Guns of the Timberland (1960) User Reviews

Probably the worst film Alan Ladd ever made...

[Nazi_Fighter_David · 6/10 · 8 April 2000]

Alan Ladd is cast as Jim Hadley, who, with his crew of lumberjacks, is looking for a new forest to cut... But Hadley and crew soon find that they will have to fight for their next load of wood...

The residents of the valley town of Deep Wells, led by Laura Riley (Jeanne Crain), realize that without the natural protection provided by the surrounding woodlands, their ranches and homes would be buried by mudslides during the first heavy rains...

The interests of the inhabitants to drive out the intruders start with their refusal to give horses or supplies of any kind, and increases to blow out the logging road...

Although the obligatory spark of romance lights up between Hadley and Riley (as the lady rancher is called), the two remain at cross purposes. The efforts of the townspeople to force the intruders to move on begin with denials of horses and supplies and escalate to the dynamiting of the logging road...

Hadley, bracing himself for a fight, still insists on legal means to reach the lumber. But his hotheaded partner, Monty (Gilber Roland) favors a more direct approach...

The fast friendship between the two loggers is strained to the breaking point when Monty decides to open the road by the method that closed it: dynamite...

The film, set against some spectacular scenery, and climaxed by a forest fire, remains a routine and simple outdoor melodrama... Frankie Avalon's musical numbers are among the more ludicrous moments in an already sorry film... As Avalon's love interest, Alana Ladd is cute but makes no great impression as an actress...

Sort of Sad.

[rmax304823 · 4/10 · 29 March 2018]

Conflict between newly arrived team of reckless loggers, led by Ladd, and the peaceful folk of the town, led by Craine, whose livelihoods will be ruined if the loggers remove the trees and the top soil that animates the town's economy.

It's routine without being bad. Most of the characters are fleshed out, some capable of moral growth, except Paul Anka maybe, who plumb can't act. Unexpected developments: good old reliable bad guy, Lyle Boettiger, turns out to be on the side of the angles, and reckless testosterone-ridden Gilbert Roland is a traitor to the evolving cause.

What makes it sad is that Ladd was still soldiering on in these uninteresting vehicles. I like Ladd. He was GOOD in "Shane", so much so that it's difficult imagining someone else in the role. He was doing liquor and barbiturates at this point, and his features were sufficiently puffed that when he was forced to smile, his round cheeks and prominent incisors evoked a chipmonk.

guns of the timberland

[mossgrymk · 4/10 · 5 July 2022]

After watching yet another tinny product come off the Alan Ladd Western assembly line, accompanied by this factory's usual flaccid acting and writing and irrelevantly pretty cinematography, it's fair to ask if, aside from "Shane" or, if you're generous, "Badlanders", did this guy ever make a decent movie in this great genre? Cool flannel shirts, though. Wonder if Ladd got to keep 'em? Probably, since he was the co producer of this turkey, (along with future and eternal schlockmeister, Aaron Spelling). C minus.

PS...Moss Grimmick (i.e. George Selk) with what looks to be a tomato and lettuce sandwich? Works for me.

If A Tree Don't Fall On Me

[bkoganbing · 3/10 · 4 December 2008]

Kirk Douglas said the worst film he ever did was The Big Trees, in fact he did it for no salary in order to buy his way out of a Warner Brothers contract. Like Guns Of The Timberland, it's a logging story and was a bad step in the career of both stars.

The problem with Alan Ladd, producer and star of Guns Of The Timberland was that there weren't too many steps left for him. Douglas did his timber disaster at the beginning of his career, Ladd towards the end.

Ladd and Gilbert Roland are partners in a timber concern and they've got a contract to cut logs in the territory of Jeanne Crain's ranch. The problem for Jeanne and the rest of the valley is that it will leave no watershed for flooding and as her foreman Lyle Bettger so aptly puts it, her cattle will be eating mud next year.

Of course the sight of Jeanne in a nice tight fitting cowgirl outfit was enough to make Ladd only concerned about one log in his life. But Roland wants to fight and therein lies the conflict.

Like Douglas in The Big Trees, Ladd's conversion to the cause of environmentalism is a bit too unconvincing. And Gilbert Roland going berserk is not the Gilbert Roland I'm used to on the screen. I really hated him in this and Gilbert Roland is one of my favorite players.

