The Big Cat

A city boy, Danny Turner, leaves depression era Philadelphia to journey to the southern Utah birthplace of his recently deceased mother. He is looking for Tom Eggers, a man his mother had often spoken well of, in hopes that he might find work. What he does find is a drought-stricken land supporting a handful of dedicated but desperate people. Danny's unexpected arrival stirs up a long-smoldering blood feud among the locals who are already suffering under the twin yokes of the drought and the depression. Adding fuel to this fiery mix is a ferocious, livestock-killing mountain lion, roaming the arid landscape, attacking anything that moves. As tensions soar, Danny learns the harsh lessons about what it takes to be a man.

Rugged scenery and simmering violence highlight this hard-edged tale of life and death at the edge of civilization, where hopes and dreams are tested to the limit. Phil Karlson provided the intelligent direction in The Big Cat, one of scores of reliably sharp B-movies he created from the thirties through the seventies. His big commercial breakthrough came in 1973, when he made a fortune with the box-office hit, Walking Tall. Muscular co-star, Forrest Tucker, appeared in dozens of films in the 40s, 50s, and 60s but found his most enduring fame as U.S. Cavalry Sergeant Morgan O'Rourke in the TV series, "F Troop."