Guns of the Timberland | |
---|---|
Directed by | Robert D. Webb |
Written by | Joseph Petracca Aaron Spelling |
Based on | Guns of the Timberlands 1955 novel by Louis L'Amour |
Produced by | Aaron Spelling Alan Ladd |
Starring | Alan Ladd Jeanne Crain Gilbert Roland Frankie Avalon |
Cinematography | John F. Seitz |
Edited by | Tom McAdoo |
Music by | David Buttolph |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
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Running time | 91 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Guns of the Timberland is a 1960 American Technicolor lumberjack Western film directed by Robert D. Webb and starring Alan Ladd, Jeanne Crain, Gilbert Roland and Frankie Avalon. It is based on the 1955 book Guns of the Timberlands by Louis L'Amour. [1]
Logger Jim Hadley and his lumberjack crew are looking for new forest to cut. They locate a prime prospect outside the town of Deep Wells. The town's residents, led by Laura Riley, are opposed to the felling of the trees, believing that losing them would cause mudslides during the heavy rains.
Louis L'Amour's novel Guns of the Timberlands was published in 1955 and sold more than one million copies. [2] Alan Ladd's film production company Jaguar optioned the novel that same year. [3] [4] The working title for the film was "Shasta." [5]
In 1957, it was announced the film would be produced from a script by David Victor and Herbert Little, with Albert J. Cohen as producer. [6] Ladd had worked with Aaron Spelling on two TV pilots, and Spelling's work so impressed Ladd that he made Spelling a producer on the picture. [7] Robert Webb was signed to direct. [8]
Ladd offered a lead role to Van Heflin, hoping to reunite with his costar from Shane. [9] He also wanted to cast Raymond Burr. [10] Jeanne Crain and Gilbert Roland were signed to support Ladd, along with the Ladds' daughter Alana.
Frankie Avalon, following his recent hit single Venus , signed to make his dramatic debut in the film. [11] Avalon later said, "I'm sure the reason why Warner Bros. said, 'Let's get this kid' is that he has lots of fans out there and he's getting 12,000 to 15,000 fans letters a week. 'Let's put him in a picture with a guy like Alan Ladd'." [12]
Filming started in April 1959 [13] on location in and around Blairsden, California, Graeagle, California and other locations throughout Plumas County. [14] The scenes involving the steam engine and railroad cars were shot on the Western Pacific Railroad right-of-way between Portola, California and Blairsden, California. In the opening scene, the "tall bridge" that the steam engine crosses is the Clio Trestle.
Filming finished in June 1959. [15]
In the film, Avalon sings two songs, "The Faithful Kind" and "Gee Whiz Whillikins Golly Gee." Both were released as a 45-rpm single in 1960.[ citation needed ]
Jeanne Elizabeth Crain was an American actress. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her title role in Pinky (1949). She also starred in the films In the Meantime, Darling (1944), State Fair (1945), Leave Her to Heaven (1945), Centennial Summer (1946), Margie (1946), Apartment for Peggy (1948), A Letter to Three Wives (1949), Cheaper by the Dozen (1950), People Will Talk (1951), Man Without a Star (1955), Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955), The Fastest Gun Alive (1956), and The Joker Is Wild (1957).
Francis Thomas Avallone , better known as Frankie Avalon, is an American actor, singer, and former teen idol. He had 31 charting U.S. Billboard singles from 1958 to late 1962, including number one hits, "Venus" and "Why" in 1959. He is the earliest surviving singer to have scored a solo number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
Annette Joanne Funicello was an American actress and singer. She began her professional career at age 12, becoming one of the most popular Mouseketeers on the original Mickey Mouse Club. In her teenage years, Funicello had a successful career as a pop singer recording under the name "Annette". Her most notable singles are "O Dio Mio", "First Name Initial", "Tall Paul", and "Pineapple Princess". During the mid-1960s, she established herself as a film actress, popularizing the successful "Beach Party" genre alongside co-star Frankie Avalon.
Alan Walbridge Ladd was an American actor and film producer. Ladd found success in film in the 1940s and early 1950s, particularly in films noir and Westerns. He was often paired with Veronica Lake in films noir, such as This Gun for Hire (1942), The Glass Key (1942), and The Blue Dahlia (1946). Whispering Smith (1948) was his first Western and color film, and Shane (1953) was noted for its contributions to the genre. Ladd also appeared in ten films with William Bendix.
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Catlow is a 1971 American Western film, based on a 1963 novel of the same name by Louis L'Amour. It stars Yul Brynner as a renegade outlaw determined to pull off a Confederate gold heist. It co-stars Richard Crenna and Leonard Nimoy. Nimoy mentioned this film in both of his autobiographies because it gave him a chance to break away from his role as Spock on Star Trek. He mentioned that the time he made the film was one of the happiest of his life, even though his part was rather brief. The film contains a lot of tongue-in-cheek and sardonic humor, especially between Brynner and Crenna's characters.
Euan Lloyd was a British film producer.
Joel Dee "Jody" McCrea was an American actor. He was the son of actors Joel McCrea and Frances Dee.
Gentlemen Marry Brunettes is a 1955 American Technicolor musical romantic comedy film directed by Richard Sale, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mary Loos, based on the 1927 novel But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes by Anita Loos, aunt of Mary Loos. The film stars Jane Russell and Jeanne Crain. It was produced by Sale and Bob Waterfield, with Robert Bassler as executive producer.
Boy on a Dolphin is a 1957 American romantic adventure film theatrically released by 20th Century-Fox. It is set in Greece and shot in DeLuxe Color and CinemaScope. It was directed by Jean Negulesco and produced by Samuel G. Engel from a screenplay by Ivan Moffat and Dwight Taylor, based on the 1955 novel of the same name by David Divine.
James Ruffin Webb was an American screenwriter. He was best known for writing the screenplay for the film How the West Was Won (1962), which garnered widespread critical acclaim and earned him an Academy Award.
Robert D. Webb was an American film director. He directed 16 films between 1945 and 1968. He won the Academy Award for Best Assistant Director for In Old Chicago, the last time that category was offered.
Hell on Frisco Bay is a 1956 American CinemaScope film noir crime film directed by Frank Tuttle and starring Alan Ladd, Edward G. Robinson and Joanne Dru. It was made for Ladd's own production company, Jaguar.
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Santiago,is a 1956 American Warnercolor adventure film directed by Gordon Douglas and starring Alan Ladd, Rossana Podestà and Lloyd Nolan. It is set in 1898 Cuba against the background of the Cuban War of Independence. Martin Rackin wrote the screenplay, based on his unpublished novel, as well as producing the film. Ladd also co-produced the film that was made and distributed by Warner Brothers.
Jaguar Productions was a short-lived production company established by actor Alan Ladd in the 1953. It produced several movies, most of them starring Ladd. The majority of the films were distributed through Warner Bros.
13 West Street is a 1962 American neo-noir crime film directed by Philip Leacock and starring Rod Steiger and Alan Ladd, whose own production company produced the film. It is based on the 1957 novel The Tiger Among Us by Leigh Brackett, who called the film "very, very dull."
The Return of Monte Cristo is a 1946 American historical adventure film directed by Henry Levin and starring Louis Hayward, Barbara Britton and George Macready. It was produced by Edward Small for distribution by Columbia Pictures. A swashbuckler, it is a sequel to The Count of Monte Cristo (1934) and The Son of Monte Cristo (1940).
George Selk was an American film and television actor. He was known for playing the role of stableman Moss Grimmick in the American western television series Gunsmoke from 1955 to 1963.