Thunder in the Pines

I wasn't expecting much given the synopsis and one hour running time. I watched to see Reeves in a pre/non "Adventures of Superman" film. I loved that television show since I was a kid of four years old and was traumatized by his reported suicide death when I was six. Reeves plays a strong, manly hero role here, with a nice smile and sense of humor very much like his Clark Kent/ Superman character that he played from 1952-1958.

The surprise I found in the movie was Ralph Byrd, who plays his similarly heroic buddy here, although he's slightly duller and less handsome. Byrd apparently was a bigger star at this time having played the comic strip hero Dick Tracy in a number of serials and movies starting in 1937.

There's some nice chemistry between Reeves and Byrd and some good action footage of Tree cutting that makes the film quite interesting.

Sadly, Bird died tragically young just four years after this film at age 42. Reeves died at age 45, 11 years after this film. Knowing this about their real lives adds a lot of poignancy to this film where they are obviously having a great time enjoying being young, popular and being movie stars.

I originally saw this film when it came out in 1948. I was nine years old, but even in those pre-TV days, I knew who both Ralph Byrd and George Reeves were, since I was a two-year veteran movie-goer (yes, little kids could go to movies unaccompanied in those days, and the admission was between $.09 and $.20, according to the theater and the day of the week), and knew Byrd from his Dick Tracy serial and Reeves as the villain of the first Jungle Jim film. I did not see it again for almost 70 years, but never forgot it, because it was such a good-humored adventure film, and everyone in it was first rate. Imagine my surprise when, the next year, M-G-M "introduced" Denise Darcel to America, yet I had seen her in this film the year before, and very good she was, too. Anyway, just as he himself felt about his career, I always thought that the role of Superman rather ruined Reeves's chances at better things in the movies, as he was a good leading man and a really first-rate comedy actor with a laid-back and breezy style that should have matured nicely (he used it as Clark Kent, too, but it was rather wasted on the kids). The Reeves and Byrd characters here are very much in the tradition of Lowe and McLaglen as Quint and Flagg in WHAT PRICE GLORY? or Abbott and Costello in almost all their films, with the smarter of each pair (Reeves, Lowe and Abbott) always taking advantage of his best pal, but with all of them there is never any real doubt that they are bosom buddies at heart, and forgiveness from the dumber of the two is a given. Considering the intelligence Byrd showed in roles like Dick Tracy and as the hero in some serials, his convincing dumb act here comes off as very good acting. Lyle Talbot makes a wonderfully semi-comic and more-than-slightly-bent villain, and his comeuppance is very funny even if you do sympathize just a little with his oily self. Marion Martin, a truly underrated femme fatale who was destined to, and expert at, playing lower- or upper-class ladies of extraordinarily easy virtue. some goodhearted, others downright vicious (the total opposite of her non-screen life, where she was very active in all kinds of religious activities, charities and good works) has one of her best roles here. A 'B" film, yes, and not to be confused with high quality film making, yet it is a totally enjoyable 70 or so minutes of fluff and good-natured adventure, both for kids and adults. Why else would I have remembered it so fondly for over 70 years now?

Thunder In The Pines finds George Reeves and Ralph Byrd as a pair of Lumberjacks who work hard and play harder. Both are not the brightest of men though they know their trade. A French floozy breezes through town played by Denise Darcel and pretty soon both are in heat over here and the rivalry becomes less friendly. Logging baron and local saloon owner Lyle Talbot is prepared to take full advantage.

Lots of nice scenery of logging and the film is somewhat educational in that we learn a whole lot about the business of cutting and shipping those trees. As for the comedy it's as rough as the comedy in a John Ford film. Would that Thunder In The Pines was a quarter as good as any Ford film.

Still there's a bit of amusement value here.

A funny, entertaining B movie about two loggers, played by George Reeves and Ralph Byrd, who are competing to move logs and win the hand of a faithless girl. Lyle Talbot plays the oily crook who tries to fix the competition and steal the girl. Reeves, who later gained fame playing Superman, was a good comedian with an easy manner in front of the camera. Byrd, who had been Dick Tracy in a number of serials, was a less engaging actor, but the two men seemed to have a good time playing off each other. Nice footage of the North Woods and logging operations, even if it appeared to be canned.

In the familiar sort of story, George Reeves and Ralph Byrd are a couple of loggers competing for Denise Darcel, and for getting a bonus for bringing in their allotment of trees to the mill. Lyle Talbot is the local saloon owner who cheats at everything: cards, on Marion Martin, and on both men's contracts, trying to arrange things so that neither succeeds and he can make a lot of money, including sabotaging their dynamite in such a way that Reeves and Byrd each thik the other did it.

It's a tried and true formula, and the result is all right, even though the studio shots are obvious. Lippert was still ramping up production from a start, so their formula of taking faded stars for their B productions resulted in economies that are obvious on screen. Still, the performers handle their roles with good humor, even if there is mediocre comic relief from Roscoe Ates and Vince Barnett.