It's a Big Country: An American Anthology

I doubt if a film like It's A Big Country could be made in and about the America of post Vietnam and Watergate. A whole lot of the clichés presented here just aren't bought any more by large segments of the population. For whatever it's worth the film is a presentation of what we thought about ourselves in 1951.

It's a film with several different segments, some serious some pretty funny about every day Americans in all walks of life, in all parts of the then 48 states.

The two I liked best were those that ironically starred the two men who were not MGM contract players, Gary Cooper and Fredric March. Gary Cooper plays a Texas cowboy talking about his state and disillusioning us with a tongue in cheek delivery about the way Texans and Texas are perceived by the other 47 states. Of course Cooper's humor and the whole premise behind this segment was that Texas was our largest state in land mass. That ended in 1959 when Alaska became the 49th state, still it's the highlight of It's A Big Country.

Fredric March plays an Italian American father who's opposed to his son, Bobby Hyatt, getting needed glasses even after teacher Nancy Davis tells him it's necessary. He's got some old world ideas that need a bit of adjustment. March plays the role with dignity never do you feel he's a caricature.

Another episode that is nicely done involves Gene Kelly, Greek American boy falling for Janet Leigh, Hungarian American girl. They've got a problem though, her father played by Hollywood's number one Hungarian S.Z. Sakall. In the past 20 years we've seen a whole lot of stories about ancient ethnic hatreds coming out of Eastern Europe. Sakall is carrying some old grudges against Greeks though he really isn't sure why. Point being that here in America you're supposed to leave that all behind. That segment is still very much relevant.

Could we make It's A Big Country today? Not at this time, maybe at some future point when we've reached a national consensus that despite all our problems, America's a pretty good place after all.

I'm not sure why this anthology film was made, but its segments seem to reflect a desire by new MGM head of production Dore Schary, a Democrat, to demonstrate that liberal values are American values. (There was a lot of equating liberals with communists, at that time).

An opening segment on a train, that draws us into the whole thing, features James Whitmore as a patriotic, "I love America" type. "Which America?" asks the always-debonair and well-spoken William Powell. We then see the many sides of our country depicted through vignettes.

There are a couple of segments against prejudice. One is about a Greek-hating Hungarian American father of several girls (S. Z. Sakall) whose eldest daughter (Janet Leigh) falls for a young Greek American (Gene Kelly - actually pushing 40 at the time but you'd never guess it). As a piece against xenophobia, it's nice, and gets its point across with humor, wit, and romance.

There's also a segment against religious prejudice, where an ex-seviceman named Maxie Klein (Keefe Brasselle) visits the mother (Marjorie Main) of a dead war buddy. At first the mother doesn't know the man because her son had used his nickname in his letters. She's suspicious of his motives because he's Jewish. Eventually she's grateful for the comfort the stranger has given her, putting aside whatever prejudices she was harboring, and requesting his mother's address so that she can write her about it all.

The segments are all fairly interesting, but not exactly first-rate drama or comedy.

There's one about a minister (Van Johnson) who learns a lesson in humility from a deacon (played by Louis Stone). There's one in which Fredric March plays a working-class Italian American who won't be convinced by a schoolteacher (Nancy Davis) his son needs glasses. Gary Cooper plays a cowboy in a humorous monologue about Texas. Louis Calhern narrates a documentary sequence about African Americans. Ethel Barrymore and George Murphy star in a dramatic sketch wherein an old Boston-Irish woman is upset because the US Census ignored her. Etc.

The overall effect is a little like picking up an old copy of Reader's Digest.

Without the stars, this would be very minor, indeed. With them, it becomes a big film. Not a great film, but, undoubtedly, a big one. It covers a lot of ground, and comes up a little bit short.

"It's a Big Country" is a significant film. Created only a few years after the victorious effort of WWII, it was delivered to an American public that was exercising newfound powers, economic and political. It was a society undergoing rapid change for the same reasons and also due to changing mores in gender and race relations (caused by war experiences) and due to changes in technology and infrastructure (the car, interstate highways, etc.). The film fairly pleads for factions of the country to remain united despite their tendency to seek their own identities.

