#200 films of 1952 film 109

[project1939]

100+ Films of 1952

Film number 109: The Big Trees 

Release date: February 5th, 1952 

Studio: Warner Bros. 

Genre: Western 

Director: Felix E. Feist 

Producer: Louis F. Edelman 

Actors: Kirk Douglas, Eve Miller, Patrice Wymore, Edgar Buchanan

Plot Summary: Jim Fallon is an ambitious huckster who sees an opportunity to log Redwoods when an amenable law is passed in California in 1900. Once there, he bumps up against a Quaker community who owns the land he desires, and they are adamant that the Redwood are never cut down. 

My rating (out of 5 stars): **3/4

This is a “some parts are interesting” and “some parts are ridiculous and bad” kind of film. I didn’t feel like it was a total waste to watch it, but it’s not one I would really recommend either. (Unless you’re someone with an interest in Redwood trees!) Minor spoilers ahead. 

The Good: 

Kirk Douglas. He is perfect as an anti-hero- charming, confident, and sleazy all at once. I almost didn’t want him to change his ways and turn into a good guy, because he’s much less interesting then. 

Giant Redwoods in real life. There was clearly some location shooting, and it was pretty cool. I only wish the print of the film was better. 

The character Yukon Burns- he was a loveable imperfect hero. 

The scene of a railroad bridge collapsing. It looked so impressive I’m not sure if they used models or if it was a full-size special effect.  It was probably models, but it was very effective.

Having an anti-hero/villain be the protagonist. I always enjoy it in films, even when I hate the character, which I definitely did here. 

Some of the music. I loved the opening theme. 

There were two really good scenes with the Redwoods- one where Jim was measuring the circumference of a tree and the camera tracked around it with him, and one where a guy showed the rings on a cross section and illustrated how far back in history they went. There was the invasion of England by Norman conquerors, Columbus discovering America, George Washington and the Declaration of Independance, Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation, etc... 

Go Quakers! I love Quakers for being hundreds of years ahead of the Western world when it came to women’s rights and racial equality. They were strident abolitionists and committed pacifists. They don’t often appear explicitly in many Hollywood films, so I like that they got a nod here.  

The Bad: 

The plot could be very convoluted and hard to follow, especially in the beginning. I’m not someone who generally struggles with understanding the plots of films, so it got pretty frustrating at times. 

How many different documents can there possibly be in a movie? So much of the plot depended on different government papers- applications, land claims, contracts, state law, federal law, etc. If you like paperwork, here’s a little p*rn for you! 

There were moments that stretched believability to the point of distraction. 

The love story between Jim and Sister Chadwick. I was super pissed that she inexplicably fell in love with such a malevolent creep. 

Some of the music. As I said, I loved the main theme, but many times the non-diegetic music was way too heavy-handed. 

Quakers getting violent at the end. An unfortunate Hollywood trope is making the pacifist Quakers become violent at the climax of the film- see Friendly Persuasion for another example. Pacificism is always portrayed as a nice idea, but something that “real men” have to dispense with in a crisis. 

Was Jim’s turnaround believable? 

[superman-the-secret-third-thing]

Timeline

Alright, so, the difficulty I first ran into, is that I could not find an exact timeline for releases of Superman content, so through intensive googling, I managed to make a list of releases up to 1960.

1938 (Comics) Action Comics #1-8

1939 (Comics) Action Comics #9-19 | Superman #1-3

1940 (Comics) Action Comics #20-31 | Superman #4-7 (Radio) The Adventures of Superman "The Baby From Krypton" - "The Nitrate Shipment"

1941 (Comics) Action Comics #32-43 | Superman #7-13 | World's Finest Comics #1-4 (Radio) "Black Pearl of Osiris" - "The Pan-Am Highway" (Film) Fleischer Animated Series 1-2

1942 (Comics) Action Comics #44-55 | Superman #14-19 | World's Finest Comics #5-8 (Film) Fleischer Animated Series 3-13 (Radio) "The Mechanical Man" - The Mystery Ship" (Novel) Adventures of Superman by George Lowther

1943 (Comics) Action Comics #56-67 | Superman #20-25 | World's Finest Comics #9-12 (Film) Fleischer Animated Series 14-17 (Radio) ""The Tin Men" - "Stolen War Information"

1944 (Comics) Action Comics #56-79 | Superman #26-31 | World's Finest Comics #13-16 (Radio) "Lois and Jimmy Disappear" - "The Man in the Velvet Shoes"

