Thunder in the Pines

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.

There is a heightened interest in the career and work of George Reeves. Ever since last years production of HOLLYWOODLAND (2006) which details and offers suppositions about the Death of TV's Superman of the 1950's. THUNDERR IN THE PINES (1948) comes on a George Reeves Double Bill DVD along with JUNGLE GODDESS (also 1948). It is a VCI Entertainment release.

To begin with, the film does have heart. It manages to grab you, even if you have some preconceived notions about its Poverty Row origins. If you were to play it thinking to sort of half pay attention and pay your bills on line or something, you'll find yourself putting the other task to the side.

The film boasts of a highly talented cast of players, many having great screen recognizability,but lacking a corresponding name familiarity. To begin with we have Superman and Dick Tracy in a fist fight. That is, George Reeves and Ralph Byrd co-star as two buddies who seem to be constantly find themselves rivals in work,as loggers and at play,competing for the affections of the lovely Ladies.

Former Leading Man, Lyle Talbot, is cast in sort of a comic villain. Roscoe Ates,Greg McClure,Denise Darcel, Marion Martin, Vince Barnett, Tom Kennedy(yeah, Edgar's Brother) and Milicent Patrick makeup most of the remaining cast.

The Film makes generous use of stock footage from real logging camp operations. A good job is done in blending the studio shots. The sepia toned film provides a fine change of pace for the eyes and no doubt aids in making the films blend into a single screen image.

The spirit of the film and the characterizations of Mr. Byrd and Mr. Reeves, put one in mind of screen rivalries of some more notable players, such as John Wayne and Randolph Scott or Clark Gable and William Powell or even Rhondo Hatton and Tor Johnson. (just kidding about that last one!) With or without a big budget, this film does a great job of being entertaining. It has a definite comical overtones. And the Director knew how to wrap it up. They leave us laughing and kind of good inside. And we don't feel that we wasted our time.

So, go out and get this DVD. You'll really enjoy and remember, we we will never see their kind again.

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?

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.