Ladd produced as well as starred in Guns Of The Timberland and in order to get a little box office from the young, he had current teen heart throb Frankie Avalon make his screen debut opposite his own daughter Alana. I don't think Frankie got any big hit records out of Guns Of The Timberland, he did sing two forgettable songs here.

But this was not the worst film Alan Ladd made. That would be next year in Duel Of The Champions, but he was definitely tobogganing down career wise in Guns Of The Timberland.

Late Ladd vehicle still delivers the goods

[BrianDanaCamp · 3 September 2013]

Of the five reviews contributed here for GUNS OF THE TIMBERLAND so far, four are quite negative, so today, on the date of Alan Ladd's centennial, please allow me to balance out the critical consensus. I'm a big fan of Ladd and a huge fan of westerns (I've reviewed a few dozen on IMDb) and I had a good time with this film, which I watched on TCM when it aired last week. Sure, Ladd was old and tired and near the end of his career, but he still has that movie star quality that put him at the top of the box office chart so consistently in the 1940s and early '50s. There's a sense of sincerity and conviction he brings to every role he played. We believe him. Here he plays the fair-minded boss of a logging crew at odds with neighboring ranchers in timber country. The ranchers have powerful arguments against logging and one can't help but agree with them. One of the ranchers, a pretty but tough lady named Laura Riley (well played by Jeanne Crain), even gives Ladd a tour of a ghost town that was made uninhabitable by flooding after logging on adjacent hills led to erosion and mud slides. Ladd listens to the arguments and eventually gets into a confrontation with his stubborn partner, Monty, played by Gilbert Roland, leading to an action-packed forest fire climax.

The plot moves well, is reasonably suspenseful, and boasts lots of action. We see plenty of train action, trees falling, and the dynamiting of a mountain pass at one point, all enhanced by extensive location shooting. The townsfolk present a united front against the loggers, leading to a big brawl in town in one sequence where the loggers have come on a Saturday night to take over the saloon. One of the ranchers is played by Lyle Bettger, who usually played particularly vicious heavies in westerns throughout the 1950s. (He's Ike Clanton in GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL.) He masterminds a couple of devious maneuvers against the loggers here, but he's actually, overall, a good guy, which is quite surprising.

Ladd would have turned 100 today (September 3, 2013), but died 50 years ago, in January 1964, from a lethal (and probably accidental) combination of alcohol and pills. He had a good run in Hollywood for 20 years and made far more films I like than films I didn't. He was a quintessential Hollywood movie star, studio-created but fan-supported. He may not have had much range, but was very dependable within his range and always gave the fans what they wanted.

cowboys vs lumberjacks

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 9 September 2021]

A conflict boils over in a small western community between newly arrived loggers and the local ranchers. The lumberjacks led by Jim Hadley (Alan Ladd) are looking for new forest to cut while the ranchers fear the lost of the trees would lead to land degradation.

The most interesting name in the credits is Aaron Spelling. He's the writer and a producer. It's an early movie for him. It's interesting to see his work but it's hard to tell how much of it is on the screen. This is not breaking any new ground and is nothing to write home about. At least, it looks professional. It's old fashion and not that great.

The biggest name in the cast is Alan Ladd but the hottest name may be Frankie Avalon. Frankie sings a couple of songs. Alan is the lead and he gets to wear the one bright red shirt. Well, he does change shirt later on. It is interesting to see real man climbing up the trees and doing old-style real logging. They are really cutting down trees for the movie. Logging is rarely done in movies and it's rarer still when they actually do it for real. That alone is probably worthwhile enough to watch this movie. The plot is another story. The directions are stiff and the pacing is a bit slow.

I am not sure what the point was of this rather dull film...

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 28 August 2013]

Aside from a plot that would become more and more relevant as the decade progressed as well as a chance to see Alan Ladd's daughter, Alana, I can't see much about this dull little film that would encourage me to recommend it or see it again. Like most of Alan Ladd's later films, it's very listless and dull. Plus, I really am not sure what the message was nor do I think the folks making the film knew either.

