The Painted Desert (1931)
Western pardners Jeff and Cash find a baby boy in an otherwise deserted emigrants' camp, and clash over which is to be "father." They are still bitterly feuding years later when they own adjacent ranches. Bill, the foundling whom Cash has raised to young manhood, wants to end the feud and extends an olive branch toward Jeff, who now has a lovely daughter. But during a mining venture, the bitterness escalates. Is Bill to be set against his own adoptive father?
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Gripping story with well-crafted characters
Better Late Then Never
The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.
Bill Boyd (Bill Holbrook), Helen Twelvetrees (Mary Ellen Cameron), J. Farrell MacDonald (Jeff Cameron), William Farnum (Cash Holbrook), Clark Gable (Rance Brett), Charles Sellon (Tonopah), Wade Boteler (Bob Carson), Will Walling (Kirby), Guy Edward Hearn (Tex), Edmund Breese (Judge Kirby), Al St John (Buck), James Donlan (Steve), Richard Kramer (Provney), Edgar Dearing (Buck's partner), William Le Maire, Clem Beauchamp, James Mason, Cliff Lyons, Brady Kline, George Burton, Cy Clegg, Jerry Drew, Hugh Adams. Director: HOWARD HIGGIN. Screenplay: Howard Higgin, Tom Buckingham. Film editor: Clarence Kolster. Photography: Edward Snyder. Art director: Carroll Clark. Costumes: Gwen Wakeling. Music: Francis Gromon. Camera operator: Joseph La Shelle. Script clerk: Colbert Clark. Sound recording: Homer Ackerman. Ben Winkler. Producer: E.B. Derr. Copyright 12 January 1931 by Pathe Exchange, Inc. U.S. release through RKO-Pathe: 18 January 1931. New York opening at the Hippodrome: 8 March 1931. 8 reels. 79 minutes.COMMENT: Some admirable attempts to build up atmosphere are undermined both by budget restrictions and a script that seems determined to lay all the blame on Clark (who actually has a minor role, but plays it well). It's the lovely Helen Twelvetrees, garrulous J. Farrell MacDonald and silent-movie-sinister William Farnum who make all the running. A pity the conclusion is a cop-out, but nonetheless an entertainingly atmospheric film up to that point, even if a little dialogue-bound and somewhat short on actual action (aside from the spectacular dynamiting scene, most of it occurs off-camera).
Two prospectors find a baby in a wagon after an Indian attack. They eventually go their separate ways - Jeff Cameron (J. Farrell MacDonald) stays where he is - Helen Twelvetrees played his daughter. Cash Holbrook takes baby Bill and becomes a wealthy cattle man.There is a bitter feud between them - Holbrook needs to water his cattle and Cameron won't allow them near his lake. Bill (Bill Boyd) finds tungsten ore on Cameron's land and tries to get the two men to reconcile.Someone is trying to sabotage the mine - most of the towns folk suspect Cash Holbrook.Clark Gable has a dynamic credited debut as villain, Rance Brett. He just about acts everyone off the screen. The way he just spits out his words and snarls - actions that were to be his trademark. 1931 was Gable's meteoric year. "The Painted Desert" was his first film for the year - by the end he was starring with Joan Crawford in the fantastic "Possessed".Rugged, good looking William Boyd played Bill Holbrook. He had been a top star in the twenties, often starring in adventures but this was one of his first westerns. Even though in 1930 he was a top star - he would have an even bigger career as Hopalong Cassidy.Helen Twelvetrees was a rising star at Pathe.
It's a different kind of western, with little action, all right, but it has a good plot and excellent performances, especially from the veterans William Farnum (Cash) and J. Farrel MacDonald (Jeff). Their interpretation of two friends turned into enemies because of a baby boy they found in the desert is wonderful. Helen Twelvetrees (Mary Ellen) is a flesh and blood Betty Boop and shows with her faces the transition from silent film heroines to those of the sound era. The plot has a simple, but coherent structure that leads to a happy ending. In the whole, "The Painted Desert" has not much of action but it's an enjoying western movie to watch.
For a western, this is somewhat unusual in that there is almost no action. The wagons been destroyed all happens off-camera and the mine explosion has all the thrills of a bouncy castle. The climatic clash between hero and villain is just one quick punch in the face. Nobody gets hurts and the feel is of a Saturday morning cartoon from the 1970's, where no one was allowed to use any violent action of any type.It's evident that Gable was going to make it and Boyd's role is just a precursor of his Hopalong Cassidy films.Alright for it's time but the non-action,stilted dialogue, stiff acting and long pauses all make for a dull film that seems to go on far longer than it's short 79 minute running time.