1945 (Comics) Action Comics #80-91 | Superman #32-37 | More Fun Comics #101 | World's Finest Comics #17-20 (Radio) "The Mystery of the Sleeping Beauty" - "Looking for Kryptonite"

1946 (Comics) Action Comics #92-103 | Superman #38-43 | World's Finest Comics #21-24 (Radio) "The Talking Cat" - "The Phony Restaurant Racket" "Clan of the Fiery Cross"

1947 (Comics) Action Comics #104-115 | Superman #44-49 | World's Finest Comics #25-28 (Radio) "The Phony Inheritance Racket" - "Pennies for Plunder"

1948 (Comics) Action Comics #116-127 | Superman #50-55 | World's Finest Comics #29-32 (Film) Superman Serial (Columbia Pictures starring Kirk Alyn) (Radio) "Hunger Inc." - Superman's Secret"

1949 (Comics) Action Comics #128-139 | Superman #56-61 | Superboy #1-5 | World's Finest Comics #33-37 (Film) Keep Your School All-American (Radio) "The Return of the Octopus" - "Diamond of Death"

1950 (Comics) Action Comics #140-151 | Superman #62-67 | Superboy #6-11 | World's Finest Comics #38-49 (Film) Atom Man vs. Superman (Kirk Alyn)

1951 (Comics) Action Comics #152-163 | Superman #68-73 | Superboy #12-17 | World's Finest Comics #50- (Film) Superman and the Mole Men (George Reeves)

1952 (Comics) Action Comics #163-175 | Superman #74-79 | Superboy #18-23 | World's Finest Comics # (TV) Adventures of Superman (George Reeves) Season 1

1953 (Comics) Action Comics #176-187 | Superman #80-85 | Superboy #24-29 | World's Finest Comics # (Film) Adventures of Superman (George Reeves) Season 2

1954 (Comics) Action Comics #187-199 | Superman #86-93 | Superboy #30-37 | World's Finest Comics (Film) Stamp Day for Superman

1955 (Comics) Action Comics #200-211 | Superman #94-101 | Superboy #38-45 (Film) Adventures of Superman (George Reeves) Season 3

1956 (Comics) Action Comics #212-223 | Superman #102-109 | Superboy #46-53 (Film) Adventures of Superman (George Reeves) Season 4

1957 (Comics) Action Comics #224-235 | Superman #110-117 | Superboy #54-61 (Film) Adventures of Superman (George Reeves) Season 5

1958 (Comics) Action Comics #236-247 | Superman #118-125 | Superboy #62-69 (Film) Adventures of Superman (George Reeves) Season 6

1959 (Comics) Action Comics #248-259 | Superman #126-133 | Superboy #70-77 (Film) George Reeve's death.

1960 (Comics) Action Comics #260-271 | Superman #134-141 | Superboy #78-85 (Film) Superman (Mohammed Hussain)

However, upon joining the Superman subreddit Discord, I was kindly referred to this link on the Superman Supersite:

Which, heh, could have saved me some time. tbh.

[boxingnewsnetwork]

After enjoying an incredible amateur boxing career, Sugar Ray Robinson fought professionally from 1940 until 1965 and is often heralded as one of the sport’s best fighters of all-time. In 1990, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. On June 25, 1952, after a fight at Yankee Stadium against Joey Maxim, where in the extreme heat (103°F or 39°C) Robinson collapsed in Round 13 - suffering the only knockout of his career by not answering the bell for the next round - he gave up his title and retired with a record of 131–3–1–1. But he returned to the ring in 1955 before retiring, for good, in 1965, compiling an incredible record of 173–19–6 (2 no contests) with 109 knockouts in 200 professional bouts, ranking him among the all-time leaders in knockouts. Robinson then moved to the West Coast and appeared in several television shows and films. In 1969, he founded the Sugar Ray Robinson Youth Foundation for the inner-city Los Angeles area. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and died in Los Angeles on April 12, 1989 at the age of 67. The Bright Lights and Dark Shadows - a documentary about Sugar Ray Robinson: https://youtu.be/4QVwmuHZY84 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_Ray_Robinson for more information on his life and legacy. #talkinfight #happytomeet #sugarrayrobinson Watch more on TalkinFight.com or YouTube.com/c/TalkinFight

[dweemeister]

2017 Movie Odyssey

So ends the 2017 Movie Odyssey. Last year, I wrote that I did not foresee ever surpassing the 200+ movie mark for a long, long time. But look what happened here (outside of May because that was a hectic time in the Master’s program for sure). The 2017 Movie Odyssey consisted of 232 films - 180 feature-length films and fifty-two shorts. A century of filmmaking was covered this year, from 1917 to 2017. If I do have one regret this year... it’s that African films were not featured this year (due to availability issues and me not having enough money; I tend to watch things legally if possible). I hope to assuage that next year for a more representative Movie Odyssey.