The film begins with some loggers coming to clear the land. However, the locals are very unhappy as they are concerned about the ecological effects this might have on the town below. This is understandable. However, instead of trying to work with the loggers or go through the courts to stop them, some of the locals (led by Lyle Bettger and Jeanne Craine) decide that pretty much anything is fair to stop the tree cutting. During most of the town's dirty tricks, the boss of the logging outfit (Ladd) is amazingly complacent. In fact, this is his mood through almost all the film--like he's only semi-conscious. As a result, one of his men, Monty (Gilbert Roland) has had enough and has decided to fight fire with fire, so to speak. Then, and only then, does the boss rouse out of his near slumber.

I know it might sound rather nasty, but at this point in his career, Alan Ladd was a hard-core alcoholic. Because of this, he began to look puffy and his acting became much more muted and slow. I really think this is a serious problem in "Guns of the Timberland". However, it's NOT the biggest problem. This problem is the writing. The film doesn't seem to know WHAT the message is and many of the characters are, as a result, very inconsistent. Too often, folks behave in ways that defy common sense as well as who they have been throughout the film--particularly Ladd and Craine. Overall, the film is sluggish and dull and this is rather sad, as in his prime, Ladd was an exciting actor. Here, he's as dull as dish water.

Nice and moving film about the confrontation between lumberjacks led by Alan Ladd and ranchers led by Jeanne Crain

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 17 October 2020]

Decent Alan Ladd vehicle about confrontation between ranchers and timbermen. A tough logger : Alan Ladd and his group : Gilbert Roland , Noah Beery Jr., among others, go to the outskirts of Deep Wells. There they contend a beautiful rancher: Jeanne Crain and her foreman : Lyle Bettger . The towners are opposed to trees cutting , thinking of falling trees would cause mudslide sweeping the buildings.

An exciting film in Western style about violent feud, thrills , action , fights and romance. Based on the novel by prolific Louis L'Amour , whose books have got several cinematic adaptations . Stars Alan Ladd gives a passable acting in his usual style , though he seems to be oldest than his true age : 46 at the time of shooting , that's why he was a real drunk, in fact he died early at 50 for mingling drinking and pills . He was already in his fall after his succesful films, especially in Film Noir, such as The Black Cat, The Glass Key, This Gun for Hire The Blue Dahlia, or other genres in movies as The Great Gastby , Botany Bay, Hell below Zero, The Black Night, The Badlanders and his bigh hit : Shane. While the always gorgeous Jeanne Crain is pretty well as her contender as well as her sweetheart . And a large support cast of notorious secondaries, such as : the teen idol Frankie Avalon playing some catching songs , Alana Ladd -Alan Ladd's daughter- as the sweet girlfriend , the ordinary baddie Lyle Bettger , the Latino Gilbert Roland, Noah Beery Jr as a sympathetc logger , Regis Toomey as a good-tempered Sheriff and Verna Felton as grumpy grandmother. It displays a colorful and brilliant cinematography in glimmer Technicolor. As well as a stirring and evocative musical score by David Buttolph adding the enjoyable songs performed by singer Frankie Avalon .

The picture produced by Jaguar Productions- Alan Ladd ownership- and Warner Bros , being professionally directed by Robert D Webb. The latter was a professional artisan, an expert craftsman, at the beginning he worked as a director assistant, producer and subsequently fimmaker. He directed all kinds of genres as Western : White Feather, The Proud ones, The Jackals and Adventures : Pirates of Tortuga, Seven Citirs of Gold, The Way of Gold and Noir : The Cape Town Affair, The Spider, The Caribbean Mystery. Although he also made documentary and TV episodes from known series as Daniel Boone, Rawhide, Temple Houston series. Rating 5.5/10. Acceptable and passable. Well worth watching for Alan Ladd and Jeanne Crain fans.

How sad

[alan-rosenberg · 1/10 · 11 June 2022]

Ghastly, amateurish film. Sad to see a dissipated yet puffy Alan Ladd sleepwalking thru this turkey. Disgraceful departure from the source material, a fine novel. I won't bother summarizing the plot - that's been done sufficiently in other reviews. But it's almost incomprehensible to see what happened in the few years between Shane and this thing.

