The Painted Desert
Tags: romantic

Plot synopsis:
Two cowboy friends, Jeff (J. Farrell MacDonald) and Cash (William Farnum), are traveling through the desert in the southwest U.S., when they come upon a baby who has been abandoned in the back of a covered wagon. They can't leave the defenseless child, so decide to take the baby with them, however, they argue over which of them would be better suited to raising the child. When Cash ends up prevailing in the debate, this creates a lifelong rift between the two friends.
Years later the baby has now grown into a young man, Bill Holbrook (William Boyd), who works with his adoptive father on their cattle ranch. Cash's erstwhile friend, Jeff, has remained in the area where the infant was found and has established his own ranch, centered on the water hole where the entire feud originally began, a feud which is still in full force. Jeff lives with his grown daughter, Mary Ellen (Helen Twelvetrees). The feud escalates when Cash wants to use the water hole on Jeff's property to water his cattle. Jeff is ready to confront Cash in a stand-off, preventing him from watering his cattle on the property Jeff has claimed, assisted by an itinerant cowboy, Rance Brett (Clark Gable), who has been smitten with Mary Ellen's beauty. The confrontation is temporarily avoided when Cash's herd unexpectedly stampedes.
When Bill discovers tungsten on Jeff's property, he attempts to use it to close the division between his father and Jeff, however this only results in his father kicking him out. He turns to Jeff, and begins a mining operation, which actually has the opposite effect of Bill's original intention, only exacerbating the tension between Jeff and Cash. Bill and Jeff's partnership also causes tension with Rance, since Mary Ellen now shows an interest in Bill. After a shipment of tungsten which was on its way to pay the loan they had taken out to develop the mine is waylaid, Bill works furiously with the miners to replace it with another load. He is successful. However, as he is celebrating the success of the mine, as well as his impending nuptials with Mary Ellen, the mine is sabotaged by a series of explosions.
Everyone believes the mine sabotage is the work of Cash, but it turns out to have been an act of jealousy on the part of Rance, who confesses, leaving the two old friends to reconcile, and their two children to marry.

Review: During this time four key action sequences were removed to be used as stock footage in later RKO films, among them the 1938 re-make also titled The Painted Desert.
The version shown on Turner Classic Movies, though of superior visual quality, having been derived from the surviving original 35MM material, is still missing these key sequences, though no mention is made of it on the air.Even with what must have been some well executed and nicely photographed action sequences, The Painted Desert would still suffer from many of the same problems that make it so hard to take today, only less so.
The direction by Howard Higgin is of the burdensome, slow moving style that typifies so many early sound films, best and most often described as "creaky." But William (billed as Bill) Boyd displays all the positive and natural characteristics that made him popular with audiences five years later as Hopalong Cassidy.
Farnum and MacDonald give just exactly what we've learned to expect from them, on target performances of the old school.Under ordinary circumstances, such a film would be of little value today, and probably rarely, if ever shown.
But The Painted Desert is Clark Gable's first prominent role, and his first sound film, granting it a permanent place in film history, as well as an object of interest.
Promoting Clark Gable's presence, usually with latter day publicity photos in which he appears older, and hence, the film younger, a lot of usually inferior copies of the truncated version have found their way into a lot of videotape collections and/or thrift shops.
If a complete, original print could be located somewhere, at least Turner Classic Movies could be alerted to upgrade their version; in the meantime, at least an awareness of what we've got, and what's missing, might make The Painted Desert a little more tolerable for Clark Gable completests if no one else..
Two long time friends find a baby boy left behind within an abandoned camp in old Arizona, and their conflict over who should take charge of the infant quickly lowers their relationship to the freezing point, where it remains for over 20 years although they are neighbouring ranchers, and the grown youth's attempt to bring about a reconciliation forms the heart of this interesting early western.
William Boyd, later renowned as Hopalong Cassidy, is featured as the young man, Bill, raised by Cash Holbrook (William Farnum), with J.
Farrell MacDonald as Jeff Cameron, the other of the feuding pair, and when Bill, a mining engineer, discovers a valuable lode of tungsten ore on Cameron's land, he forthwith fosters a mining project which he believes will be putting an end to the longstanding conflict.
Actually filmed in Arizona's scenic Painted Desert region, the work is efficiently directed by Howard Higgin, who is abetted by the fine camerawork of Edward Snyder, with excellent sets arranged by Carroll Clark, and the cast generally performs well, a strong performance being given by Clark Gable as a completely unrepentant villain, only the tasteless characterization by Helen Twelvetrees as Cameron's daughter tainting the production..
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.
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.
In the whole, "The Painted Desert" has not much of action but it's an enjoying western movie to watch..
The Painted Desert is a less than average western in which Clark Gable made his first film with any billing.
Farnum takes the infant and raises him as his own.The infant grows up to be William Boyd in his pre-Hopalong Cassidy days and he becomes a mining engineer and discovers tungsten ore on the MacDonald property.
Also in the race for her hand is Clark Gable.Gable's performance as the roughneck rival to Boyd caught some attention at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and he became within a year, the studio's biggest star ever in its existence.Possibly due to bad editing, possibly to bad writing, but The Painted Desert is far from the greatest western I've ever seen.
