Then US President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave the movie four consecutive showings at the White House and called it "simply the best film ever made. My number one favorite film."
Jean Simmons was so traumatized by the experience making the film that she refused to talk about it for years until an interview in the late 1980s when she revealed, "We'd have our lines learned, then receive a rewrite, stay up all night learning the new version, then receive yet another rewrite the following morning. It made the acting damned near impossible."
Gregory Peck and William Wyler had become friends a few years earlier and got on well while making Roman Holiday (1953), but they clashed repeatedly during filming. After Peck stormed off the set one day following a blazing row, Wyler told the press, "I wouldn't direct Peck again for a million dollars and you can quote me on that." They reconciled three years later, but true to the director's word Wyler and Peck never made another film together.
Tempers flared on the set between numerous individuals, particularly William Wyler and Charles Bickford, who had fought on the set of Hell's Heroes (1929) years before and were continuing their antagonistic relationship. Wyler liked to shoot numerous retakes and Bickford was very cranky, often refusing to say a line he didn't like or to vary his performance no matter how many takes he was forced to deliver.
Director William Wyler absolutely hated Jerome Moross's score for "The Big Country", and insisted on hiring another composer to redo the job. But preview audiences were so enthusiastic about the music, especially the opening theme, that star and co-producer Gregory Peck persuaded Wyler to back down. Moross went on to earn an Oscar nomination and his score for "The Big Country" is now considered one of the classic western soundtracks.