Merolliv
I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.
Pamela Short
Important note: This is not a film review. I hope to be able to find and add as many silent film synopsis of films that have a survival status of unknown or presumed lost. I try to do as much research as I can and it is not my intention to deceive anyone, for sometimes the film does exist and some presumed lost films are still being discovered. I am more than delighted if someone has knowledge of a film listed as lost but survives, as I wish all silent films did survive. I hope the reader enjoys this brief synopsis.Because she has lost both her voice and her wealth after the death of her father, Stella Benton ( Kathlyn Williams ) goes to live with her brother Charles ( Alfred Paget ) at his lumber camp. Struggling to make a living, Charles appoints his sister to cook for the hundred lumberjacks in the camp. Woefully overworked, Stella accepts the marriage proposal of neighbouring lumberman Jack Fyfe ( Wallace Reid ), even though she does not love him. A child is born out of the loveless marriage and the couple is reasonably happy until Walter Monahan ( Joe King ), a wealthy lumberman, begins to court Stella. After the death of her child, Stella leaves Fyfe and returns to the stage as a concert singer. Meanwhile, Monahan, jealous of Fyfe's success, sets fire to his holdings. Hearing of her husband's misfortune, Stella immediately returns to the lumber camp where she offers Fyfe her own money to rebuild his losses. As the couple embrace, it begins to rain and Fyfe's holdings, as well as his marriage, is saved.This 1917 silent drama was based from the novel Big Timber by Bertrand W. Sinclair, directed by William Desmond Taylor, produced by The Oliver Morosco Photoplay Company, starring Wallace Reid and Kathlyn Williams. The survival status of Big Timber (1917) is listed in the American Silent Feature Film Database as; No holdings located in archives.