The star of this film is William Boyd, who made a bunch of westerns for Pathe in his time.
Later, when they name the entire cast he is mentioned, but he comes way behind top rated Boyd and even now largely forgotten Helen Twelvetrees.Two pioneers, Cash Holbrook and Jeff Cameron, are trekking across the desert when they find a deserted encampment with one survivor, a baby boy.
In all of this time Cash and Jeff have agitated one another - Jeff is still angry at Cash for stealing the baby boy that is now a man, refusing to let Cash's herd use his watering hold for any price and makes him go 27 miles around.
Along comes a stranger - Gable as Rance Brent, and with him instantly taken with Mary Ellen, Rance decides to back them up in the shootout.Cash's adopted son comes out and stampedes the cattle away from the watering hole to prevent the deadly shootout.
Bill is acting Gandhi-like saying that he takes neither side, he just wants Cash and Jeff to be friends again and that neither is bad or wrong.
First he uses Bill the infant as a human shield, and when Bill keeps something from escalating into bloodshed, Cash throws that son out of his life.In the meantime, Jeff and Bill's mine is yielding lots of ore, and out of nowhere - certainly not out of any dialogue that I could perceive - Bill and Mary Ellen are in love.
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..
The Painted Desert is best remembered as Clark Gable's first substantial role for good reason.
Farrell MacDonald, early silent era star William Farnum, and a stiff-as-a-board Bill Boyd deliver their lines one distinctly enunciated word at a time as if speaking toward a microphone hidden in a cactus.
Those who would excuse the stiff direction and acting as caused by unavoidable problems with early sound equipment should first take a look at Joseph Von Sternberg's Morocco (1930), released the year before The Painted Desert, but showing a marvelously sophisticated and artistically pleasing use of sound.
Other than Gable, the only other actors who managed to rise above the restraints of the over-compensating sound technicians and Higgin's stodgy direction were gorgeous leading lady Helen Twelvetrees and Boyd's beautiful white horse.That's not to say that The Painted Desert doesn't have some good points -- especially for die-hard Western fans.
The sets and costumes, along with a folksy, real-to-life dialog, as plodding as the delivery was, gave the movie an authentically quaint, rustic 19th century ambiance missing in many a better produced Western.Best of all, and almost worth the price of a DVD -- a cheap one anyway -- was having a tense, climactic, sixgun showdown between two elderly gentlemen!
Despite Gable's being in a purely supporting role, this is in fact a film starring the future mega-star of Saturday morning kiddie Western, Hopalong Cassidy.
Fast forward twenty-odd years, and the baby grows up to be William Boyd.
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..
THE PAINTED DESERT (Pathe, 1931), directed by Howard Higgin, stars William Boyd, billed simply as Bill Boyd, in a slightly atypical western story set in the landmark territory of Arizona.
Before achieving fame and popularity as "Hopalong Cassidy" on both screen (1935-1948) and later TV series (1952-54), Boyd was a blond-haired actor assuming all sorts of character parts since the silent era of the 1920s.
For THE PAINTED DESERT, Boyd was the center of attention, supported by notable veteran silent screen actors as J.
Farrell MacDonald and William Farnum, along with Helen Twelvetrees, the only female credited in the cast.
In later years, however, it's earned the reputation as being the early screen appearance of future major star, Clark Gable, who's strong presence and distinctive voice helped rise above the level of being just another mediocre outdoors western.The ten minute prologue begins with an written diary passage which reads, "Feb. 25 ...
Four months since we headed west into the Painted Desert, about sundown today, we come to a deserted camp." Jeff Cameron (J.
Farrell MacDonald) and "Cash" Holbrook (William Farnum), are introduced as two prospecting pals who encounter an abandoned covered wagon.
Jeff asks, "Give me a hand with the boy." Cash replies, "You know I will." While the infant initially brings the two men closer together in roles as father figures, he also splits them apart when one claims custody of the boy.
With Jeff wanting to name the infant, "Daniel Boone Cameron," it's Cash who takes "Buffalo Bill Holbrook" as his own, thus starting a lifelong feud between two best friends.
Next diary passage: "Well, looks like after all these years, me and "Cash" Holbrook was coming to a showdown.
He's had all the luck, but he ain't never going to get this water hole." For the rest of the story, Cash, who has converted the land around the water hole into a cattle ranch, has raised Bill on his own son while Jeff, now a widower, has raised his daughter, Mary Ellen (Helen Twelvetrees).
Problems arise when vicious rumors about Jeff and Cash spread around town, causing Bill going through extremes to end this feud before it's too late.Slow pacing with lack of underscoring quite common in 1931 talkies, the proposed original screenplay by Howard Higgin and Tom Buckingham breaks away from traditional western form of staged Indian massacres, bank robberies, chase scenes on horseback or extended bar room brawls and dancing saloon gals in favor of "Romeo and Juliet" courtship prevented by family rivalry, in this instance, two fathers.
Though the leading players occasionally act their roles in low-key manner, it's the up-and-coming Clark Gable who plays his part with natural conviction.
