Story involves a timberjack (Hayden) out to discover the murderer of his father. Unfortunately, the story gives us only one suspect in Hayden's rival in the local lumber trade, so there's not much mystery here. A few songs by Carmichael and a great rousing performance by Ralston lift the story slightly above the obvious. Nice locations, good action scenes, and Hayden is good as usual but seems unmotivated by this limited vehicle. Fairly solid, but few thrills beyond the music and good cast -- they deserved a little more story.
Add a Review
-
funkyfry5 November 2002
-
ptb-83 March 2005Ah yes, the Republic treatment for logging movies shot in glorious 'funny looking' Trucolor. One must be very forgiving of Republic constantly making silent movie western melodramas even if they were produced 1955 and in color. It is as if they just kept making the same (sort of) films year in and out until the doors closed in 1959. Vera, the singing wife of studio head Herbert Yates moans a few songs and swings her Hungarian hips about the saloon warbling through her ZsaZsa sounding accent. Somehow, all this is great fun. There is great outdoor scenery, some fantastic railroad location footage and genuinely interesting logging train scenes. Adolph Menjou and Hoagy Carmichael are added to the cast of character actors who look as thought they are there to earn enough to afford a long holiday. Some scenes outside the saloon doors are clearly shot in the corridor at the entrance of a sound stage which all makes TIMBERJACK more quaintly fascinating. As with Johnny Guitar, someone returns to slug it out with someone and fix the bad guys. However we have Vera instead of Joan in this one and a competent serial director. In fact if it was chopped up into 12 minute episodes, that is exactly what TIMBERJACK would be. Very watchable for all the above reasons.
-
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. -
bob the moo22 February 2005When 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. -
ianlouisiana11 November 2008Well,she certainly worked hard and that's a fact.Through most of the movie she appears to be looking desperately at the other actors as if for their approval,like a puppy having mastered a new trick.She gyrates around the saloon,sings in a sub - sub Dietrich fashion a song or two that brings new meaning to the word "banal" before killing the bad guy with a backshot a sniper would have been proud of. In a logging camp full of exotic Europeans with names like Ole and a positive cornucopia of lousy accents Sterling Hayden searches for the truth about his father's death.Nearly as wooden as the logs he wants to send downriver,Mr Hayden is tall and fair and freckled.Unlike Miss Ralston he doesn't seem to care whether anybody likes him or not. Adolph Menjou is rather sweet as Miss Ralston's father who is killed by the bad guy with a single punch to the chin.Perhaps not surprisingly his hat comes off and is later found by Miss Ralston in the bad guy's office.Thus exciting her suspicions.Steady now.... There's plenty of treetop action - enough to set the Health and Safety boys running for the phone - and a lot of manly fistfights. Hoagy Carmichael does his usual piano - playing saloon bar philosopher part and sings a love song to a dog.Go figure. Not so much a negative experience,more a "Oh,is that it?" kind of movie. Just when you think it can't go on for much longer - it doesn't.For connoisseurs of the slightly camp only.
-
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.
-
jromanbaker24 May 2020A friend bought me this trash as I like Sterling Hayden. I have avoided it all my life, but it came all the way from Spain and quite simply I endured watching it. Seeing trees chopped down and polluted smoke from trains is not my idea of enjoyable for reasons too obvious to go into, but then this is an ' historical ' film. Men bash each other around and Vera Ralston sings songs that made me wish that no one had thought of inflicting them on the public. Hayden goes through the motions, and Hoagy Carmichael who is usually so good and witty looked bored to tears. Maybe Vera Ralston does her best, but I do not want to be too unkind about her acting. Needless to say there is no chemistry between her and Hayden. Why my friend paid for this unbelievably bad film is a mystery, but then this was not the Sterling Hayden of ' The Asphalt Jungle ' or ' Johnny Guitar '. Most of all I felt sorry for the trees. I have to give it a 1 but really I wish there were more I could give it below zero.
-
richardchatten12 November 2021Vera Ralston in the Dietrich role gets to sing three songs, while Hoagy Carmichael has only one. But this Republic 'A' feature in Trucolor surrounds Mrs Yates with majestic treescapes, vintage locomotives and Sterling Hayden as her leading man flanked by a classy supporting cast; so you get your money's worth.
