In his autobiography, The Ragman's Son, Kirk Douglas was telling about how badly he wanted to get out of his Warner Brothers contract. He made Jack Warner and offer he couldn't refuse, a picture for nothing, zero, zip, bupkis and he'd be released. Jack Warner took him up and the result was The Big Trees.
Now getting a top star to work for nothing, you'd have thought that Warner would get him something good. Instead Kirk Douglas was saddled with an even worse than usual programmer and something he described as the worst film he ever made.
Kirk is a two fisted lumber baron who goes out to the Northern California area to cut down those giant redwoods. A Quaker group who's settled there, ain't having none of that and the story unfolds.
The players all look so totally bored. And the way the script is written you have absolutely no liking for Douglas's character Jim Fallon or believe it when he switches sides. In fact the villain of the piece, John Archer is treated like a doormat by Douglas when he was working for him. Watching the movie I couldn't blame him for knifing Douglas in their business.
Ditto when gal pal Patrice Wymore sells a dam to Douglas's enemies and momentarily throws our hero for a loop.
Best thing you could say about this is that it does have some nice special effects with Kirk Douglas riding on the runaway lumber train. The scene in How the West Was Won was copied and improved with Cinerama from the Big Trees.
They should have just left the forest alone.
Now getting a top star to work for nothing, you'd have thought that Warner would get him something good. Instead Kirk Douglas was saddled with an even worse than usual programmer and something he described as the worst film he ever made.
Kirk is a two fisted lumber baron who goes out to the Northern California area to cut down those giant redwoods. A Quaker group who's settled there, ain't having none of that and the story unfolds.
The players all look so totally bored. And the way the script is written you have absolutely no liking for Douglas's character Jim Fallon or believe it when he switches sides. In fact the villain of the piece, John Archer is treated like a doormat by Douglas when he was working for him. Watching the movie I couldn't blame him for knifing Douglas in their business.
Ditto when gal pal Patrice Wymore sells a dam to Douglas's enemies and momentarily throws our hero for a loop.
Best thing you could say about this is that it does have some nice special effects with Kirk Douglas riding on the runaway lumber train. The scene in How the West Was Won was copied and improved with Cinerama from the Big Trees.
They should have just left the forest alone.