Touches You

People are voting emotionally.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

****SPOILERS*** Hard knuckles action adventure movie taking place in the timber country of Montana that has the just graduated from collage with an engineering degree Tim "Timber" Chipman played by the sterling Sterling Hyden who come to take over his father's timber business; only to later find out that his old man is hospitalized with a cracked skull and not expected to live. On top of all that Tim also finds out that the big man or timber baron in town the ruthless and take no prisoners in the timber business Croft Brunner, David Brian, is planning to steal his father timber company right from under him. It's Brunner who through a shyster friend of his found out that the ban on cutting down trees in the area is being lifted through a technicality in the law that no one, but him and his lawyer, knows about! With Brunner in control of Tim's timber company he can makes millions in the logging of timber while having a desperate Tim, who's already tens of thousands in debt, selling it all to him for only pennies on the dollar!With his old man passing away from his injuries Tim decides to run it all by himself with the help of his logger crew headed by the simple-minded but strong as an ox Axe-Handle Ole, Howard Petrie. It's Ole who's since been on the outs with his former slave driving boss Brunner since he took over the business from the late Mr. Chipman. It's when Tim started courting the beautiful saloon singer at the "Vermillion Belle" Lynne Tilton, Vera Ralston, that the extremely jealous Brunner has a crush on that sparks start to fly in both "Big Sky" as well as "Timber Country". In fact it was Lynne's dad Brunner's drunk shyster lawyer Swiftie "The Hat" Tilton, Adolphe Menjou, who's doing everything under the table to stall his client Brunner from taking over Tim's lumber business because, beside being employed by him, he hates his guts!****SPOILERS**** It's when Brunner in a fit of rage, in finding out what he's been doing behind his back, smashes Swiftie's brains in and tried to pin his death on Tim that the truth comes out from Axe Handle Ole, whom Brunner also worked over, that not only did he kill Swiftie but Tim's dad as well! Brunner meanwhile sent for a number of out of area goons to dynamite the train that Tim is using to transfer his lumber only to have them later chicken out when the truth comes out that the man who hired them, Croft Brunner, is a suspected double murderer! The final showdown has Tim with Lynne's help finally put an end to Brunner and his dreams of monopolizing the timber business in the state of Montana by putting an end to him. The movie's stirring theme song "Timberjack" was preformed by the country & western singing group called "The Lancers".

When he hears of his father's death, Tim Chipman returns to the family logging territory and company to help run it. However he walks back into a losing battle where rival logger Croft Brunner bought up the railway line and refused Chipman to remove his logs on it, forcing them to be moved the longest and costliest way; Brunner then followed this with an offer to buy Chipman out. When Chipman throws the offer back in Brunner's face he ends up dead in suspicious circumstances. With Tim taking over, Brunner hopes to get his offer accepted but Chipman Junior has no intention of giving the company to a man he suspects had a hand in his father's death.From the opening credits alone (a hilariously corny song with some real gems in the lyrics - "hurry back, hurry back, timberjack") my hopes were not high but I decided, in the name of continuing to put off more important things, to watch it anyway. The film quickly moves into the standard patter for this type of film by running a series of songs, fistfights, romance and melodrama in a cycle that builds to an ending that more or less mixes them all together. This is hardly anything new and is typical of the "entertainment for all" ethos of similar films and it doesn't really do any aspect of it well enough to stand out or make any sort of lasting impression. The plot has an enjoyable tension between Chipman and Brunner and also produces some unspectacular but fun fight scenes; the romance aspect is badly done and reduces parts of the film to the level of poor melodrama. The songs are perky and lively but none of them stuck in my mind longer than the numbers themselves. This mix did enough to entertain me on a basic level, which was all I was really expecting it to do. The most interesting parts for me were the sections that showed the loggers in action – either up the top of a massive tree or floating logs down a river; it was fascinating to see it being done although I wouldn't watch the whole film again for that reason.The cast is mixed but are part of the all-round entertainment value of the film. Hayden is a good screen presence in even the most average films and so he is here – just sticking out his chest and jaw and letting them do the work. Brian is a reasonable foil and, despite having less of a presence gives almost as good as he gets. Ralston is a bit bland but is good in the musical numbers; Carmichael provides a small bit of comic relief. Noir fans will probably be as surprised as I was to find Elisha Cook Jr in a tiny role hidden behind a wisp of whiskers! Overall this is a fairly average film that doesn't really excel at anything but does the usual mix of action, melodrama and music together to produce an enjoyable film. It isn't anything special but it has just about enough going for it to be a watchable 90 minutes if you are in an undemanding mood.

The gear engine and operation of the log train make this movie a must see and have. It provides an examples of life and operations methods of a small logging operation and the underhanded means used to gain control of the RR and timber. The train operations couple the story line and characters. It is also interesting to see that even the hired thugs have some ethics.

A prodigal son returns to the northwest logging territory to reclaim his family business which had been shut down due to the death of his father. Things got rough in the community as the other firm's owner stopped at nothing to be number one. Lots of singing, dancing, and fisticuffs in this high action yarn.