''The Big Trees'' is a

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

lumberjack

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film starring Kirk Douglas and directed by

Felix E. Feist Felix Ellison Feist (; February 28, 1910 – September 2, 1965) was an American film and television director and writer born in New York City. He is probably best remembered for ''Deluge'' (1933), for writing and directing the film noirs ''The ...

. It was Kirk Douglas's final film for

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

, a film he did for free in exchange for the studio agreeing to release him from his long-term contract. The film has fallen into the public domain. Douglas plays a greedy timber baron who seeks to exploit the sequoia forest, while facing the protest of the Quaker colonists.

Plot

In 1900, lumberman Jim Fallon ( Kirk Douglas) greedily eyes the big redwood trees in the virgin region of northern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The land is already settled by, among others, a religious group led by Elder Bixby ( Charles Meredith) who have a religious relationship with the redwoods and refuse to log them, using smaller trees for lumber. Jim becomes infatuated with Bixby's daughter, Alicia (

Eve Miller Eve Miller (born Marilyn Miller; August 8, 1923 – August 17, 1973) was an American actress who appeared in 41 films between 1945 and 1961. She was born in Los Angeles, California, and died in Van Nuys, California. She died by suicide at ...

), though that does not change his plan to cheat the homesteaders. When Jim's right-hand man, Yukon Burns (

Edgar Buchanan William Edgar Buchanan II (March 20, 1903 – April 4, 1979) was an American actor with a long career in both film and television. He is most familiar today as Uncle Joe Carson from the ''Petticoat Junction'', ''Green Acres'', and ''The ...

) finds out, he changes sides and leads the locals in resisting Jim. The locals combat Jim's loggers with a sympathetic judge with Jim fighting back by using Federal laws. Elder Bixby is killed when a big sequoia tree is chopped down by Jim's men and falls on his cabin. Jim's desperate attempt to rescue Alicia's father saves him from being convicted of murder. Meanwhile, timber rival Cleve Gregg (

Harry Cording Hector William "Harry" Cording (26 April 1891 – 1 September 1954) was an English-American actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his roles in the films '' The Black Cat'' (1934) and ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1938). Life and career ...

) appears on the scene, making it a three-way fight. Gregg and his partner Frenchy LeCroix ( John Archer) try to assassinate Jim, but end up killing Yukon instead. Jim has a dramatic change of heart and leads the settlers in defeating Gregg and Frenchy. Afterwards, Jim marries Alicia and settles down.

Cast

* Kirk Douglas as Jim Fallon *

as Sister Alicia Chadwick * Patrice Wymore as Daisy Fisher *

as Yukon Burns * John Archer as "Frenchy" LeCroix * Alan Hale, Jr. as "Tiny" * Roy Roberts as Judge Crenshaw * Charles Meredith as Elder Bixby *

as Cleve Gregg * Ellen Corby as Sister Blackburn * Duke Watson as Mr. Murdoch *

Lane Chandler Lane Chandler (born Robert Clinton Oakes, June 4, 1899 – September 14, 1972) was an American actor specializing mainly in Westerns. Biography Early life Chandler was raised on a ranch near Culbertson, Montana, the son of a horse ra ...

as Brother Dorn * Elizabeth Slifer as Sister Wallace *

Lilian Bond Lilian Bond (January 18, 1908 – January 25, 1991) was an English-American actress based in the United States. Life and career Bond was born in London and made her first professional stage appearance at the age of 14 in the pantomime ''Dic ...

as Daisy's girl * Michael McHale as Mr Keller (an accountant) * William Challee as Brother Williams Students from

Humboldt State University California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt also known as Cal Poly Humboldt, Humboldt or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California or California State Polytechnic Universi ...

played members of the Quaker congregation and members of its choir.

Production

The film was made with the cooperation of the Hammond and Carlotta Lumber companies, and was shot on locations in Humboldt County, California. Footage from Warner Brothers' 1938 Technicolor film '' Valley of the Giants'' is used throughout ''The Big Trees''. ''The Big Trees'' is not a precise remake, but shares useful plot points. The climactic explosion of a logjam makes use of the destruction of the dam in ''Valley of the Giants''. Costumes were designed to match the images in several scenes, notably when the red-shirted hero in each picture works his way along a train carrying huge cut trees in order to stop the caboose carrying his love interest from plunging into a gorge. The white-shirted villain survived his battle with the hero in the earlier.

Alan Hale Jr. Alan Hale Jr. (born Alan Hale MacKahan; (March 8, 1921 - January 2, 1990) was an American actor and restaurateur. He was the son of actor Alan Hale Sr. His television career spanned four decades, but he was best known for his secondary lead role ...

plays a lumberjack in this, wearing a very distinctive outfit—including a hat—like the one his father wears in ''Valley of the Giants''. ''The Big Sky'' uses the long shot from ''Valley of the Giants'' of Ox (Alan Hale Sr.) sliding down a cable to have “Tiny” accomplish the same feat in this picture.

Reception

''The New York Times'' called it a "stormy and sometimes silly saga" based on a script "not terribly far removed from the Warners '' Valley of the Giants''"; its "plot and emoting seem to be as old as the giant redwoods with which they are concerned." In a 1986 interview with David Letterman, this was one of two movies Kirk told the audience that they could skip in his filmography. The other was

Along the Great Divide ''Along the Great Divide'' is a 1951 American Western film noir directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Kirk Douglas, Virginia Mayo, John Agar and Walter Brennan. It was Douglas's first Western, a genre that served him well during his long career ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Big Trees, The 1952 films American historical drama films Warner Bros. films Films directed by Felix E. Feist 1952 drama films 1950s historical drama films Films set in California Films set in the 1900s Films set in forests Articles containing video clips Films scored by Heinz Roemheld Films set in the 20th century Films about Quakers Films about lumberjacks 1950s English-language films 1950s American films