Timberjack (1955)

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.

I 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.

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.

Unusual 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.