THE BIG COUNTRY

Melodrama and a plurality of urgencies dominate a stiff but rugged story based on Alaskan Gold mining not so very long ago. Lon Cope's father Jess is engineer for the Alaska-Northern Gold Mine near Juneau, but after years of effort the mine's directors deem it a failure, just when Jess knows his efforts are about to bear fruit. Jess is fired. The intervening years, before Lon finishes his own engineering studies, see father and son on a prospecting trip up to the Bering Straits, Jess' death in the wilderness, and Lon's work at odd jobs while he studies. Then when Jess' diary is found, telling of a sure way to work the Alaska Northern, Lon is able to convince the owners of the plan's success.