The Big Sky

Up the Missouri, male bonding and will bending. Well-directed by Hawks, but nothing new under the sun (excepting an oddly prominent castration motif). Shot on location in the Grand Teton National Park and enhanced by lyrical, haunting Tiomkin score (he had recently won two Oscars for score and song for HIGH NOON). Aside from the fascinating upriver struggle where the men must pull the boat by rope while hostile Indians lurk nearby, the most interesting aspect of the film is the wizened Hunnicutt as the old trapper; he manages to steal almost every scene.