and Stephen Peck. His second marriage produced Anthony and Cecilia Peck. William Wyler (1902–1981) was often dismissive or outright antagonistic towards the composers for his films. For instance, he ordered a score rewrite for The Westerner, unilaterally replaced Aaron Copland’s original prelude to The Heiress (1949) with an unrelated instrumental. Moreover, he ungratefully had an open dislike of Hugo Friedhofer’s Oscar winning score for The Best Years of Our Lives (for which Moross was an uncredited orchestrator). Wyler particularly loathed Moross’s score for The Big Country, initially hiring another composer to redo it until persuaded otherwise, but ironically its Main Title opens the Directed by William Wyler documentary. That’s a posthumous kick in the pants!
Extras
These are the film’s extras included in the German Koch sets; see the comments section below for the other releases.
- Illustrated German essay booklet: Political Spaces: The Big Country and the Cinema of William Wyler by Nicolai Bühnemann.
Blu-ray/DVD 1
- English and German DTS-HD MA/Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
- Optional English and German subtitles for the film; German for the documentary, interviews and featurette
- Audio commentary by Sir Christopher Frayling (2018) Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
- Isolated score DTS-HD MA/Dolby Digital 2.0 mono+
- German theatrical trailer (2:54)*
- English theatrical trailer (2:53)*
- ABC TV première ad (1962, 0:55)
- Image gallery (42:10)*
DVD 2
- Directed by William Wyler documentary (1986, 55:46)
- Interview outtakes:+
- Gregory Peck (8:08)
- Charlton Heston (7:29)
- Billy Wilder (6:22)
- “Fun in TBC” featurette (1958, 5:03)+
- New interviews:
- Cecilia, Carey and Tony Peck (2018, 11:55)*
- Fraser C. Heston (2018, 10:37)*
- Catherine Wyler (2018, 12:13)*
- Larry Cohen on Chuck Connors (2012, 2:46)
- Audio archive:+
- Remembrances by Charlton Heston (1995, 14:30)
- Burl Ives on TBC (1985, 12:58)
- Jerome Moross documentary by William H. Rosar/GS (1996, 48:30)
- Image archive:+
- William Wyler directs (6:00)
- Recording of the fight scene (1:12)
- The cast on location (3:36)
- Scenes (8:40)
- Portraits (1:44)
- Press kit (9:52)
- Original screenplay/alt (37:10)
- German opening and closing credits (2:42)
*Natively HD; new interviews only in HD on US, UK and French BDs
+Originally on US LaserDisc
More interviews: Susanna Moross Tarjan (2013) and Catherine and David Wyler (2019).
Once again, this is everything produced for the film apart from the limited edition DVD booklets and two French-language featurettes detailed above. There are also extensive booklets included in several of the soundtrack releases. Film historian Christopher Frayling, a renowned expert and author on horror and Westerns in particular, was the interviewer for Gregory Peck: A Portrait in Films (1986), a 70th birthday look back over the star’s life and career.
The Westerner (1940)
“Top-flight entertainment. Vital, real and human.” – The Hollywood Reporter | US pressbook
In the restless years following the Civil War, a tensely reunited America set its sights westward and found itself divided again. Over a rugged frontier where cattlemen and homestead farmers battle for control of the land rides the legendary “Judge” Roy Bean, a man who came to be both feared and revered as “The Law West of the Pecos.” Walter Brennan (Kentucky), in his third Academy Award-winning performance, is the all-powerful, hard-nosed Bean, a cattleman who presides over a saloon “court,” dispensing his own unique brand of justice — along with equally potent whiskey.
Oscar-winner Gary Cooper (High Noon) is Cole Harden, a stranger accused of horse-stealing, who attempts to talk himself out of the hangman’s noose — and into Bean’s good graces. Soon, each man wins the other’s grudging friendship… until Bean’s deadly scheming against the homesteaders provokes Harden into opposing him — no matter what the cost.
