The Big Trees (1952)

Director:

Felix E. Feist

Writers:

Kenneth Earl (story)
John Twist (writer) ...

Release Date:

15 August 1952 (Finland)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Plot:

A Quaker colony tries to save the giant sequoias from a timber baron.

Plot Keywords:

Quaker | Judge | Dam | Arson | Accidental Death

Cast

Kirk Douglas	...	Jim Fallon
Eve Miller	...	Alicia Chadwick
Patrice Wymore	...	Daisy Fisher / Dora Figg
Edgar Buchanan	...	Walter 'Yukon' Burns
John Archer	...	Frenchy LeCroix
Alan Hale Jr.	...	Tiny
Roy Roberts	...	Judge Crenshaw
Charles Meredith	...	Elder Bixby
Harry Cording	...	Cleve Gregg
Ellen Corby	...	Sister Blackburn

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:G (Ontario) | West Germany:12 (nf) | Greece:K | Finland:K-16 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (2001)

Filming Locations:

Orick, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

As of 2002, the rights to this film became public domain, and DVD copies that were "digitally remastered" began appearing in 99 Cent stores in LA area in 2004.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the beginning of the film, Jim Fallon appears in the window opening the divided curtain with both hands. Then the curtain on his right-hand side remains open while he holds the other part with his left hand. In the following shot from inside, the part on his right-hand side is closed.

Quotes:

Alicia Chadwick: Men have been known to change.
Walter 'Yukon' Burns: Oh, lady, even I have been given up by women reformers! The biggest mistake a woman can make is to pick the wrong man and try to make him right.

Movie Connections:

Remake of The Valley of the Giants (1927)

Soundtrack:

The Charming Soubrette on the Police Gazette

Kirk Douglas meets the tree cultists -- watch out!

Strictly typical lumberjack story equipped with fistfights, macho talk, and lots of lumber industry stock footage. (In fact, while watching a previous black and white Warner Bros. short from the forties, I noticed that not only was the same lumber footage beeing used, but also the same footage of Kirk Douglas jumping from the hillside onto the train, leading me to ponder whether WB filmed this expensive footage in black and white and also filmed it in color just on the chance they would need such footage in a future color film???). The plot concerns a claim jumping lumber baron (Douglas) who's opposed by a christian cult who believes God loves the redwood trees (where could they possibly have gotten that idea?). Since Douglas falls for the only pretty cultist, he's a cinch to give in and help them against his friends, who include burly lumberjack Alan Hale (always game for timber or naval duty in WB films). This movie can be called mildly entertaining, and that would be saying a lot for it.