Book, Press - Arthur Hunnicutt, "The Big Sky"
Object number2013.005.02
Date1952
MediumPaper, Ink
Dimensions17 3/4 x 11 3/4 in. (45.1 x 29.8 cm)
Credit LineOld State House Museum Collection
DescriptionA press book for "The Big Sky", a film featuring Arthur Hunnicutt. Hunnicutt was a native of Gravelly, Arkansas.Arthur Hunnicutt was born on February 17, 1910, in Gravelly, Arkansas. Hunnicutt was an actor who appeared on both stage and screen. Hunnicutt attended Arkansas State Teachers College (now known as the University of Central Arkansas) in Conway. He began his acting career working on Broadway and eventually moved into film work. He acted in over 50 films and earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1952 western “The Big Sky.” Hunnicutt died on September 26, 1979.
Press books, also known as press campaign books, were intended to encourage cinema managers to promote the film. Each press book would contain information such as plot synopses, behind the scenes stories and photographs, stills from the film, and information concerning the availability of promotional aids. The “Golden Age” of the press book was from the 1920s to the late 1940s, a time when film-going was at its height and plenty of money was allocated for promotional tools.
The press book cover features the promotional poster for the film. Kirk Douglas is shown larger than life yielding a tomahawk above a landscape including an army of Blackfoot Indians and a boat on fire. Elizabeth Threatt is positioned halfway into the composition dressed in Native American attire. "Theirs the great adventure...The stirring tales of the pioneers who blazed America's trails were told in "The Covered Wagon"..."Cimarron"...and "Red River." And now...for the first time...comes the towering story of the men who battered down the barriers to the untamed Northwest...and linked it with a great new Nation!" is printed in white ink on the blue sky beside Kirk Douglas. "Howard Hawks' The Big Sky" spans the middle of the image. The RKO Radio Pictures logo is placed in the lower left corner of the composition. Below the image, the cast and crew are printed in black ink on a white background. "Campaign Book" is printed in vertical text along the left of the poster. A black and white still from the film is situated in the bottom left of the press book cover and "Pre-sold To One Hundred Million People" and a small paragraph explaining the number is printed in red to the right of the film still.
A press book for "The Big Sky", a 1952 Howard Hawks film starring Kirk Douglas, Dewey Martin, Elizabeth Threatt, and Arkansas native Arthur Hunnicutt. In the film, Jim Deakins is a frontiersman and Indian trader making a journey up the Missouri River with a group of men to trade fur pelts with Blackfoot Indians. They encounter some difficulties such as navigating through the Indian territory and hostility within the group. Deakins and another character, Boone Caudill, are both interested in a Blackfoot Indian woman named Teal Eye, which warrants some added difficulty to the travels. The film ends up being a story of trials and tribulation during an expedition into America's untamed frontier. Hunnicutt plays the role of Zeb Calloway, Boone Caudill's uncle. It is his performance in "The Big Sky" that landed Hunnicutt an Oscar nomination for Supporting Actor.
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