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The Big Trees is a 1952 Western film starring Kirk Douglas and directed by Felix E. Feist. It was Kirk Douglas' final film for Warner Bros., a film he did for free in exchange for the studio agreeing to release him from his long-term contract.[2]

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 sequoia redwood trees in the virgin region of northern California. 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 other smaller trees for lumber. Jim becomes infatuated with Bixby's daughter, Alicia (Eve Miller), though that does not change his plan to cheat the homesteaders. When Jim's right-hand man, Yukon Burns (Edgar Buchanan) 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) 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[]

Students from Humboldt State University played members of the Quaker congregation and members of its choir.[2]

Production[]

The film includes establishing shots featuring Wayne Morris that were taken from the 1938 film Valley of the Giants.[2] The film was made with the cooperation of the Hammond and Carlotta Lumber companies.[2]

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."[3]

References[]

  1. "Original Print Information". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved on 2011-10-09.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Smith, Richard Harland. "Articles". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved on 2011-10-09.
  3. "A Saga of Lumber Operators". The New York Times (February 6, 1952). Retrieved on 2011-10-09.


External links[]

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Films:

The Clash of the Wolves (1925) • Cheyenne (1929) • The Lawless Legion (1929) • The Royal Rider (1929) • The Great Divide (1929) • Song of the West (1930) • The Bad Man (1930) • Woman Hungry (1931) • The Telegraph Trail (1933) • Moonlight on the Prairie (1935) • Treachery Rides the Range (1936) • Trailin' West (1936) • Guns of the Pecos (1937) • Land Beyond the Law (1937) • The Cherokee Strip (1937) • Blazing Sixes (1937) • Empty Holsters (1937) • The Devil's Saddle Legion (1937) • Prairie Thunder (1937) • Cowboy from Brooklyn (1938) • Valley of the Giants (1938) • Virginia City (1940) • An Angel from Texas (1940) • River's End (1940) • Santa Fe Trail (1940) • Bad Men of Missouri (1941) • Wild Bill Hickok Rides (1942) • San Antonio (1946) • Pursued (1947) • Cheyenne (1947) • The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) • Silver River (1948) • Two Guys from Texas (1948) • South of St. Louis (1949) • The Younger Brothers (1949) • Colorado Territory (1949) • Montana (1950) • Barricade (1950) • Colt .45 (1950) • Return of the Frontiersman (1950) • Rocky Mountain (1950) • Dallas (1950) • Sugarfoot (1951) • Raton Pass (1951) • Only the Valiant (1951) • Along the Great Divide (1951) • Fort Worth (1951) • Distant Drums (1951) • The Big Trees (1952) • Bugles in the Afternoon (1952) • The Lion and the Horse (1952) • The San Francisco Story (1952) • Carson City (1952) • The Story of Will Rogers (1952) • Cattle Town (1952) • Springfield Rifle (1952) • The Man Behind the Gun (1953) • The Charge at Feather River (1953) • Blowing Wild (1953) • The Moonlighter (1953) • Thunder Over the Plains (1953) • Calamity Jane (1953) • Hondo (1953) • The Command (1954) • The Boy from Oklahoma (1954) • Riding Shotgun (1954) • The Bounty Hunter (1954) • Drum Beat (1954) • Track of the Cat (1954) • Strange Lady in Town (1955) • Tall Man Riding (1955) • The Lone Ranger (1956) • The Searchers (1956) • Seven Men from Now (1956) • Giant (1956) • The Big Land (1957) • Shoot-Out at Medicine Bend (1957) • Black Patch (1957) • Fort Dobbs (1958) • The Left Handed Gun (1958) • Badman's Country (1958) • Born Reckless (1958) • The Hanging Tree (1959) • Rio Bravo (1959) • Westbound (1959) • Yellowstone Kelly (1959) • Guns of the Timberland (1960) • Sergeant Rutledge (1960) • Gold of the Seven Saints (1961) • The Singer Not the Song (1961) • 4 for Texas (1963) • A Distant Trumpet (1964) • Cheyenne Autumn (1964) • Murieta (1965) • Flaming Frontier (1965) • A Big Hand for the Little Lady (1966) • Bonnie and Clyde (1967) • Firecreek (1968) • The Wild Bunch (1969) • The Valley of Gwangi (1969) • The Great Bank Robbery (1969) • The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970) • The Cowboys (1972) • Jeremiah Johnson (1972) • The Train Robbers (1973) • The Deadly Trackers (1973) • Blazing Saddles (1974) • Tom Horn (1980) • The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie (1981) • Honkytonk Man (1982) • Pale Rider (1985) • Unforgiven (1992) • Pure Country (1992) • Made in America (1993) • Maverick (1994) • Wyatt Earp (1994) • Almost Heroes (1998) • Wild Wild West (1999) • American Outlaws (2001) • Jonah Hex (2010)

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