A Wretched Adaptation of a Louis L'Amour Novel

[zardoz-13 · 1/10 · 18 September 2016]

Unlike the other reviewers of this abysmal western, I have read the Louis L'Amour source novel, and I found this adaptation deplorable. "Beneath the 12 Mile Reef" director Robert Webb doesn't fare as well here as he did with one of the first Cinemascope films. Primarily, Aaron "Love Boat" Spelling is to blame for this mediocre adaptation. The license that he has taken is enough to rile any ardent Louis L'Amour aficionado. Spelling has added characters that never appeared in the novel. The pugnacious Gilbert Roland character Monte, who is partners with Ladd, didn't even exist in the novel. Furthermore, neither does Frankie Avalon's warbling errand boy who delivers merchandise for the local general store when his girlfriend isn't making life troublesome for him. Perhaps the biggest change that Spelling made was turning the dastardly lumberjack leader from the novel into the hero of the film. The cattle rancher and the town citizens have little respect for the Ladd hero. Actually, the timberjack character in the novel does everything but twirl his mustache. Indeed, he is thoroughly ruthless about getting the timber logged. Furthermore, Spelling has lightened the violence considerably. Cattle rancher Clay Bell is wounded in one scene and has to recover while two of his cow hands are beaten brutally in town. In the film, the Alan Ladd hero is named Jim Hadley, but in the novel he is named Jud Devitt, and he is an unsavory gent to the hilt. Interestingly enough, Spelling and "Proud Rebel" co-scribe Joseph Petracca kept rancher Clay Bell's name intact. Nevertheless, the Lyle Bettger character barely resembles his combative counterpart in the novel. Bell does stall the lumberjacks at the entrance to his property. Ladd is allowed a romantic interest (Jeanne Crain) whereas his evil counterpart in the novel lost the girl. Moreover, the Ladd hero knows what he is beaten in the movie and leaves town on a train with his lumberjacks with him.

Altogether, "Guns of the Timberlands" doesn't do justice to the Louis L'Amour novel, and it seems pretty lame for a horse opera. The premise is refreshing enough. Instead of cattlemen clashing with sheep herders, the cattle man tangle with timberjacks.

Loggers and ranchers at loggerheads over clear-cutting a steep forest above.

[weezeralfalfa · 9/10 · 28 August 2013]

Caught this much under-rated film on a Jeanne Crain memorial day at TCM. Although the title suggests that guns were a prominent part of this lumberjacking drama, actually fists, dynamite, falling trees, a forest fire and angry words do most of the damage in the many confrontations between the loggers and local valley ranchers plus townies, and sometimes between loggers.

The plot is rather similar to that of the previous "The Big Trees" and its predecessor "Valley of the Giants". However, instead of the point of saving the trees merely because of their extreme size and age, the point here is to prevent gross soil erosion from clear-cutting a forest on a steep mountain slope. The ranchers and townies below realize that, without the trees, their pastures and town below will likely soon be destroyed by floods and the accompanying mud and silt. In this respect , the point of the film actually is much closer to that of the '37 "Gold is Where You Find It", which dramatizes the historical flooding and sedimentation of downstream towns and cultivated fields, after extensive blasting of gold-bearing CA river bluffs with high pressure water hoses. It also differs from "The Big Trees" in that, instead of the lumber baron giving up his logging life in favor of the simple life of the tree huggers, the horsewoman rancher(Jeanne Crain, as Laura Riley). who helped lead the opposition to the loggers, seemingly implausibly runs off with the lumber baron.

Jeanne Crain, in her mid-30s, is stunning looking, and quite charismatic as a dominant voice in the vehement objections of the valley people to the loggers, headed by Jim Hadley(Alan Ladd) and Monte Walker(Gilbert Roland). I'd much rather have Kirk Douglas("The Big Trees") or someone equally dynamic appearing and acting in the lead. Yes, it's rather difficult to imagine feisty Riley getting too excited in a romantic way over sleepy looking and often acting Ladd, as Jim, especially after their many hostile confrontations. Even during the height their fight over logging the trees, they incongruously steal a passionate kiss, as a hint of the possible future. I think we can rationalize her turnabout as due to a combo of 1) recognizing a very similar determined personality in Jim 2)Jim's belated changed attitude toward logging the disputed forest, 3) his concern for her badly injured adopted son from a tree fall, 4) his heroic rescue of badly injured partner Monte from the forest fire. Perhaps she was also attracted to a move-around life, after a life stuck on her ranch and little town. We see a similar transformation of Doris Day in a western setting, in "Calamity Jane", released the following year, and again in "The Ballad of Josie", with an implied message for contemporary women.