-
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. -
kapelusznik185 April 2015****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". -
grizz216 November 1999Unusual today, as a logger is the good guy! (Of course, so is the villain.) Some good footage of Shay-powered logging trains in operation; log rafts, and the like. The story and acting style are dated, but there's a nice supporting performance by Hoagy Carmichael and a great character by Adolphe Menjou.
-
JoeytheBrit9 May 2020Sometimes sluggish western that slowly gathers momentum but somehow manages to relegate leading man Sterling Hayden to a supporting role while doing so. The cast is good, with the reliable David Brian ably performing bad guy duties and Adolphe Menjou as an alcoholic Shakespeare-quoting lawyer. Also boasts some beautiful rugged countryside.
-
dhenke20 June 2009I remember watching this movie back in '55 in Great Falls, Montana. It was a fun flick. Sterling Hayden did his usual Sterling Hayden performance. It was not Godfather worthy, but acceptable. The scenery was familiar to us, being Montanans. I actually did some lumber jacking in my college years. It is heavy work. After the movie, we stopped at a soda fountain. I stuffed the jukebox with a couple of quarters and punched in the song, "Timberjack". It was set to play twelve times. (If you put in a quarter instead of a nickle, you got six plays.) After the fourth play, the proprietor came over and unplugged the jukebox. We laughed our way out of the place.
-
hitchcockthelegend13 November 2009I just can't sell this movie folks, I thought it was dreadful. I'm someone who is normally content with both director {Joseph Kane} and star {Sterling Hayden} but here they are mired in weak plotting, bad acting and even worse accents. It also purports to be something of a mystery, which is daft since there isn't one!. Flimsy fights come and go, as do cheese laden songs, while the dialogue is as stilted {read from auto-cue it looks like} as can be. Republic Pictures do have many a fine B movie in the locker, but this isn't worthy of Z movie status.
The plot sees Hayden as Tim Chipman, who returns home to find his father, owner of the family logging company, has been murdered. With money owed and a shifty rival in the offering, can Tim solve the mystery, fight off the baddies and once again move logs? Adapted from a novel written by Dan Cushman, of which I haven't read, I honestly don't know if the source material was any good to begin with? But this just doesn't work, either as an interesting story or as a competently executed one. Some decent train sequences catch the eye, and the location work at Glacier National Park is pleasing, if not helped by the less than standard Trucolor print. But really it's not even a time filler of a picture. 3/10 -
bohica-clm29 January 2001The 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.
-
mark.waltz15 November 2017Moderately enjoyable, this woodsy adventure features tough, no nonsense performances by Sterling Hayden and David Brian, a sentimental one by vet Adolph Menjou and a Hruba-licious performance by Vera Ralston, the Norma Shearer of Republic studios, aka married to the boss. She's simple window dressing in this familiar story of the rivalry between two men in the logging industry, one good (Hayden) and one bad (Brian). He will stop at nothing to keep Hayden out of his way, including sabotage and murder. Menjou, as Ralston's father, tries to keep the peace and right a wrong, and pays dearly. The war is on, and there will be no tree standing if Brian has his way.
After a pretty theme song over the credits, Ralston gets to sing (dubbed!) two campy songs and Hoagy Carmichael, the town's only piano AND accordion player, gets a novelty number as well. Ralston gets better photography this time than she has in some of the other films I've seen her in, and she's not bad, but fortunately, the focus is on the men. Hayden and Brian are both very good, and Carmichael and Chill Wills provide some minor laughs. Menjou is given some really melodramatic dialog but instills it with his customary class. Good color scenes of how the industry works helps this out. But the logging industry has been dealt with on screen in better ways, so this just remains formula. -
searchanddestroy-125 December 2022One of the most solid Republic Picture's western, and not the most known. Except JOHNNY GUITAR and the John Ford's films of course. The presence of the likes of Sterling Hayden and David Brian as the villain help obviously a lot, unlike the bland Vera Ralston's character. It is colourful, action packed, very predictable, but one of my Joseph Kane's favourite of the fifties. This prolific western maker, "home" director for Republic Studios, did his best in the fifties, though in the late forties he also gave us good stuff. Splendid natural settings and the Trucolor process can easily match this western to the best of Paramount or Universal companies features. And as usual in Republic Westerns, you have also a musical, singing scene; it's the "home" tradition for this studio, but here it is far more bearable than the awful Roy Royer's or Gene Autry's period of the forties....