The Timber Tramps

Make all kinds of fun of this movie if you want to, but it was certainly not a tax write-off. It was done sincerely and with concern by writer/director/producer Chuck Keen. I know far more about what went on than most, including the stars of the film. I was in charge of the Four Wall distribution, which was done with great success throughout Oregon in 1976. Keen was a self made man who looked and talked like a lumberjack. He was folksy, didn't believe in banks and his handshake was his word. I didn't get along with him 100%, but I respected him. He worked long and hard on this film, as he did with others he did. I don't think he was creatively talented, except with a camera, but he pulled it off, folks...like a lot of determined people in a dog eat dog industry. They deserve a pat on the back for getting it done. "Timber Tramps" is not ever going to rate highly, but it has superb photography and shows off Alaska grandly. Watch it for that and realize one man at least made it happen despite all odds.

Claude Akins is a drunken, hurtful, abusive lumberjack who leads a pathetic, migratory life and socializes exclusively with miserable losers like himself. He's the hero (?) of this movie, which has the look of an el cheapo made-for-TV quickie. Hoyt Curtain, who did the music for dozens of Hanna Barbera cartoons, supplies the totally inappropriate background score. The cast includes such luminaries as Tab Hunter and Rosie Grier, but it's mostly about Claude Akins drinking, cutting down trees, getting into fights, and just generally being a disgusting slob. You'll cherish the scene in which Claude tells a hippie to get a haircut. No, really, you *will* cherish it.

An article in the Dec 19, 1977 issue of Box office magazine suggests that "The Timber Tramps" was not all that old at the time. There's no mention of Howco Intl. being a distributor, or former distributor. "Chuck D. Keen, founder of Alaska Films, has based his company in his hometown of Juneau, Alaska...the feature was made on a $500,000 budget....Keen already has another feature for release. 'Claws' also stars Leon Ames, who, Keen said, will be 'in all of my pictures until he decides to retire.'"

"All of the shooting on 'Claws' was done in Alaska. The film nows is in test runs in Montana. "The Timber Tramps" is scheduled for release in January and is due shortly for test runs in Little Rock, Ark. Both films are to be released by Arizona General, a relatively new distribution company formed three years ago. "

This issue of Box office has an ad for "Timber Tramps" on the cover, and the article confirms an association between Keen and John Wayne - they did a Vietnam

documentary together where Wayne served as a host/narrator. Did all those people want a vacation in Alaska? That's quite a cast in "The Timber Tramps."

This dog was filmed in Juneau, Alaska. It struck me, at the time, as odd that such a collection of has beens would be cast in this loser. The cast resided on John Wayne's Yacht, The Wild Goose (as I recall its name), anchored in Gasteneau Channel, while filming. Claud Akins behaved just as disgracefully in town as his character did in the movie. I believe that the studio or producer used this project as some sort of tax dodge while simultaneously compensating the actors for past (almost) glories or just to throw a party and write it off. That approach to movie making may also explain the making of "Ishtar". I resided in Juneau at that time and saw the "preview" of this monstrosity at a local theater there. The processing of the film was so poor that the color palate changed drastically from reel to reel. By the way, Chuck Keen lived in Juneau and, over several years, made several unsuccessful attempts to set up tourist attractions there. He mostly tried to promote his image as a "talent" "connected" in the movie industry.

Itinerant logger Claude Akins and buddy Leon Ames head up to Alaska to help Akins' first love, Eve Brent, fill a contract with partners Joseph Cotten and Cesar Romero, and to put some spine into Miss Brent's son, Mike Hagerty.

It's written, produced, shot and co-directed by Chuck Keen; more interestingly, it's co-directed by Tay Garnett, which helps to explain the wealth of old-time performers who show up. I'm not sure who was in charge of which sequences, but it's not shot for beauty, and the dialogue has too much of people saying things to other characters that they already know. On top of it, Ames has a voice-over commenting on almost every scene which is annoying and useless. In between it's strictly B-movie material, stretched out with incidents and sub-plots which would have benefited from a stronger man in the editing booth. With Tab Hunter, Stanley Clements, Patricia Medina -- her last movie -- Shug Fisher, Noble Chissell, Stubby Kaye, and Rosie Grier.