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.
Filming Locations
Eureka, California, USA
Redwood Groves, California, USA
Orick, California, USA
Watch the Movie
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