Customer Reviews

The Big Trees

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In 1900, a corrupt timber baron Jim Fallon (Kirk Douglas) plans to take advantage of a new law and make millions of Dollars off the California redwood ( trees as you can imagine ). 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 Jim Fallon wants the sequoias the most. Expert at manipulating others, Fallon finds that other sharks are at his own heels, and forms an unlikely alliance.

The movie is a remake of VALLEY OF THE GIANTS with stock footage from that earlier color movie.

If you like Kirk, and particularly his earlier work you should like this one! This is a great DVD to have in your collection! It comes in its original Aspect Ratio!

THE BIG TREES starts out with a great deal of promise - Kirk Douglas stars as Jim Fallon, a Wisconsin timber baron who plans to take advantage of a new law that will allow him to `harvest' California's giant sequoias and make a fortune in the process.
The movie opens in Wisconsin where Fallon is facing down a growling work crew. The pay is late, again, and the men have just about had it. Drawing on his deep well of nerve and blarney and charm, as well as a well-timed gunshot from soon-to-be sidekick `Yukon' Burns (Edgar Buchanan), Fallon not only avoids a bloody mutiny but he even manages to talk the crew into migrating to California where, seemingly, money does indeed grow on trees.
So far so good. THE BIG TREES might be a cut above. The first scene in California (the movie was filmed in Orlick) has Fallon and Yukon measuring the diameter of a giant redwood. It measures out at twenty-eight feet, and the scene is only slightly jarred by the shadow of the camera and boom during this attractive tracking shot.
The hitch in Fallon's plans take the form of Friends, or Quakers, who regard the ancient redwoods as sacred objects. They hold their religious services outdoors, nestled in this majestic sequoia cathedral. Nestled in the bosom of the Quaker community is the beautiful Alicia Chadwick (Eve Miller) (the dvd biography on Miller tells us she was a Playmate of the Month a couple years after THE BIG TREES was released.)
Love trumps Greed and, the last time I looked, Beauty is batting 1.000 against the Beast. Fallon doesn't stand a chance, but before this movie loses all momentum and devolves into a group tree-hug a second group of lumber hungry sociopaths make their presence felt.
It's about then that THE BIG TREES took a big turn and morphed into a Starched Shirt western. Characters chop down trees and wrestle the bad guy on a shaky rope bridge spanning a deep gorge and then show up in the next scene in a spotlessly clean starched shirt. The last half of this movie is corny and formulaic, and betrays the promising start.
Still and all THE BIG TREES is entertaining, well-acted, and good looking.

The Big Trees"(1952), Stars Kirk Douglas, as a lumberman intent on claiming ownership and cutting down the beautiful Redwood trees in Northern, California. His oppostion are a group of Quakers who feel that God gave them those trees for their church and do everything in their power to protect the trees from the money hungry businessman! The most outspoken of the group is of course a beautiful woman(Eve Miller), that Douglas falls for, and must decide between the trees and her. Also look for notables Edgar Buchanan as "Yukon", Allen Hale Jr., and Miss Ellen Corby. This one, by BCI Eclipse looks great on the DVD. The original technicolor is beautiful,the picture is clear and the sound quality is very good.

This film is perfect for fans of Kirk Douglas and westerns.You really can't go wrong for the price. And for just a few dollars more, you can also get it in a great set that BCI has put together called "Legends of the West". It's a two disc set with four films(one on each side) and includes this one, the wonderful "One Eyed Jacks" starring Marlon Brando and Karl Malden(also happens to be directed by Brando),"The Sundowners"(1950) with Robert Preston, Robert Sterling and John Barrymore Jr, and "Vegeance Valley" starring Burt Lancaster and Robert Walker.

Kirk Douglas Fans - check out his open, honest and funny memoir:The Ragman's Son

Happy Trails.....Laurie

No, this film wasn't a masterpiece, but there weren't a lot of films made in 1952 that *were* masterpieces by most standards. This struck me as a standard sort of western for those days, and it was fine in that context. I like Kirk Douglas and this was a Kirk Douglas film, and I like Edgar Buchanan as well. Was it predictable? Sure. No one really thinks Kirk Douglas will *stay* bad, does he? Were there any intriguing plot twists? No, but enough minor ones to keep me interested. But enjoyed it, and that's all I wanted from it. The one thing I don't understand is why there have been six releases of this on DVD.

The Big Trees with Kirk Douglas is really a great movie. It has a lot of action and is fun to watch. Kirk Douglas is one of my favorites of the classic movies. I would recommend this movie to anyone that likes Kirk Douglas.

Kirk plays a great part and this is a fine movie everybody should buy this movie

Kirk Douglas is a real actor considering the crap we get these days that dont
like to get dirty and please not too physical...they might break a nail.
So old movies are not as thrilling as today's special effect movies...but old
movies had something special....real actors ...who actually had to work for a living.
Anyway, in this film we have Kirk as a bad guy, good with his twisted tongue to
keep his workers interested in the big money comming from chopping down the
biggest trees which reside on land that have a Religious bunch living on it.
So who gets the trees....Kirk...the religious community..or others who wants in.
I guess you will have to watch this film to know the ending.
I would like to mention that the choosen music for the first portion of the film
is very good...i was so surprised......ahhh old films.....get better with age...

CONTAINS SPOILERS
"The Big Trees" is a western mystery starring Kirk Douglas and Edgar Buchanan. It concerns conflicts between two warring factions: the environmentalists and the conservationsist profiteers. Kirk Douglas plays a mine leader who's objective is to make use of California's Redwood Trees for his company's profits. A Quaker group attempts to prevent these trees from being destroyed. That is the conflict for half of the movie. However, problems start to get far more complex as the film moves on. The conflicts erupts into full scale when an innocent priest is crushed to death by a falling redwood. Then, members of Kirk Douglas' rival company gun down and murder his pal "Lucky" (Edgar Buchanan) in cold blood. He then ponders over changing his greedy ways. He also battles the bad guys in a climactic showdown and emerges a victorious and reformed man. Overall an action packed and enjoyable film.
It has already been said by another reviewer that there are six DVD versions of the film available. I purchased the Vina Distributor $1.99 disc and found the quality to be adequate. However, I have heard that the Roan Group edition DVD ($14.99) quality is far from impressive. There is no point in spending a fortune on a DVD that is expensive and bad quality. I highly recommend that you search for the inexpensive Vina edition and buy that. Happy viewing!

Kirk Douglas works with wood and wants to make money quick by grabbing land in California and cutting the giant and very old trees. He ends up getting involved with religious people who live there and only want him to cut the newer and smaller trees. Patrice Wymore is the woman who is in love with him but he starts falling for the religious Eve Miller. The unusual and interesting scenery makes this western worth seeing. Also Douglas here is at his best.