Overview: Gregory Peck stars as a sea captain who moves way out West to marry Carroll Baker and become part of the ranch owned by her father (Charles Bickford). But he discovers that daddy's top hand (Charlton Heston) carries a torch for Baker and doesn't particularly like Peck stepping into his place.

Blu ray Verdict: As lovingly expected, from the opening titles of the galloping stagecoach horses, pulling against their bits, the harness and chains rattling and the spinning stagecoach wheels, this one had me HOOKED! Adult, smart, original, exciting, beautiful to look at, one of the most spectacular movie scores until Magnificent 7 and Dances With Wolves.

In truth, leading man Gregory Peck is a little old for his initial love interest Carol Baker (she looks like his daughter in some sequences), but he does just fine matched against leading lady Jean Simmons. Peck can be a somewhat wooden actor, but he is at his best as in a part like this one where he plays the strong silent hero who bucks expectations (think Atticus Finch in "To Kill a Mockingbird").

Peck refuses to accept his fiancee's and her father's plans for him to join the well-heeled ranchers and drive the messy Hennesseys out of the country for good. Peck just wants everyone to get along. That probably is not going to work out well in a western. Charles Bickford is terrific as one of the patriarchs of one of the feuding clans. He manages to convey the fact that he is a violent, ruthless man underneath a veneer of refinement.

The other feuding clan is headed by folk-singer Burl Ives who chews all of the scenery and makes a huge impact as Rufus Hennessey, who has no intention of letting anyone get in the way of his cattle. Other roles which are well executed feature Charlton Heston as a smoldering, jealous, incredibly sexy ranch foreman and Chuck Connors as a repulsive rapist. I found Jean Simmons to give a workmanlike performance as the school teacher at the center of the drama, although she told Wyler's biographer that she did not like Wyler, and the film was almost impossible to act in because of constant script changes.

The characterizations are the key element of the appeal of the film, and reveal the fact that Wyler is behind the scenes pulling all of the strings, even if we didn't see his name in the credits. Although he thought the film was one of his lesser efforts, I think most viewers will find the movie to be exceptional, even with a comparison to the great John Ford's films.

When one realizes the chaos Wyler had to deal with behind the scenes (unhappy leads Peck and Simmons, cantankerous Bickford, and inexperienced actors in important parts) the final result is a triumph. This is a Widescreen Presentation (2.35:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs.