The Big Trees (1952)

ridiculous rating

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

The same year Kirk Douglas made the classic masterpiece The Bad and the Beautiful, he also made the low-budget, forgotten movie The Big Trees. He took no salary for the film as a way to get out of his Warner Brothers contract, and since he also admitted that it wasn't a good movie, I don't feel bad for criticizing it. You know I'm a Kirk Douglas fan, so if there are a handful of his movies I don't care for, I'm sure you-and he-will forgive me.Kirk plays a lumberman who's trying to get his hands on some potentially lucrative California redwoods. The Northern Californian town wants him to leave their trees alone, but he values money over heritage and nature-until he gets interested in Eve Miller, one of the vocal local girls. Since he's already involved with Patrice Wymore, he's got more than just a fight for the trees on his hands!The Big Trees reminded me of Tulsa, a movie starring Susan Hayward that pins greed against nature. Both films aren't very good quality and have pretty predictable stories, with little disasters thrown in to keep audiences interested, or awake. But, unless you're die-hard fans of the stars and insist on seeing every single one of their movies, there's no reason to sit through them. They typify the "old movies" people who don't like old movies make fun of. At least in The Big Trees, you get to see Kirk Douglas doing some cool stunts, as he's been known to do. Still, you're better off with Lonely Are the Brave.

Legendary star Kirk Douglas now nears his 100th birthday, and he has left a legacy of great performances in both classic and routine movies over his long career. Douglas was skillful at playing the dastardly villain, who could convincingly convert into a stalwart hero after some life-altering event. His broad toothy grin and dimpled chin were enigmatic enough to suggest either the dark side or the light. Jim Fallon, the greedy lumber baron turned tree hugger, is one of those Douglas roles that shift from the darkness to enlightenment. Set around 1900 in California, "The Big Trees" follows Fallon from his pursuit of government land, where he wants to cut down giant Sequoias and profit from their lumber, to his unlikely romance with a Quaker widow, played by Eve Miller, who wants to save the sacred trees. Of course, love casts out greed in this routine, predictable, but entertaining film that feels like a western, although set too late in the 19th century to fully qualify for the genre.Douglas dominates the movie, and he is fun to watch. Douglas is ably supported by colorful veteran Edgar Buchanan as his gun-slinging sidekick and by such other familiar players as Ellen Corby and Alan Hale. Trees fall, babies are born, and tragedies strike, which alter the course of events and character motivations. Director Felix E. Feist maintains a decent pace, and a climactic runaway train generates some suspense and excitement. "The Big Trees" may not be among Douglas's timeless films, but this tale of logging days in California is better than average, and Douglas is in fine form and always engaging to watch.

In 1900, lumber mill owner Kirk Douglas (as James "Jim" B. Fallon) moves from Wisconsin west, where he hopes to make a fortune chopping down California's giant sequoia trees. After surveying the timber, Mr. Douglas learns religious homesteaders consider the 4,000 year old redwood trees to be a sacred, historical testament of God. Douglas is attracted to what he calls "wonderfully proportioned" widow Eve Miller (as Alicia Chadwick). She's a hugger, but Douglas thinks, "A tree's a tree." Arriving later, blonde showgirl Patrice Wymore (as Dora "Daisy Fisher" Figg) carries a torch for Douglas. His former goodwill ambassador Edgar Buchanan (as Walter "Yukon Lucky" Burns) decides to do the Lord's work. "Tom" the cat gets tossed on screen. While anything's possible, "The Big Trees" is apparently the last re-make of Wallace Reid's "The Valley of the Giants" (1919). This well was definitely dry.*** The Big Trees (2/5/52) Felix Feist ~ Kirk Douglas, Eve Miller, Patrice Wymore, Edgar Buchanan

Okay western tells the tale of Kirk Douglas as a would-be lumber baron with more charm than business savvy. Not as good as it could have been with a little sharper direction, but the dialog has some spark and Douglas shines like a new penny when he smiles.He gets adequate support from the usual suspects, with Patrice Wymore particularly good as his dance hall prostitute girlfriend. Eve Miller as the real love interest is a bit flat by comparison, even granted that she's stuck in the role of a holy roller trying to protect California's giant redwoods.The plot manages to get genuinely clever at times, with the local judge conspiring to help the Quakers foil Douglas's lumber scheme, Douglas scheming right back, and then the whole thing going topsy-turvy. Still, something is missing (and the faded print I saw didn't help) but the ending goes big to try to save it and nearly succeeds. Worth the time for fans of Douglas, but not a must-see title.