The Big Cat
 
(1949)

75 minutes

Action / Adventure / Animal / Family 

Directed by Phil Karlson 

Cast:

Lon McCallister as Danny Turner
Peggy Ann Garner as Doris Cooper
Preston Foster as Tom Eggers
Forrest Tucker as Gil Hawks
Skip Homeier as Jim Hawks, Gil' Son
Sara Haden as Mrs. Mary Cooper
Irving Bacon as Matt Cooper the Mailman
Gene Reynolds as Wid Hawks, Gil' Son
 
The story of the struggle for survival of a few inhabitants in the 'high country' of Utah in 1933, during the worst draught they have ever known in the Great Depression. City boy Danny arrives at his Uncle Gil's ranch to help the family out. Although lacking in ranch hand skills, the boy manages to save his uncle's life when a 'Big Cat' (a cougar) comes onto the ranch, desperate for the water it needs to survive. A local backwoodsman spends the film trying to track and kill the cougar before it kills a human, and a romance blooms between two young locals. A beautifully filmed outdoor drama.