This film feels like a moving representation of Norman Rockwell paintings, displaying a homespun, good-natured respect for traditions and the values that drove the United States to become successful. From the viewpoint of the 21st century, some of these values seem naïve. In our post-Watergate world, fewer Americans see government authority and other established authorities as innately benign. But it is simplistically easy to view this film as merely propaganda or naïve.

Most of the episodes in this collection of vignettes champion values that were and are important to embrace: Racial understanding. The American melting pot. The Constitutional freedoms. But reading some reviews of the film, it is clear that some viewers also see the film as a documentary on American exceptionalism. And it's a subtext that cannot be ignored. Various individuals have always promoted the idea that America is the greatest country that ever existed--teachers, politicians, the military, the clergy.

The thing that is exceptional and unique about the U.S. is its Constitution. Sometimes that message is lost in the nationalistic clamor.

The film has an exceptional cast (Frederic March continues to amaze), exceptional writing that stirs the heart and summons tears, and solid production values. For those of any age, it can serve as a marker designating the state of the country circa 1950. So many complex factors have affected the evolution of the U.S. from what it was to what it is now. I like being reminded of the optimism of that time, however naïve. And it can remind us of the values we need to preserve and the viewpoints we have thankfully left behind.

This par excellence a film only the American could make.I cannot imagine a French,English or Italian director making a movie to glorify his/her country.

Wellmann and co tell us that America is a big country ,with big differences but where everybody has his place in the sun: in the "celebrities" segment,there are plenty of black artists such as Armstrong ,but the civil rights were ignored in 1949.

What saves this naive film containing more finer feelings than a Capra movie,is some kind of humor .Take the first scene on a train and the last sentence of the baffled traveler or the Hungarian daddy who does not want his daughters to marry a Greek,cause we are "enemies" .How great the melting pot is!And so are Gene Kelly and Janet Leigh.

Some stars only appear a few minutes:Gary Cooper tells us what a wonderful state "Lone Star" Texas is where oil spurts out everywhere under your feet;Ethel Barrymore plays a delightful old lady who is cross cause she was not counted when they took a census of the population.

The last sketch ,about glasses ,was perhaps not a very good choice to conclude the movie.

It was,is and will always be a big country.

WARNING: These comments may reveal portions of the film's plot.

I had thought that the "episodic" film format was an invention of the 1980's art film. "It's a Big Country" killed that myth by presenting a film about the USA that is built on eight different episodes. The episodes are drawn together by a common narration, their focus on different ways of looking at the USA, and the introductory episode which lays out the concept for the film.

In the opening segment, James Whitmore rides a commuter train and tells another rider, "I love this country?" The other rider's response catches Whitmore off guard. "Which country?" He then points out that the USA is many countries -- political, military, religious, industrious, urban, rural, and many others. Each of the following seven segments of the film then focus on various ways of looking at the USA.

The actors in those seven segments are a "Who's Who" of 1950's film. The already mentioned Whitmore, Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, Gary Cooper, Janet Leigh and Keenan Wynn share the screen along with many others, including legends Ethel Barrymore and Fredric March. If you are a classic film lover, check out the list of credits and you'll find at least one favorite among the actors.

The film overall only comes across as average however -- it seems rather "preachy" on the concept of acceptance, and the happy endings of the segments come across too sugary. Fortunately the great acting in some of the segments pull them to the top of the heap. Gary Cooper's deadpan delivery combined with his Texas drawl in the one true comedy segment work's well. And the final segment in which a young immigrant boy finds he must wear glasses at the risk of ridicule of his father as well as his friends at school is equally appealing.

There is one glaring inconsistency in the film. The overall point seems to be that we must drop our racial stereotypes. To that end virtually every racial stereotype is presented and cut down. Each of the episodes of the film is presented as independent stories within the film -- little stories within the story. But when they presented the segment focusing on African American's, no story is given, only a narrated segment with stock shots of black America are presented. Not one known American actor of African descent is included. In this respect, Hollywood seems to have been unable to overcome it's own prejudice and exclusionary practices of that time.

You might enjoy portions of this film, but most persons will either stop part way through or fall asleep during this average film.