The Big Trees

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The Big Trees

Directed by	Felix E. Feist
Produced by	Louis F. Edelman
Written by	Kenneth Earl John Twist James R. Webb
Starring	Kirk Douglas
Music by	Heinz Roemheld
Cinematography	Bert Glennon
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	1952
Running time	89 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Big Trees is a 1952 film starring Kirk Douglas and directed by Felix E. Feist.

This was Kirk Douglas's final contracted film with Warner Brothers after a long period of rough relationships between him and the company.

The film has fallen into the public domain after Warner Brothers did not renew their copyrights for the film. The reasons for this action are still unknown.

[edit] Plot summary

In 1900, lumberman Jim Fallon (Kirk Douglas) greedily eyes the big trees in the virgin region of northern California. The land is already settled by, among others, a religious group led by Elder Bixby (Charles Meredith). Jim becomes infatuated with Bixby's daughter, Alicia (Eve Miller), though that does not change his plan to cheat the homesteaders. When Jim's right-hand man, Yukon Burns (Edgar Buchanan) finds out, he changes sides and leads the locals in resisting Jim.

Elder Bixby is killed when a big sequoia tree is chopped down by Jim's men and accidentally falls on his cabin. Jim's desperate attempt to rescue Alicia's father saves him from being convicted of murder. Meanwhile, timber rival Cleve Gregg (Harry Cording) appears on the scene, making it a three-way fight. Gregg and his partner Frenchy LeCroix (John Archer) try to assassinate Jim, but end up killing Yukon instead. Jim has a dramatic change of heart and leads the settlers in defeating Gregg and Frenchy. Afterwards, Jim marries Alicia and settles down.