An unlikely popcorn thriller

For 100 years, the U.S. Forest Service wrestled with the knotty question of how best to protect public lands under its purview. “The Greatest Good,” a documentary produced by the agency to commemorate its centennial, at one point refers to some past practices as a shift “to the dark side.” But this isn’t the Sith, and no Ewoks are running around in these woods, though Smokey Bear plays a key role. The movie will be shown Saturday only at Laemmle’s One Colorado theater in Old Town Pasadena. Screenings nationwide have been drawing impressive crowds, including sellouts, says Steve Dunsky, one of the film’s producer-directors. “That’s sort of unusual for a government film production,” he says. The handsomely photographed two-hour film delves into the many controversies the agency has endured since 1905, relying on lots of interviews with current and retired Forest Service employees (fun to see a buttoned-down Arthur Greeley, the agency’s recreation director in the 1960s, solemnly telling a TV interviewer that “our western campgrounds have been taken over by hippie types”). The history of a federal agency might not seem to be popcorn fodder, but this is one bureau that’s never had an easy time of it. In managing national timber needs, forest fires, endangered species and ranching, its guiding principle has always been to pursue the greatest good for the greatest number, but the definition of what is good for people has been as fluid as the Colorado River. Turns out there’s plenty of drama -- such as early logging practices, below -- to get you through a tub or two with extra butter. If you miss the Pasadena screening, you can buy a DVD of the movie at www.fs.fed.us/greatestgood.

-- Carolyn Huffman Kimball