The drama between the valley folk vs. the loggers, and within the loggers, is well done and maintains interest. Yes, near the end,, it gets a little crazy, with people switching sides and undecided what to do. Gilbert Roland, as Monte, wants to keep on fighting after Jim decides further fighting isn't worth it and after Riley shows him a neighboring ghost town after the forest above was clear-cut. The only gun battle is near the end, when Monty and Jim duel after Monte uses dynamite to clear the trees that the valley people felled over the logging road. After Jim wounds Monte in the right shoulder, he runs into the forest and sets fire to some pine needles, which starts a fire. Monte must have realized that he would surely die in this fire, as he was now weak from loss of blood. Clearly, he momentarily wanted to destroy this forest by fire, thus extracting vengeance on the hostile valley people. Then, Jim risks his life trying to find and carry Monte out of the fire, even knowing Monte might shoot him. After his apparently successful rescue, Monte soon died anyway, probably mostly from blood loss. Monte's death symbolizes the end of mindless government-approved short-term forest exploitation, as applied to this area. It also symbolically opens up the possibility of a new partner for Jim, in the person of Riley(We can see a similar symbolism in many other films, for example: "The Big Trees" and "The Far Country").

Frankie Avalon, then a heart throb on the rock and roll scene, is included to hopefully attract more teenagers in the audience. He mainly plays Riley's adopted orphan son, who becomes the loggers only semi-friend. In fact, he says he would like to become a logger, despite his small body frame. After nearly killed by a falling tree, Jim talks him into staying on his family's ranch. He has one rock and roll scene, which looks totally out of sync with the rest of the film, which clearly is scripted to be before the advent of motor vehicles. He also has a solitary love song relating to his girlfriend Jane(Alana Ladd). His acting is a bit stiff. He would return for a part in the classic western "The Alamo", before costarring in an endless series of beach and bikini musical romantic comedies.

In conclusion, this film succeeds in making its point about the dangers of clear-cutting erosion-vulnerable forests, while providing an action-packed conflict story at the local level. The various character actors are all fine. Just, producer Alan Ladd should have found someone more dynamic-looking to play Jim. Also, the title is lousy.

Chumps of the Bummerland

[Matthew_Capitano · 2/10 · 20 June 2015]

Dud logging story about a land developer who meets the usual resistance from uncooperative locals.

Alan Ladd shows up looking gayer than usual, Jeanne Crain resembles a porn actress, and Frankie Avalon-- Frankie Avalon?! What the hell is he doing in this movie? Don't tell me he's gonna sing... yep, he does. I was afraid of that. Gilbert Roland is on hand to offer some of his patented charisma, but it's all for nothing because this film sucks.

Devoid of atmosphere with amateurish mistakes like opening the film with a chorus singing a song which would be more at home in a fairy tale about Snow White. This movie falls flat... TIM-BER!!!

A jaded lad

[dbdumonteil · 6 June 2010]

Physically ,Alan Ladd was becoming the ghost of himself:His puffed up face had lost most of its charm;it was even worse in "duel of champions" (aka "Horatio E Curazio"),his Italian sword and sandal,the following year.In his final years ,only "the carpetbaggers"-in other respects an average movie- gave him a prophetic role worthy of himself ,an aging actor down on his luck.

This is a western which displays ecological concern : lumberjacks versus farmers (the best scene shows Jeanne Crain taking Ladd to the ghost town :"you would ruin our village too ").The cinematography is fine ,with a good use of the wide screen which enhances the splendid landscapes ,particularly in the scenes of the fire.But the characters are cardboard .For those whose taste runs that way,Frankie Avalon sings two songs ,the first one in a ball and the second after a quarrel with his girlfriend.

