everything you have heard about this movie is true.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

In 1900, unscrupulous timber baron Jim Fallon plans to take advantage of a new law and make millions off California redwood. 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 these are the very trees he wants most. Expert at manipulating others, Fallon finds that other sharks are at his own heels, and forms an unlikely alliance.First off Mike Douglas now looks and acts exactly like his father Kirk, who in this movie had his hair dyed Gold.Yes, gold.The film is in Technicolor and the color still pops.The movie is very typical of the year and the genre. It's not bad.

"The Big Trees" is a Western, set in northern California around 1900. The main character is Jim Fallon, a timber baron who has recently moved to the state from Wisconsin. Fallon's motive is to take advantage of a new law which will allow him to stake a claim to the area's dense forests. Fallon especially has his eyes on the giant redwoods, the world's largest (and among its oldest) trees which he believes will net him a handsome profit. There is, however, a problem. A religious community have made their home in the forest and are determined to save the trees, which they regard as symbols of the power and majesty of God. So sacred are the trees to them that they even hold their services outdoors in a redwood grove rather than in a church. (The sect have some similarities with both the Amish and the Quakers, although they are probably not intended to be identified with either). A further complication arises when Fallon falls for Alicia, an attractive young widow who is a member of the sect.In the first half of the film Fallon is portrayed as a rogue, smooth and plausible but unscrupulous and not always likable. About halfway through, however, he undergoes a change of heart and becomes one of the good guys, fighting alongside the sect in order to save the trees from his former associates, who turn out to be even more greedy and unscrupulous than he ever was.The film has some good points. The photography of the Californian forests is well done and there are some good action sequences, including a scene where Kirk Douglas leaps onto a runaway train . The theme is a potentially interesting one; environmentalism was not as hot a topic in the early fifties as it has become since, so a film with a conservationist theme was something of a novelty. Moreover, the film gives an interesting slant to the subject, showing the religious roots of the environmental movement.Despite this, however, the film also has its weaknesses. The plot is excessively complex; at times it seems as though you need a thorough knowledge of Californian land law in order to understand what is going on. It also goes through too many twists and turns, with characters assumed to be bad turning out to be good and vice versa, with abrupt changes of mood. At times it all seems fairly light-hearted and then turns into serious drama as two major characters meet violent deaths in quick succession. The acting is generally poor. This is not, by any stretch of the imagination, Douglas' best film or best performance, but the supporting cast are no better. Overall, "The Big Trees" tries to be unusual but ends up as just a standard action movie, and not a very good one. 5/10

I bought a copy of this film for a very small price at a job lot store. The company, Global Multimedia Corporation, said this was a digitally remastered copy, called Value DVD. It was amusing that the cover presented Kirk Douglas and Alicia Chadwick. Alicia Chadwick is actually a major character in the story who was played by Eve Miller.The color of this restored master was indeed very good on my plasma TV. The story was set on a historical event which took place during the McKinley administration in 1900. Apparently, land with the giant redwoods was opened up for grabs by allowing lumber companies to pay for new claims, even for land which had been settled by homesteaders under an 1868 act of Congress. Our hero Jim Fallon heads west with cronies from Wisconsin to make his fortune. As the story unfolds with some tragedy, he is forsaken by former associates, and warms to his new friends, the Quakers who had settled the land before. Indeed, he turns the tide in their favor, thus redeeming himself, and winning the girl.The movie was excellent with great stunts, seemingly performed by Douglas himself. It is really instructive to see how much good film action was done long before digital effects. Indeed, this movie could give you a real taste for quality movies of mid-20th century.

Hi, Everyone,This movie lumbers along. I would (wood) be going out on a limb if I said it was exciting, but it has some good moments. The runaway train sequence is OK, but not up to some other movie runaway trains, like Runaway Train. The scenes with Kirk (or his stuntman) jumping onto a train work very well. He was in good physical condition when this was made. His closeups are even exciting during the action sequence.Kirk Douglas has been much better in many other movies. He looks athletic here and he acts adequately. Edgar Buchanan is miscast, even though he does a good job as a tough guy, of sorts. I would have tried to get Victor Mature or maybe Robert Mitchum for the part Edgar did.If you like train movies, try The Train with Burt Lancaster or Silver Streak with Gene Wilder. For better train wrecks, try Greatest Show on Earth or Bridge on the River Kwai.There is one musical number that is done well. Beautiful scenery galore. A couple of good stunts. Not so good fight scenes. This would be a good film for a double feature Kirk Douglas night, but it is not his best.I will leaf you now. Tom Willett