Pluskylang Great Film overall

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

GManfred Two prospectors come across an abandoned covered wagon - abandoned, that is, except for a baby. They have a disagreement, one stays to raise the baby and the other leaves, leaving his partner holding the bag, er, baby. Fast forward twenty-odd years, and the baby grows up to be William Boyd. The two prospectors are deadly enemies, and the grown-up baby tries to bring them together. Added bonus; the one who left now has a pretty daughter, a development not lost on the boy.The story is fairly interesting and could have been more so if the movie hadn't been cannibalized and crucial scenes removed for other movies. Several reviewers have mentioned some scenes have been taken out and with them much of the excitement was drained from the film. In addition, the acting is slow and deliberate giving the movie an artificial, stilted feel and will catch modern audiences off balance. On the whole, though, it is worth a look due to the peculiar nature of the subject matter, and to see Clark Gable as a bad guy minus his customary charm, and William Boyd before he hit the bigtime as Hopalong Cassidy.

FightingWesterner Two men traveling west find a baby boy in the desert and quarrel over which one will raise him. One steals away with the boy and becomes a wealthy rancher while the other stays put beside a waterhole and remains an impoverished homesteader.Years later the boy has grown up to become a fair-minded man who tries to reconcile the two bitter enemies, partnering with his father's old friend in a mining operation beset by mistrust due to unexplained sabotage.The Painted Desert is mostly remembered nowadays for featuring future Hopalong Cassidy star William Boyd and the first talking performance by Clark Gable.Though undoubtedly harmed by having nearly all it's action sequences carved up as stock footage for later films, it's still worth watching and has a nice Hollywood sheen not seen in later B-westerns.

kidboots 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.

Stormy_Autumn "The Painted Desert" (1931) is an interesting old (tight budgeted) western. As a baby little Bill is found in an empty covered wagon. Jeff Cameron, the man who finds him, wants to raise him. Bill 'Cash' Holbrook steals the baby daring Jeff to try to stop him. He knows Jeff won't do anything that might endanger the baby's life. There will be no gun play.Jeff marries and has a daughter, Mary Ellen. Cash never marries but he does raise Bill who turns into a fine man anyway. While out working the range Bill finds 'tungsten' on Jeff's property. He tries to bring the 2 ex-friends back together to work the mine. It doesn't work well but he gets to know Mary Ellen better. Everything begins to fall apart thanks to Rance Brett trying to come between the 4 of them. Brett is a major troublemaker and one nasty dude who always gets what he wants (LOL). ***A Small Spoiler*** There isn't a great bunch of bloody action here. It's along the line of the old Saturday Matinée piece where the good guy always won. There is an interesting piece of gun play between Cash and Jeff towards the end.Cast: Bill Boyd....young Bill Holbrook (Good guy who later becomes well-known as Hopalong Cassidy), Helen Twelvetrees....Mary Ellen Cameron, William Farnum....Bill 'Cash' Holbrook, J. Farrell MacDonald....Jeff Cameron, Clark Gable....Rance Brett (Bad guy who later becomes well-known as Rhett Butler).