Old-fashioned atypical Western laden by complex legal/financial talk, but has several highlights RELEASED IN 1952 and directed by Felix Feist, "The Big Trees" stars Kirk Douglas as a conniving lumber baron, Jim Fallon, who schemes to make it rich in Northern California in 1900 when a new law means large tracks of land are up for grabs to whoever…

I wonder if this might have looked better in black and white? In colour it's a rather sterile and over-scripted, join-the-dots, take on the American pioneering story that never quite gets out of second gear. With the economy booming back East, there is an insatiable demand for lumber and so the government has pretty much declared open season on the…