The Painted Hills (1951)

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

This movie is mostly bad, but I probably have some bias on my opinion, seeing as how this is the first Lassie movie I've ever seen. I don't know why he was called Shep in this movie. Well, in the credits, it's said that Shep was played by Lassie. I guess Lassie is the name of the dog in real life, but maybe she used other names in movies? The boy here was called Tommy and not Timmy. Close enough? Okay, I haven't seen the other Lassie movies or the show so I can't really tell how this folds out. Maybe some characters went through name changes or something.This film mostly suffers from being too padded. It gets really annoying towards the end when Lassie and Petey just seem to be chasing each other over and over. I am surprised the rating is so low. I thought it was at least better than 90% of the films shown on "Mystery Science Theater 3000". Lassie is what makes this movie. She's (he's?) a fine actress and it's great to see a real life dog acting so well. It's a pity the humans aren't as good. You'd think they'd be more experienced. **

For some reason, while "The Painted Hills" was made and released by a major Hollywood studio (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer), its copyright was left to lapse, and now it's stuck in public domain hell. Fortunately, if you put in a little research and effort, you can find decent prints on various public domain DVD labels. Anyway, while the movie promises to be an (unofficial) Lassie movie, I think many viewers will be surprised that the dog here gets less focus than they are probably thinking. The dog doesn't get to do all that much in the first half, and while it gets more to do in the second half, it isn't THAT much more. As for the rest of the movie, there are questions like why the bad guy doesn't simply shoot the dog right away when the dog starts to pose a problem. Still, the movie is well produced for what wasn't probably an "A" movie budget, there are no lulls in its narrative, and at less than 70 minutes in length, certainly doesn't overstay its welcome. As for potential family viewing, though there are a few dark elements in the movie (like murder), they are pretty tamely handled in that 1950s style, and shouldn't upset your average 21st century kid.

All but the youngest Americans are probably familiar with the iconic call of "Laaaaaa-sie!" from little Timmy, or whatever the kid's name was, wailing his little tow-head off for his border collie friend. These same Americans may or may not be familiar with the fact that Lassie made the leap from television to movies (or was it the other way around? I'm clearly too lazy to do any research here), and The Painted Hills is one of those. It is irresistible to make a "this movie has gone to the dogs!" pun, so I won't (even though I technically just did). But in a way, it has. Lassie (playing Shep, man's best friend) gets top billing. THE DOG GETS TOP BILLING. Now, I'm not familiar with how actors or their agents negotiate contracts, but here's how it plays out in my mind: MOVIE MOGUL: Okay, Lassie, in the credits, it's gonna be, "and with Lassie as Shep!" LASSIE: Rrrrowf! Grrrrrrr. MOVIE MOGUL: Ha, ha, kid, calm down, calm down! LASSIE: Rrroo rrrrooo roooo. MOVIE MOGUL: Okay, I think I see. Co-lead billing? LASSIE: Rawrf! Rawrrrrff rawrf! MOVIE MOGUL: Oh God! Let go of my arm! Top billing! Top billing for you, now let go of my arm!!! So, the dog gets top billing, and with the rest of this shell-shocked cast, I suppose it's understandable. We get lovable old grumpus Jonathan the prospector, his young, whiny and apparently orphaned friend Tommy, sketchy loser Lin Taylor, and lovable old religious grumpus Pilot Pete. The meat of the plot here could be summed up in a few sentences, so I'll save you the actual pain of watching the movie. Jonathan is a prospector with a dog named Shep, and his partner dies while he is at his claim. He gets a new partner named Lin who becomes obsessed with the gold, and Jonathan for some reason gives Shep to whiny little crybaby Tommy. Lin kills Jonathan, Shep sees it, and Lin tries to kill Shep. Then Lin tries to kill Tommy. Then Tommy whines, it gets cold, and Shep carries out an elaborate plan to get revenge on Lin, which he (or she?) does. The end.Unless you have a deep, unsettling need to see a Lassie movie (even then, there's got to be a better Lassie movie than this), just avoid The Painted Hills. When it's not dragging on, marveling at Lassie's limited ability to 'act' (similar in style, perhaps, to Keanu Reeves - always the same facial expression, only the body moves), setting up the obvious using several minutes of film, or insulting Native Americans everywhere with its white-actor-in-facepaint "Ugh! How! Me Running Bear!" stereotypes, The Painted Hills is fit only for Lassie fetishists or people who have some kind of connection to prospecting through their days as a grizzled old prospector lookin' fer that consarned vein of glittery gold!

Who wouldn't love a flick in which Lassie, compelled by burning hatred, tracks down the man who killed his beloved owner? It's not quite as bleak as all that, (if it had taken place in a city, it would have been the sole entry in the "Lassie-noir" genre) but it IS a startlingly dark work, for a 50's family-movie audience. As for the acting, it's pretty much what you would expect...but during those final scenes, where Lassie faces the killer...aren't you glad it's not YOU facing that implacable, growling, fang-faced beast?