The Big Sky

Released Aug 19, 1952

2h 2m

Adventure

List

89%

9 Reviews

Tomatometer

67%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

In 1830, two tough Kentucky mountaineers join a trading expedition from St. Louis up the Missouri River to trade whisky for furs with the Blackfoot Indians. They soon discover that there is much more than the elements to contend with. Based on the novel by AB Guthrie, Jr.

Read More

Read Less

Watch on Fandango at Home

Premiered Jan 01

Buy Now

Fandango at Home

Prime Video

Rent The Big Sky on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

John H

Good adventure movie

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/12/24

Full Review

Audience Member

Good movie right here Kirk Douglas does a good job, James Welch, Henderson, Arkansas, July 7, 2023

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

07/05/23

Full Review

david l

Howard Hawks' The Big Sky is an epic, adventurous western that benefits from strong technical aspects and excellent acting from everybody involved. Whenever the film focused on the elements and the natural vistas, it was great, though it begs the question why it wasn't shot in Technicolor when it was just made for that treatment. The overall story is serviceable and it flows well, but the typically dated depictions of the different groups of people involved in the storyline were expectedly problematic.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I am a lifelong fan of kirk douglas, i really think this is one of his most underrated movies, the filming of the teton national park sceanery along with his strong acting performance makes this a top 10 must see Douglas movie it is my personal favorite. Howard hawks directed only improves the already strong book onto film.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

Full Review

William L

An old-school American frontier adventure film, The Big Sky isn't necessarily deep but it's got Kirk Douglas, plenty of on-location shooting, and Hawks' typical sensitivity for female and (to a more limited extent here) Native American characters; there's plenty of variety to the latter, but also a very Stepin Fetchit-esque comic relief in Worden's 'Poordevil'. Though well-shot at considerable effort, it's not necessarily the most exciting of films given that it is supposed to be a Western odyssey about exploration and perserverance. Plenty of talk about camaraderie and opportunity in the wide-open wilderness, enough conflict and development to keep the film going, decent piece of entertainment but not an all-time classic. Dewey Martin's hair gel must have been half the total budget, keeping that pompadour standing tall in the Western frontier. (3/5)

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

05/17/21

Full Review

Audience Member

It could have been so much better if it wasn't that long.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Howard Hawks

Director

Kirk Douglas

Jim Deakins

Dewey Martin

Boone Caudill

Elizabeth Threatt

Teal Eye

Arthur Hunnicutt

Zeb Calloway

Buddy Baer

Romaine

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

80%

58%

Sinbad the Sailor

100%

55%

The World in His Arms

86%

53%

Garden of Evil

96%

86%

The African Queen

TRAILER

for The African Queen

88%

60%

The Naked Jungle

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Richard Brody

New Yorker

Howard Hawks's loose-limbed 1952 Western ...

Nov 4, 2013

Full Review

A.H. Weiler

New York Times

A saga as long as the day and as big as all outdoors.

Rated: 4/5

May 20, 2003

Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Though this sublime 1952 black-and-white masterpiece by Howard Hawks is usually accorded a low place in the Hawks canon, it's a particular favorite of mine -- mysterious, beautiful, and even utopian.

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

A rather anodyne western that, despite having the atypical aesthetic of Hawks, advances at the rhythm of an empty stagecoach for two hours in which nothing exciting or significant happens. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 5/10

Apr 10, 2021

Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

This is a rousing, good-time adventure tale with two Hawksian buddies making their way through the untamed wild.

Apr 3, 2009

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

This is not one of Hawks' great films, but it's one of his most visually satisfying.

Rated: B

Aug 11, 2005

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

In 1830, two tough Kentucky mountaineers join a trading expedition from St. Louis up the Missouri River to trade whisky for furs with the Blackfoot Indians. They soon discover that there is much more than the elements to contend with. Based on the novel by AB Guthrie, Jr.

Director: Howard Hawks
Screenwriter: Dudley Nichols
Distributor: RKO Radio Pictures
Production Co: RKO Pictures
Genre: Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 19, 1952, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2009
Runtime: 2h 2m

Most Popular at Home Now