Turns out The Big Country (1958) was a favorite of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had it shown at Camp David a few times.
One of those screenings seems to have been in September, 1959 when Nikita Khrushchev was visiting. During that visit, Khrushchev revealed that Stalin also liked cowboy pictures.
What a great story. Had never heard this one.
Best wishes,
Laura
One of my favorite westerns if only because of how evil Ives was in it.
Really? I didn’t find Ives part an evil one at all. I thought Bickford’s role was the more villainous of the two, although he redeems himself a lot with his gutsy ride off alone to face whatever lies in store.