Directed by Oscar-winner William Wyler (Ben-Hur) from a screenplay (alt) by Jo Swerling (It’s a Wonderful Life) and Niven Busch, The Westerner is a rousing, breathtaking saga of a man who displays unwavering courage in the face of overwhelming odds. – US MGM VHS and DVD
Trailer | opening | clip, #2, #3 | TCM | review
Wyler directed Westerns almost exclusively during the early part of his career and racked up an eventual tally of 32, with The Big Country being his last. The Westerner, his penultimate and second most significant entry in the genre, bears some comparison with his later opus, with its pacifist protagonist stumbling unwittingly into a bitter land war and ultimately rising to the occasion. The reluctant hero is ably essayed by Western legend Cooper, who earned three Oscars and had three further nominations, while his friend and adversary is the redoubtable Walter Brennan, winner of three Oscars and nominated for a fourth. Look out too for personal fave, and the star of Wyler’s The Best Years of Our Lives, Dana Andrews in a small but notable part. The romantic lead is Doris Davenport, who had a short-lived screen career with this being the third of only four credited roles. Two of them are also available on region 0 DVD: Kid Millions (1934) and Sorority House (1939).
The Westerner’s stark cinematography is provided by seven-time Oscar nominee Gregg Toland, who won twice, with uncredited five-time nominee Rudolph Maté shooting additional scenes. The superb score is by 22-time nominee, four-time winner Dimitri Tiomkin, though the typically roughshod Wyler (three Oscars, a record twelve nominations) ordered an uncredited Alfred Newman (45 nominations, nine Oscars!) to rewrite it. The bottom line is, for such a little-known film, there’s an incredible array of talent on display – and it shows. Unlike The Big Country which spawned no remakes, save a comic adaptation, all three stars of The Westerner returned for the Sept 23, 1940 episode of Lux Radio Theatre.
All DVDs are barebones, save for the HBO’s cast and crew biographies. All have English and Spanish subtitles, and 1946 French and 1944 Spanish dubs, but the HBO also adds French subs and a 1947 Italian dub, though its listed German dub is missing. There are two: the first was recorded for its belated January 1951 postwar release, and the second for its 1967 TV début. The HBO disc also features a late 1990s, 2.0 stereo remix by Chace Productions as the primary English audio track, as was then commonplace; best stick to the superior original mono. Lastly, while the MGM and Warner discs have identical A/V, the HBO shows slightly more grain and detail, though naturally none match the HD streaming copies.
- Prime Video HD
- US: HBO DVD (1998)
- MGM DVD (2001, reissued 2008), also in 4-DVD Gary Cooper Collection
- Warner DVD (2014, R0 reissue 2020), also in 6-DVD Samuel Goldwyn Collection Vol II/alt
Bootlegs outnumber the legit releases and include: Australia (Amsell), Brazil (Classicline/set), Italy (A&R Productions, Stormovie), Korea (ICD, unknown), Spain (Regia/reissue/reissue/reissue/set), Taiwan (Buddha, unknown).
- MP3 Best Gary Cooper Movie Themes (2020)
Related articles
- Making of a Masterpiece: The Big Country – The Big Production
- Making of a Masterpiece: The Big Country, Part 2 – The Big Picture
- William Wyler Collectors Guide: The Big Country – The Big Releases and The Westerner (1940)
- William Wyler Collectors Guide: The Big Country, Part 2 – The Big Score
- Multiple-Language Version Film Collectors Guide: The Big Trail (1930)
Excellent timing regarding the publication of this article. By an odd coincidence I had recently taken ‘The Big Country’ off the shelf to re-watch after returning ‘The Big Trail’ (1957) to the same shelf. The two movies may sit next to each other but they are a world apart, even though they were made in adjacent years. ‘The Big Trail’ used the Fox Grandeur process to provide audiences a black and white movie in 2.10:1 aspect ratio (although some venues chose to use the 1.37:1 Academy ratio version) whereas ‘The Big Country’ used Technirama to provide a full colour movie at 2.35:1… Read more »
Some supplementary details, the soon to be re-issued Kino Lorber Blu-ray has a slipcase and the following extras – Audio Commentary by noted cultural historian Sir Christopher Frayling Directed by William Wyler documentary Wyler doc outtakes with Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston and Billy Wilder Interviews with Cecilia Peck, Carey Peck and Tony Peck Interview with Fraser Heston Interview with Catherine Wyler Fun in the Big Country featurette Larry Cohen on Chuck Connors Two image galleries (one B&W, one colour; 2:32, 4:12) HD TV spot Theatrical trailer Optional English subtitles The 2014 MGM Blu-ray, Region A/B/C, for ‘The Big Country’ is… Read more »