For all of you out there who supported the Movie Odyssey in your own ways – whether reading, liking, commenting, or reblogging a write-up or sitting down with me to a new movie or talking to me about any movie... my thanks to all of you. None of this possible without you, and I hope you find that, through this blog, classic movies seem more approachable and welcoming and you are inspired to see some and learn about them yourself. A Happy New Year to all, and I’ll see you for the 2018 leg of the Movie Odyssey very soon (oh boy the Winter Olympics and World Cup are gonna chip away at the final count next year)!

As many know, all ratings are based on my imdb rating and half-points are always rounded down. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found here. A 6/10 is considered the borderline between “passing” and “failing”. Feature-length narrative films, short films, and documentaries are rated within their respective spectrums.

JANUARY

1. Marnie (1964) – 6/10 2. The Moon Is Down (1943) – 7/10 3. Sense and Sensibility (1995) – 8.5/10 4. The Big House (1930) – 7.5/10 5. Manchester by the Sea (2016) – 7/10 6. The Far Country (1954) – 7/10 7. Kung Fu Hustle (2004, Hong Kong/China) – 7/10 8. Road to Singapore (1940) – 6/10 9. A Clever Dummy (1917 short) – 5/10 10. Hidden Figures (2016) – 7.5/10 11. Teddy at the Throttle (1917 short) – 7.5/10 12. The Last of the Mohicans (1920) – 7/10 13. Sweet Smell of Success (1957) – 10/10 14. The Red Turtle (2016, France/Belgium/Japan) – 9/10 15. Life, Animated (2016) – 7.5/10 16. In the Mood for Love (2000, Hong Kong) – 10/10

FEBRUARY

17. Lion (2016) – 7/10 18. It’s Always Fair Weather (1955) – 7.5/10 19. Fences (2016) – 8.5/10 20. Shenandoah (1965) – 7/10 21. Caged (1950) – 8/10 22. Pearl (2016 short) – 7.5/10 23. Blind Vaysha (2016 short) – 8/10 24. Asteria (2016 short) – 6/10 25. The Head Vanishes (2016 short) – 6/10 26. Once Upon a Line (2016 short) – 7/10 27. Pear Cider and Cigarettes (2016 short) – 8/10 28. Sing (2016 short, Hungary) – 7.5/10 29. Silent Nights (2016 short, Denmark) – 6/10 30. Timecode (2016 short, Spain) – 7/10 31. Ennemis intérieurs (2016 short, France) – 8.5/10 32. La femme et le TGV (2016 short, Switzerland) – 8/10 33. Joe’s Violin (2016 short) – 7/10 34. Extremis (2016 short) – 8/10 35. 4.1 Miles (2016 short, Greece) – 9/10 36. Nashville (1975) – 7.5/10 37. The Romance of Transportation in Canada (1952 short) – 7/10

MARCH

38. My Life as a Zucchini (2016, Switzerland) – 8/10 39. Lili (1953) – 7/10 40. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) – 6/10 41. Captain Blood (1935) – 9.5/10 42. Logan (2017) – 7/10 43. Friendly Persuasion (1956) – 9/10 44. Ducks and Drakes (1921) – 7/10 45. What Dreams May Come (1998) – 6/10 46. Bright Road (1953) – 6/10 47. Snow Gets in Your Eyes (1938 short) – 5/10 48. Jungle Cat (1959) – 6.5/10 49. The Salesman (2016, Iran) – 8.5/10 50. Good Scouts (1938 short) – 7.5/10 51. All in a Nutshell (1949 short) – 8/10 52. The Hound That Thought He Was a Raccoon (1960) – 7/10 53. Winter Storage (1949 short) – 7/10 54. Out of Scale (1951 short) – 8/10 55. The Incredible Journey (1963) – 7/10 56. Follow Me, Boys! (1966) – 7/10 57. Charlie, the Lonesome Cougar (1967) – 5.5/10 58. Belladonna of Sadness (1973, Japan) – 6/10 59. Ponyo (2008, Japan) – 7/10 60. My Cousin Rachel (1952) – 7.5/10 61. Road to Perdition (2002) – 9/10

