The Painted Trail (1938) User Reviews

Very good

[dbborroughs · 7/10 · 27 February 2010]

Tom Keene, who is rapidly becoming one of my favorite western actors, stars as Tom Gray a government agent who is called back into action to help stop cattle smuggling (and worse) along the Texas Mexico border. Posing as the Pecos Kid he runs into trouble when he meets a young woman who knows him from a previous assignment.

Its a rip roaring action film thats a great deal of fun. It doesn't completely follow the typical formula to the letter and its better for it. Its a wonderful western, even for those who don't like westerns.

Sure its mindless but its was a great way to spend 50 minutes

7 out of 10

OK 30's B-Western

[Snow Leopard · 25 July 2001]

An average B-Western, "The Painted Trail" has a stock plot and routine characters, but contains a reasonable amount of action, and the acting is not too bad. It stars Tom Keene as a US Marshall who tries to infiltrate a gang of smugglers and cattle rustlers, in an attempt to gather evidence about their activities. This idea wasn't even new in the 30's, and the story that follows is almost completely predictable after the first couple of scenes. Keene is likable enough (even if his acting is nothing special) to help make you want to see whether or not he can pull it off. There's not all that much here, but it's watchable for those who like Westerns of the era.