Lon McCallister

The Big Cat is a 1949 outdoor adventure directed by Phil Karlson and set in the Utah canyon country during the Great Depression. A young man (Lon McCallister) returns to his mother's birthplace in the high country and finds the community terrorized by a marauding mountain lion and by a bitter feud between two families. Preston Foster and Forrest Tucker play the older men at odds, and Peggy Ann Garner is the girl between them. Karlson, later known for his tough 1950s noir, brings real tension to the wilderness scenes and the climactic hunt. The film was released by United Artists and is in the public domain.

Adventure · Drama

Pete Morgan is a farmer with a bad leg and a dark secret. He has raised his niece Meg as his own and forbids her from going near an abandoned house deep in the woods on his land, warning her that the woods are haunted. When a hired hand starts asking questions and Meg grows more curious, the family's buried past begins to surface. Edward G. Robinson plays against type as the gentle, haunted farmer, and the film leans on atmosphere and dread rather than violence. Miklos Rozsa's score and Bert Glennon's camerawork make the forest feel like a place that does not want its secrets found. The film was the first production of Thalia, the company Robinson formed with producer Sol Lesser. It entered the public domain due to non-renewal of its copyright.

Crime · Mystery · Thriller