APRIL

62. The X from Outer Space (1967, Japan) – 3/10 63. The Blue Gardenia (1953) – 6.5/10 64. Get Out (2017) – 7.5/10 65. Fantastic Planet (1973, France/Czechoslovakia) – 8/10 66. 5 Centimeters Per Second (2007, Japan) – 6/10 67. Your Name (2016, Japan) – 7.5/10 68. The Outlaw and His Wife (1918, Sweden) – 7/10 69. Mail Early (1941 short) – experimental film, score withheld 70. Boogie-Doodle (1948 short) – experimental film, score withheld 71. A Chairy Tale (1957 short) – 9/10 72. Very Nice, Very Nice (1961 short) – experimental film, score withheld 73. Fine Feathers (1968) – 7/10 74. What on Earth! (1967 short) – 8/10 75. Walking (1968 short) – 7/10 76. Notes on a Triangle (1966 short) – experimental film, score withheld 77. The Three Faces of Eve (1957) – 7.5/10 78. Peeping Tom (1960) – 7.5/10 79. Porco Rosso (1992, Japan) – 8/10 80. MacArthur (1977) – 6/10

MAY

81. Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965) – 4/10 82. Scarlet Street (1945) – 8.5/10 83. Tremors (1990) – 7/10 84. The Crucified Lovers (1954, Japan) – 7.5/10 85. Akeelah and the Bee (2006) – 8/10

JUNE

86. Wonder Woman (2017) – 7/10 87. Pollyanna (1960) – 7.5/10 88. Mickey’s Polo Team (1936 short) – 8/10 89. Tales of Manhattan (1942) – 7/10 90. The Horse with the Flying Tale (1960) – 7/10 91. Sound of the Mountain (1954, Japan) – 9/10 92. Return of the Fly (1959) – 4/10 93. Friday the 13th (1980) – 4/10 94. The Tattooed Police Horse (1964) – 6/10 95. Dr. Jack (1922) – 7/10 96. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973) – 7/10 97. Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) – 5/10 98. The Great Man (1956) – 8/10 99. Sparrows (1926) – 7.5/10 100. Seven Days to Noon (1950) – 9/10 101. My Neighbor Totoro (1988, Japan) – 8.5/10 102. The Pocket Man (2016 short, France) – 7/10 103. Snack Attack (2012 short) – 7/10 104. You Were Never Lovelier (1942) – 7/10 105. San Francisco (1936) – 7.5/10 106. Eraserhead (1977) – 6.5/10

JULY

107. The Beguiled (2017) – 7/10 108. Summer Magic (1963) – 6/10 109. The Southerner (1945) – 9/10 110. The Statue of Liberty (1985) – 6/10 111. They Live by Night (1948) – 8/10 112. A Little Romance (1979) – 6/10 113. Conflagration (1958, Japan) – 6.5/10 114. The Naughty Twenties (1951 short) – 5/10 115. The Fastest Gun Alive (1956) – 7/10 116. For Your Eyes Only (1981) – 6/10 117. A Man There Was (1917, Sweden) – 9.5/10 118. His Royal Slyness (1920 short) – 6/10 119. Now or Never (1921 short) – 6.5/10 120. Among Those Present (1921 short) – 6/10 121. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) – 7.5/10 122. Independence Day (1996) – 5/10 123. Yoyo (1965, France) – 8/10 124. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) -  6.5/10 125. War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) – 7.5/10 126. The Lady Vanishes (1938) – 10/10 127. Funny Face (1957) – 9/10 128. A Brighter Summer Day (1991, Taiwan) – 9.5/10 129. A Sailor-Made Man (1921) – 6/10 130. Much Ado About Nothing (1993) – 8/10 131. Dunkirk (2017) – 8.5/10 132. Lost Horizon (1937) – 8/10 133. The Man from Snowy River (1982) – 7.5/10 134. A Touch of Zen (1971, Taiwan) – 10/10

AUGUST

135. A Double Life (1947) – 6/10 136. Tokyo Chorus (1931, Japan) – 7/10 137. In a Heartbeat (2017 short) – 7.5/10 138. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) – 4.5/10 139. Twelve O’Clock High (1949) – 9/10 140. The Big Clock (1948) – 7/10 141. Pink Floyd – The Wall (1982) – 8/10 142. Record of a Tenement Gentleman (1947, Japan) – 9/10 143. Octopussy (1983) – 6/10 144. West of Zanzibar (1928) – 6/10 145. Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949) – 7/10 146. Detroit (2017) – 5.5/10 147. That Funny Feeling (1965) – 6/10 148. Kid Galahad (1962) – 6/10 149. Tokyo Twilight (1957, Japan) – 10/10 150. In This Corner of the World (2016, Japan) – 7/10 151. The Bedford Incident (1965) – 7.5/10 152. Johnny Express (2014 short) – 6/10 153. Carpark (2013 short) – 6/10 154. Castle in the Sky (1986, Japan) – 8/10 155. The Goonies (1985) – 7.5/10 156. State of the Union (1948) – 6/10

