The Big Trees (1952)

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  • THE BIG TREES


    DIRECTED BY FELIX E. FEIST
    WARNER BROS.



    INFORMATION FROM IMDb


    Plot Summary
    In 1900, unscrupulous timber baron Jim Fallon plans to take advantage of a new law and make millions off California redwood. Much of the land he hopes to grab has been homesteaded by a Quaker colony, who try to persuade him to spare the giant sequoias...but these are the very trees he wants most. Expert at manipulating others, Fallon finds that other sharks are at his own heels, and forms an unlikely alliance.
    Written by Rod Crawford


    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
    and many more...


    Directed
    Felix E. Feist ... (as Felix Feist)


    Writing Credits
    John Twist ... (screenplay) and
    James R. Webb ... (screenplay)
    Kenneth Earl ... (story)


    Produced
    Louis F. Edelman ... producer


    Music
    Heinz Roemheld


    Cinematography
    Bert Glennon ... director of photography


    Trivia
    According to Kirk Douglas in his autobiography "The Ragman's Son", he agreed to act in this film for free, in order to end his contract with Warner Bros. He later said, "It's a bad movie."


    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.


    "Yukon" Burns is buried in a Quaker cemetery, which contains many graves built close to the trunks of big trees. How these graves could be dug to a reasonable depth with the huge roots they must have had is not explained.


    It's never explained what route the Wisconsin loggers would have taken to arrive in Northern California by steamship in pre-Canal 1900.


    The reading that Fallon does at the dinner is from Psalms 41, verse 1.


    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.


    In the saloon, Daisy dances around and returns to the stage with the help of two men who suspend her. Then we see a fat man standing on the stage corner, in front of a drink glass, clapping her. In the next shot he is drinking.


    Errors in geography
    Walter 'Yukon' Burns has come from the Yukon gold rush, supposedly in Alaska. But the Yukon Gold Rush occurred in Canada, not Alaska.


    Memorable Quotes


    Filming Locations
    Eureka, California, USA
    Redwood Groves, California, USA
    Orick, California, USA


    Watch the Movie


    [extendedmedia]

    [/extendedmedia]

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

  • The Big Trees is a 1952 Western film starring
    Kirk Douglas and directed by Felix E. Feist.
    It was Kirk Douglas's final film for Warner Brothers,
    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.



    User Review


    Western tycoon tall tale
    15 July 2006 | by djensen1 (northern Indiana)

    Best Wishes
    Keith
    London- England

    Edited once, last by ethanedwards ().