Though Gable westerns were few and far between, it was that same genre that marked the end of his thirty year movie career with John Huston's THE MISFITS (United Artists, 1961).
His presence with unshaven face, high hat, rolling of cigarettes and horseback riding are enough to draw attention whenever he's on, especially the confrontation sequence between he and Bill Boyd that would be clipped as part of the many Gable movies inserted into the 1968 documentary narrated by Burgess Meredith titled "Dear Mr. Gable" (ABC television network.Close to being forgotten, THE PAINTED DESERT earned its rediscovery during the wake of home video in the early 1980s with VHS cardboard boxes using either still photos of Clark Gable (giving the impression that he was the star) or of Gable and Boyd's face-to-face confrontation on the package.
THE PAINTED DESERT did have its share of television broadcasts in the late 80s either public or local broadcasting systems, usually during the after midnight hours, before commonly found on cable television's American Movie Classics (prior to 1999) and Turner Classic Movies, especially during some of its Clark Gable tributes.Contrary to sources indicating the 1938 release of PAINTED DESERT (RKO Radio) starring George O'Brien as being a remake.
Will William "Bill" Boyd make good as a movie cowboy?
In "The Painted Desert" of Arizona, William Farnum (as Bill 'Cash' Holbrook) and J.
Farrell MacDonald (as Jeff Cameron) happen upon an abandoned covered wagon; in the deserted carriage, they find a baby boy.
Mr. MacDonald may have lost the boy, but he gained a girl, pretty blonde Helen Twelvetrees (as Mary Ellen Cameron).
Ms. Twelvetrees attracts Montana cowboy Clark Gable (as Rance Brett), who helps at the ranch.
When Twelvetrees gets a hankerin' for Mr. Boyd, the spurned Mr. Gable gets jealous.Often described as Gable's first "talkie", this film might more accurately be described as his first role of consequence.
Considering the successful careers had by Farnum, Boyd and Gable, this film is quite disappointing.
*** The Painted Desert (1/18/31) Howard Higgin ~ William Boyd, William Farnum, Clark Gable, Helen Twelvetrees.
Beautiful Arizona locations but terrible production and poor acting aside from Gable and the leading lady, playing opposite western star William Boyd.
Fun to see Clark Gable in one of his earliest films..
Clark Gable's acting potential is evident in this cowboy film of feuding families.
Helen Twelvetrees, Our Heroine, seems like she's stepped right out of silent films into talkies without realizing the difference between them..
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..
The opening sequence almost suggests that it IS a silent film, until broken by the cry of an abandoned baby in a covered wagon, discovered by a pair of codgers named Cash Holbrook and Jeff Cameron (William Farnum and J.
At odds over who'll bring him up, Cash takes the baby and heads West with 'Bill'.Fast forward some twenty years, the baby has grown into Bill Boyd, or at least his character, Bill Holbrook.
At the time of the movie, Boyd at age thirty six looks somewhat heavier around the middle than he would as his alter ego, Hopalong Cassidy.
When Bill discovers tungsten ore on Cameron's property, he throws in with the Cameron's to develop a mining operation and get closer to Miss Mary Ellen (Helen Twelvetrees).Most self references to "The Painted Desert" use the opportunity to promote the movie as the first speaking role for Clark Gable.
You can tell his acting is a bit forced, especially in the final confrontation with Bill when he outs himself.As others have mentioned, the lack of typical Western style action is apparent, but what makes the film difficult for a lot of viewers is that every...
The Painted Desert (1931)Two wondering cowpokes, Cash Holbrook (William Farnum) and Jeff Cameron (J.
Guns are even drawn and Cash leaves in a huff with the baby.These two become bitter rivals years later when young Bill Holbrook (William Boyd) and Jeff's daughter, Mary Ellen Cameron (Helen Twelvetrees) become adults.
Cash sneaks his cattle onto Jeff's land to drink from his water and a gun battle almost ensues.This is where a wondering stranger rides onto the property, Rance Brett (Clark Gable) who offers to be an extra gun for Jeff and Mary Ellen.Meanwhile, Bill see's the ridiculousness of this feud.
This is an old western with old stage and silent era acting styles that come off more funny to watch with today's eyes.
This is one of Clark Gable's first talkies, and you know he's the heavy in this movie and frankly is the most three dimensional character in the whole film.
William Boyd, who later is known for TV's Hopalong Cassidy is your typical stiff blond hero in all this..
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.
"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.
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.
Farrell MacDonald and silent-movie-sinister William Farnum who make all the running.
"The Painted Desert" (1931) is an interesting old (tight budgeted) western.
Jeff Cameron, the man who finds him, wants to raise him.
Bill 'Cash' Holbrook steals the baby daring Jeff to try to stop him.
There will be no gun play.Jeff marries and has a daughter, Mary Ellen.
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)..
William Boyd before Hopalong Cassidy--and a little early Clark Gable.
An inferior, low-budget western, whose only distinction is a very early part played by Clark Gablehe's not a good guy.
The main star is the incredibly wooden William Boyd in his pre-Hopalong Cassidy days.