It's a Big Country

It's a Big Country

89 mins | Drama, Comedy | Nov. 20, 1951

Comprised of eight unrelated episodes of inconsistent quality, this anthology piece of American propaganda features some of MGM Studios' best directors, screenwriters and actors; it is narrated by Louis Calhern. Stories are framed by the lecture of a university professor. In one tale a Boston resident becomes angry when the census forgets to record her presence. Another sketch chronicles the achievements of African Americans while still another pays tongue-in-cheek tribute to Texas.

It's a Big Country

89 mins | Drama, Comedy | Nov. 20, 1951

It's a Big Country
Comprised of eight unrelated episodes of inconsistent quality, this anthology piece of American propaganda features some of MGM Studios' best directors, screenwriters and actors; it is narrated by Louis Calhern. Stories are framed by the lecture of a university professor. In one tale a Boston resident becomes angry when the census forgets to record her presence. Another sketch chronicles the achievements of African Americans while still another pays tongue-in-cheek tribute to Texas.
IMDb rating 6.0
Producers Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Original title It's a Big Country
Directors Don Weis, Don Hartman, Clarence Brown, Richard Thorpe, Charles Vidor, William A. Wellman, John Sturges
Writers Lucille Schlossberg, Charles Palmer, John McNulty, Claudia Cranston, Ray Chordes, Edgar Brooke, Isobel Lennart, William Ludwig, Allen Rivkin, Joseph Petracca, Dorothy Kingsley, Helen Deutsch, Dore Schary, George Wells

Cast

Ethel Barrymore

as Mrs. Brian Patrick Riordan

Keefe Brasselle

as Sgt. Maxie Klein

Gary Cooper

as Texas

Nancy Davis Reagan

as Miss Coleman

Van Johnson

as Rev. Adam Burch

Gene Kelly

as Icarus Xenophon

Janet Leigh

as Rosa Szabo Xenophon

Marjorie Main

as Mrs. Wrenley

Fredric March

as Joe Esposito

George Murphy

as Mr. Patrick Callaghan

William Powell

as Professor

S.Z. Sakall

as Stefan Szabo

Lewis Stone

as Church sexton

James Whitmore

as Mr. Stacey

Keenan Wynn

as Michael Fisher

Elisabeth Risdon

as Diner on Train

Sharon McManus

as Sam Szabo

Angela Clarke

as Mama Esposito

Robert Hyatt

as Joseph Esposito

John Ericson

as Naval Ensign (uncredited)