Sick Product of a Sick System

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Whoever thought the beautiful, sexy Susan Hayward would start her career playing a character named "Butch"? In The Forest Rangers, she's not the romantic lead. Paulette Goddard is the beautiful love interest to forest ranger Fred MacMurray, with masculine Susan Hayward waiting in the wings. This love triangle is amusing enough to justify renting this movie, so if you're as much a Susan Hayward fan as I am, I recommend watching it one afternoon for a good laugh.With tons of special effects combined with real footage of forest fires and controlled burns, The Forest Rangers is a pretty impressive movie for 1942. Stunt doubles are used and abused, and the blue-screen effect is very well edited for the time period. The plot is interesting and fast-paced, and there's both a surprise and a good laugh in the end. It's a little more light-hearted than you'd expect, but it's pretty cute. Plus there's a funny scene between Fred MacMurray and Eugene Pallette straight out of any classic comedy: Fred has been out all night with Paulette, Eugene's daughter, and neither man knows who the other is. So, while Eugene is laughing about Fred's conquest, he has no idea that the girl in question is his daughter!

Fred MacMurray is the chief of a forest ranger crew who get plenty of action fighting forest fires. Susan Hayward runs a logging operation down the road a ways. She has her eye on Fred but he thinks of her as one of the boys. When Fred meets extremely cute Paulette Goddard riding in a parade over in town, he falls for her quickly and they are married in a snap. Poor Susan isn't too thrilled and sets about figuring a way to send Paulette packing for the city she came from. Okay, so it's kind of a lame plot....Luckily, it really isn't developed too seriously. A typical scene is the one in which our main characters get stuck overnight in the woods with only one blanket for the three of them: lying on the forest floor, they jockey for position for about five minutes, both of the women wanting to cuddle up to Fred. It's kind of amusing in a silly way.A subplot involves the rangers' investigation into a rash of forest fires—is logger Albert Dekker the local arsonist? The supporting cast also includes Lynne Overman as MacMurray's old-timer right hand man and Regis Toomey as a pilot who flies over fires and radios in intelligence. Despite the mediocre story line, MacMurray, Goddard and Hayward all look great and give lively performances. The Technicolor is gorgeous and there are some intense forest fire scenes—so why bother about plot? Also entertaining: As far as I can tell, that really is Fred MacMurray singing a ballad called "Tall Grow the Timbers."

Sit back and enjoy a movie that makes good use of the particular talents of Fred MacMurray, Paulette Goddard and Susan Hayward. Each has a role totally fitted to their screen persona and they make the most of their opportunities. What helps considerably are the lush production values--but don't expect too much credibility in the script that has the female stars fighting rather predictably over the hero while the subplot (about an arsonist methodically setting forest fires) gives the story some additional sparks. A particularly amusing sequence has the trio spending the night in the woods sharing the same blanket--rather risque stuff for '42!!There's grandeur in the technicolor photography and stunning close-ups of Susan and Paulette to keep their fans happy. A catchy song number called "I Got Spurs That Jingle, Jangle, Jingle" became a top hit on the hit parade at time of the film's release.Only real weakness is the ending which has Susan's character doing a real switcheroo--but it's not a film to take seriously in the first place and only meant to be entertainment--which it is.Susan shows the kind of grit and spirit that enabled her to take on more complex roles later in her career and Paulette Goddard has a role tailor-made to show off her own brand of sophisticated charm. MacMurray is himself, nothing more, and it works every time.

Seeing Fred MacMurray, Paulette Goddard and Susan Hayward in this rousing gorgeous technicolor movie was great fun. Story of a Forest Ranger (MacMurray), being chased by the beautiful but butch lumber mill owner (Hayward), and then meeting and falling in love at first sight with a rich girl (Goddard) makes the triangle perfect. Guy marries girl and the fun begins as the vixen tries to woo him back. Funny scene when the three of them are stranded in the woods and have to spend the night with one blanket to share between them.Excellent forest fire scenes filmed by director Marshall. Climatic final scenes when the fire starter is surprisingly revealed and Goddard and Hayward, caught in the midst of the blazing woods, have to survive. Excellent dramatic footage of the fire and comedy of situation make this great movie fare. With today's films this one done in the early 40s still holds it's own.