SEPTEMBER

157. Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979) – 3/10 158. Muscle Beach Party (1964) – 4/10 159. The Nutty Professor (1963) – 7/10 160. Camille (1921) – 6.5/10 161. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972, West Germany) – 8/10 162. Independence Day: Resurgence (2016) – 2/10 163. It (2017) – 7/10 164. Ocean Waves (1993, Japan) – 6/10 165. Monterey Pop (1968) – 8/10 166. Don’t Look Back (1967) – 9/10 167. Tyrus (2015) – 8.5/10

OCTOBER

168. A Star Is Born (1937) – 8/10 169. Swiss Family Robinson (1960) – 6/10 170. Revenge of the Nerds (1984) – 5/10 171. Horton Hears a Who! (2008) – 6/10 172. Freaky Friday (1976) – 6/10 173. The Great Muppet Caper (1981) – 7.5/10 174. Mr. & Mrs. ’55 (1955, India) – 8/10 175. Island of Lost Souls (1932) – 9.5/10 176. The Little Broadcast (1943 short) – 6.5/10 177. Hoola Boola (1941 short) – 6/10 178. The Sleeping Beauty (1935 short) – 7/10 179. Tulips Shall Grow (1942 short) – 8.5/10 180. Charulata (1964, India) – 8/10 181. Together in the Weather (1946 short) – 6/10 182. John Henry and the Inky-Poo (1946 short) – 7.5/10 183. Philips Cavalcade (1934 short) – 7/10 184. Jasper in a Jam (1946 short) – 8/10 185. Tubby the Tuba (1947 short) – 9/10 186. The Puppetoon Movie (1987) – 7/10 187. Brides of Dracula (1960) – 7/10 188. Blackbeard’s Ghost (1968) – 7/10 189. Candleshoe (1977) – 6/10 190. Jigoku (1960, Japan) – 5.5/10 191. Blacula (1972) – 6/10 192. Willard (1971) – 4/10 193. Ben (1972) – 4.5/10

NOVEMBER

194. The Coward (1965, India) – 7/10 195. The Happening (2008) – 2/10 196. Tom Thumb (1958) – 6.5/10 197. Strike (1925, Soviet Union) – 7.5/10 198. Loving Vincent (2017) – 7/10 199. Destry Rides Again (1939) – 7.5/10 200. The Master Race (1944) – 6/10 201. Justice League (2017) – 6/10 202. Sissi (1955, Austria) – 7.5/10 203. Sissi: The Young Empress (1956, Austria) – 7/10 204. The Sandlot (1993) – 7/10 205. Olaf’s Frozen Adventure (2017 short) – 4/10 206. Coco (2017) – 8/10 207. Sissi – Fateful Years of an Empress (1957, Austria) – 7/10 208. The Florida Project (2017) – 8.5/10 209. The Mortal Storm (1940) – 7/10 210. The Breadwinner (2017) – 8/10 211. Spencer’s Mountain (1963) – 6/10 212. Lady Bird (2017) – 9/10

DECEMBER

213. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) – 8.5/10 214. The Secret Life of Bees (2008) – 7/10 215. Murder on the Orient Express (2017) – 5.5/10 216. So You Think You’re Allergic (1945 short) – 5/10 217. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017) – 7.5/10 218. The Shape of Water (2017) – 8.5/10 219. Lonely Are the Brave (1962) – 9.5/10 220. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) – 7/10 221. They Won’t Forget (1937) – 8/10 222. It Came from Outer Space (1953) – 6.5/10 223. Brave Little Tailor (1938 short) – 8/10 224. The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952) – 6/10 225. The Sign of Zorro (1958) – 5/10 226. Kong: Skull Island (2017) – 6.5/10 227. Flipped (2010) – 6/10 228. Bardelys the Magnificent (1926) – 7.5/10 229. There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954) – 7/10 230. Swim Team (2016) – 7/10 231. Toby Tyler (1960) – 5/10 232. The Liberator (2013, Venezuela) – 6/10

All scores are subject to change (upgrades and downgrades) upon a rewatch.