| Tall Timbers | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Ken G. Hall |
| Produced by | Ken G. Hall |
| Written by | Frank Harvey Frank Hurley |
| Starring | Frank Leighton Shirley Ann Richards |
| Studio | Cinesound Productions |
| Release date(s) | August 1937 (Australia) January 1938 (UK) |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | ₤18,000[1] |
Tall Timbers is a 1937 action melodrama set in the timber industry.
Contents |
Jim Thornton (Frank Leighton) saves a young woman, Joan (Shirley Ann Richards) from drowning at Palm Beach. He later turns up to work at her adopted father Stephen's (Harvey Adams') timber company. Burbridge is secretly being undermined by his treacherous foreman Darley (Frank Harvey) and competitor Charles Blake (Campbell Copelin). Blake is also engaged to Joan despite sleeping with Darley’s sister Claire (Aileen Britton). Thornton eventually exposes Darley and takes his job, and organises a timber drive. When Darley finds out Blake has been sleeping with Joan he shoots him dead, and Joan and Thornton are almost trapped amongst the falling timber trees, which kills Darley, but they manage to survive. Thorton also reveals himself to be Stephen Burbridge's long lost son.
In 1935 Cinesound announced they were going to make a big screen adaptation of the William Hatfield Big Timber, but decided to make this project instead.[2] It was based on an original story by Frank Hurley which was rewritten by Frank Harvey. Hall claims it had no connection with the 1926 Australasian Films picture Tall Timber, which he had never seen. He also admitted he felt the resulting movie was "weak as hell" because of it's melodramatic storyline, although he was proud of the special effects.[3]
Special effects were done by George Kenyon, who Hall hired from J.C. Williamsons Ltd and went on to do effects for all of Cinesound's subsequent features.