The Big Trees (1952)

Director:

Felix E. Feist

Writers:

Kenneth Earl (story)
John Twist (writer) ...
(more)

Release Date:

15 August 1952 (Finland)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Plot:

A Quaker colony tries to save the giant sequoias from a timber baron.

Plot Keywords:

Religious Leader | Dam | Arson | Accidental Death | Redwood Forest

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Iris Adrian	...	Girl at bar (uncredited)
Mel Archer	...	Ole (uncredited)
Lilian Bond	...	Daisy's girl (uncredited)
Sue Casey	...	Young lady (uncredited)
William Challee	...	Brother Williams (uncredited)
Lane Chandler	...	Brother Dorn (uncredited)
Frank Hagney	...	Glen (lumberman with rifle) (uncredited)
Kathy Marlowe	...	Daisy's girl (uncredited)
Michael McHale	...	Accountant (uncredited)
Bill McLean	...	Ivan (uncredited)
Art Millan	...	Charlie (uncredited)
Vicki Raaf	...	Daisy's Girl (uncredited)
Lester Sharpe	...	Gray (uncredited)
Elizabeth Slifer	...	Sister Wallace (uncredited)
Ann Stuart	...	Young lady (uncredited)
Duke Watson	...	Murdock (uncredited)

Directed by
Felix E. Feist		(as Felix Feist)

Writing credits
Kenneth Earl		(story)
John Twist		(writer) and
James R. Webb		(writer)

Produced by
Louis F. Edelman	....	producer

Original Music by
Heinz Roemheld
Ray Heindorf		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Bert Glennon

Film Editing by
Clarence Kolster

Art Direction by
Edward Carrere

Set Decoration by
G.W. Berntsen

Makeup Department
Gordon Bau	....	makeup artist

Sound Department
Leslie G. Hewitt	....	sound

Special Effects by
Hans F. Koenekamp	....	special effects (as H.F. Koenekamp)

Editorial Department
Mitchell Kovaleski	....	color consultant: Technicolor

Music Department
Maurice De Packh	....	orchestrator
Ray Heindorf	....	musical director
Sidney Cutner	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Leo Shuken	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1952) (USA) (theatrical)
• Madacy Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Take 2 Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Delta Expedition (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Roan Group, The (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Allumination Filmworks (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Navarre Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Platinum Disc Corporation (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Brentwood Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• St. Clair Vision (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Nothing's New Video (2005) (USA) (VHS)
• Hollywood Classics (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Madacy Entertainment (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• Warner Bros. (1960) (West Germany) (theatrical)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (nf) | Canada:G (Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (2001)

Filming Locations:

Orick, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

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.

Goofs:

Continuity: 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.

Quotes:

Daisy Fisher: You stye on the eye of a flea on a thigh of a nit on the neck of a gnat!

Movie Connections:

Remake of The Valley of the Giants (1919)

Soundtrack:

THE CHARMING SOUBRETTE ON THE POLICE GAZETTE

Kirk Douglas meets the tree cultists -- watch out!

Strictly typical lumberjack story equipped with fistfights, macho talk, and lots of lumber industry stock footage. (In fact, while watching a previous black and white Warner Bros. short from the forties, I noticed that not only was the same lumber footage beeing used, but also the same footage of Kirk Douglas jumping from the hillside onto the train, leading me to ponder whether WB filmed this expensive footage in black and white and also filmed it in color just on the chance they would need such footage in a future color film???). The plot concerns a claim jumping lumber baron (Douglas) who's opposed by a christian cult who believes God loves the redwood trees (where could they possibly have gotten that idea?). Since Douglas falls for the only pretty cultist, he's a cinch to give in and help them against his friends, who include burly lumberjack Alan Hale (always game for timber or naval duty in WB films). This movie can be called mildly entertaining, and that would be saying a lot for it.