Timberjack ** (1955, Sterling Hayden, Vera Ralston, Adolphe Menjou, David Brian) – Classic Movie Review 11,461

Director Joseph Kane’s 1955 American Trucolor Western film Timberjack is a lumbering tale of rivalry and revenge set in the backwoods of Montana in the late 1800s.

Tim Chipman (Hayden) proves that he is a chip off the old block when he takes on his father’s Montana wilderness timber business after witnessing his father’s untimely and mysterious death by killer Croft Brunner (Brian).

But, as a deadly rivalry begins between the two men both determined to succeed in the lumber business, bar-room hussy Lynne Tilton (Ralston) steers Hayden away from the vengeance trail…

Laconic jazzman Carmichael tinkles the ivories pleasurably as Jingles (!) but otherwise it is a murkily filmed, mundanely acted, all too wooden affair.

Allen Rivkin’s screenplay is based on Dan Cushman’s novel.

The cast are Sterling Hayden as Tim Chipman, Vera Ralston as Lynne Tilton, David Brian as Croft Brunner, Adolphe Menjou as ‘Sweetwater’ Tilton, Hoagy Carmichael as Jingles, Chill Wills as Steve Riika, Jim Davis as Poole, Howard Petrie as ‘Axe-Handle’, Ole, Ian MacDonald as Pauquette, Elisha Cook Jr. as Punky, Karl ‘Killer’ Davis as Red Bush, Wally Cassell as Veazie, Tex Terry as Charlie.

Timberjack is directed by Joseph Kane, runs 94 minutes, is made and released by Republic Pictures, is written by Allen Rivkin, based on Dan Cushman’s novel, is shot in Trucolor by Jack A Marta, is produced by Herbert J Yates and is scored by Victor Young.

It is filmed in Trucolor in Glacier National Park and Western Montana. It premiered in Missoula, Montana, on 4 February 1955, before its US release on 18 February 1955.

Sterling Hayden and Elisha Cook Jr appeared together in Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing a year later.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,461

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