Lots Of Dynamite, Few Guns

[boblipton · 4/10 · 11 June 2022]

Alan Ladd and Gilbert Roland are partners in cutting down some trees. The community of ranchers next to the stand opposes them, led by Jeanne Crain. Over the hill is another ranching community, ruined when clear-cutting produced a torrent of mud that ruined the grazing grounds.

Stories about logging, when they were not concentrating on the burly loggers, often had a strain of ecological anxiety, all the way back to Nell Shipman. Certainly, no one likes a forest fire. Gilbert Roland is a lot of fun as always, and Miss Crain does an honest job. 20-year-old Frankie Avalon has a role that was written for someone 14. The real problem with the movie is Ladd. He's paunchy, hand spends most of the movie with a meaningless smile on his face and his eyes shut. Director Robert Webb has cameraman John Seitz shoot handsomely, but the star is at his worst. With Noah Beery Jr. And Regis Toomey.

One of Ladd's best!

[JohnHowardReid · 8/10 · 8 April 2018]

Executive producer: Alan Ladd. A Jaguar Production. Copyright 1960 by Jaguar Films. Released through Warner Bros. No New York opening. U.S. release: March 1960. U.K. release: May 1960. Australian release: 25 August 1960. Running times: 93 minutes (Aust), 91 minutes (USA), 88 minutes (UK).

NOTES: Location scenes filmed in Northern California. Film debuts of rock star Frankie Avalon, and Alan Ladd's daughter Alana.

COMMENT: Disregarding Ladd's jaded appearance, Guns of the Timberland is pretty much a typical Ladd vehicle. This time our hero sees the error of his logging ways and comes down firmly on the side of the environmentalists. This action is not only the catalyst for Romance (in the person of Jeanne Crain, looking very beautiful here) but Conflict with his longtime partner and friend, forcefully yet sympathetically played here by Gilbert Roland. A fair amount of action ensues, culminating in a rip-roaring forest fire.

A surprise was my belated discovery that the film was supposed to be set in 1895. I thought it was more or less contemporary. There's no period flavor about the movie at all. The costumes, the props, the furnishings could pass for backwoods modern. Mr. Avalon even has a couple of songs that certainly do not jive with 1895!

In addition to Mr. Roland and Miss Crain, it's always good to see Lyle Bettger. Producer Ladd doubtless cast him in the movie because of his small size, but he's big enough to run rings around Alan in the acting department. His role is comparatively small and not exactly characteristic (he's one of the goodies this time), but with his distinctive voice and forceful manner, he's a guy you remember long after Ladd's more routine dramatics have faded from memory.

The director is at his best in the action spots. These are suspensefully staged. Production values also benefit from extensive location lensing. I love the conclusion on the logging train when Ladd's companions snatch up Miss Crain and the ensemble steams off into the distance to a rousing chorus of "Cry Timber". This is the sort of stuff that director Webb does best -- including of course that frighteningly realistic forest fire in which both Ladd and Roland seem to be doing their own death-defying stunts. They're both braver men than I am, that's for sure!

Liked a lot plus Alan Ladd and Jeanne Crain great

[pjlandis-59400 · 9/10 · 5 March 2021]

I like this movie a lot. Enjoyed watching Alan Ladd and Jeanne Crain.

It could have included some intellectual content about logging without decimating the forest being logged.

Lumber Jack song great: sorry I can not find recording online.

A good story well told

[pmtelefon · 8/10 · 30 September 2021]

Shame on me, but it took me a while to get used to Alan Ladd's puffy face. It wasn't until I got up to go to the bathroom and looked in the mirror that Ladd started looking pretty good to me. Once I got over that silliness, I ended up having a pretty good time watching "Guns of the Timberland". It has a very good story and it tells it well. The direction is sharp as is the cast. Alan Ladd once again delivers the goods and Gilbert Roland is terrific. In lesser hands, Roland's character would be a real villain. But the way he plays him, he comes off as a well meaning but flawed person (aren't we all). Roland manages to give him real humanity and turns him into the best character in the movie. "Guns of the Timberland" is also a great looking movie with songs that I actually liked. This movie was such a nice surprise that I'm planning on reading the book by Louis L'Amour real soon. Honorable mention: the way the trees look when they come crashing down. It's really cool. Some of the actors, including Gilbert Roland, look really close to the crash. It's great stuff.