Timberjack (1955)

Best movie of this year hands down!

A different way of telling a story

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Songs: Hoagy Carmichael composed both lyrics and music for the novelty number, "My Dog", which he also sings. The others, sung by Vera Ralston, are "The Tambourine Waltz" and "What Ev'ry Young Girl Should Know", with words by Paul Francis Webster, and "He's Dead But He Won't Lie Down", the words of which were written by Johnny Mercer. Title song "Timberjack", sung by The Lancers, was written by Ned Washington and Victor Young.Unfolding against the lavish natural wonderland of Western Montana, the film was made on location both there and in Glacier National Park.Copyright 1955 by Republic Pictures Corp. New York opening at Loew's State: 9 March 1955. U.S. release: 28 February 1955. U.K. release: March 1955. Australian release through 20th Century-Fox: 24 February 1956. Sydney opening at the Palladium: 24 February 1956 (ran one week). 8,326 feet. 92 minutes.SYNOPSIS: Tim Chipman (Sterling Hayden) returns to his native Talka River section of Montana when he learns his father has met with a serious accident. Tim's boyhood sweetheart, Lynne Tilton (Vera Ralston), is now the owner and singing star of the Vermilion Belle, a deluxe cabaret. The place is highly popular with timberjacks employed by the Talka River Logging Company, a powerful outfit headed by ruthless Croft Brunner (David Brian). Brunner explains that the road is closed to the Chipman interests until the $11,000 assessment on the Chipman stock in the railroad is paid. Tim accuses Brunner of having killed Chipman. With Steve Riika (Chill Wills) and Lynne's father, "Swiftie" Tilton (Adolphe Menjou), Tim tries to get the season's quota of timber to market. Brunner offers to buy a fine quarter-million stand of fir, and Tim refuses to sell. Brunner imports city goons to wreck Tim's timber-floating preparations. (At this stage, however, the picture runs out of money and proceeds to a swifter and much more economical climax than that promised).COMMENT: Catchy title tune, picturesquely rugged scenery, a Shay logging locomotive with flatcars, a couple of vigorously staged action spots, a great performance by Howard Petrie - that just about sums up the entertainment virtues of Timberjack. But on the other side of the coin: dreary songs and overly contrived dance numbers, garish sets, long dialogue stretches with boring people exercising their gums at considerable length - and Vera Ralston filling the wide screen just a little too comfortably.OTHER VIEWS: Vera Ralston registers fine as Vera Ralston in this typical Republic outdoors melodrama. The usual brawls, shoot-outs and occasional spurts of action, plus genuine location scenery that looks mighty picturesque in Trucolor, makes Timberjack a natural for the bush. For city suburban cinemas, however, Timberjack is best booked as the lower half of a midweek double. - Exhibitors' Booking Guide.

****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".

Lesser Hoagy Carmichael is better than the top drawer effort of a lot of composers. And Hoagy and the songs he does with and without Vera Hruba Ralston is the best thing about Timberjack. Which as you probably gathered is a story about logging.Sterling Hayden comes home after the murder of his father and finds that dad's rival David Brian is ruling the roost there and eliminating competition. Originally Hayden was going to sell, but he and his father's foreman Chill Wills decide to stay and fight.Timber isn't all that Hayden and Brian are scrapping about, they've also got saloon entertainer Vera on their minds and on their libidos. Vera is as wooden as ever, but she's something to look at in a low cut dress.But the real treat is Hoagy Carmichael, playing the piano and accompanying Ralston and himself. Several songs were written for this film and Carmichael is always a treat. There is also an adroit performance by Adolphe Menjou as Ralston's father, an attorney with a drinking problem. He's never bad in anything he does even if the film isn't top drawer.Timberjack also features some good location cinematography, especially in the forest scenes and the logging scenes. Fans of Sterling Hayden and Hoagy Carmichael should like this, most especially the latter.

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.