The Painted Hills (1951) User Reviews

In the tradition of Fred C. Dobbs

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 21 October 2017]

Another reviewer remarked that The Painted Hills was "startlingly dark" for a Lassie film. After watching it I would have to agree. It's also while not Citizen Kane material not as bad as some make it out.

I have a theory on that. This is supposed to be a family film, but Bruce Cowling isn't a family film type villain. He's an ordinary guy who succumbs to the traditions of gold fever. Fred C. Dobbs never got as psychotic as this guy when he decides he doesn't want to split the strike that his partner Paul Kelly has uncovered, neither with Kelly or Ann Doran widow of a third partner who has a son Gary Gray.

Lassie is called Shep in this film, but it's our beloved collie just the same. Shep is the only witness to what happened to Kelly. Man can't prove anything that can stand up in a court of law, but the collie knows the story and the collie settles accounts in a manner worthy of a Corleone.

The Painted Hills is from MGM's B picture unit. I'd give this one a look, not as bad as some reviewers make it out.

A not quite as family-friendly Lassie film.

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 16 July 2018]

"The Painted Hills" is the last Lassie film from MGM and it's also one of the weakest. It's not exactly a bad movie but was a tad disappointing...mostly because it was such a dark story. Imagine combining "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" with a doggy picture!

Lassie's owner is a nice prospector (Paul Kelly). However, once he discovers gold, his partner slowly loses his mind--imagining all sorts of folks coming to steal HIS gold. It becomes worse...and he begins to plot against his partner and eventually does the unthinkable. Lassie just instinctively knows what'll happen and by the end of the story, he's dispensed justice for his dead master!

Greed, murder and revenge...this is not exactly "Lassie Come Home" and its dark story, though interesting, isn't what audiences were hoping to see...and kids wouldn't particularly enjoy. A very strange but watchable film.

A Lassie movie for who exactly?

[mbhur · 5/10 · 24 August 2020]

Taken on its own terms, I don't think this is a bad movie, but the question remains, What was MGM thinking? You would think that any Lassie movie, especially one with the dog's name above the title, would be aimed at family audiences, but this tale of greed, murder, and revenge in gold rush country is miles away from the warm sentimentality of "Lassie Come Home." There is a long extended sequence of Lassie whimpering in pain and crawling through the dirt for what seems like miles after being poisoned. As a dog lover this was difficult for me to watch, so I can only imagine the effect it might have on young kids. It was also weird to see Lassie baring his fangs and attacking to kill. (Though I guess you could argue it gave the dog a chance to show dramatic range).

Two years before this movie, MGM did another somewhat unconventional Lassie movie, "The Sun Comes Up," in which Jeanette McDonald blames Lassie for her son's death. But she is won over by the loveable collie, and the movie has a warm, sentimental ending. There is very little sentiment in "The Painted Hills."

Jeanette McDonald was a big star. I guess by 1951 Lassie was on the way out in terms of a feature film career, because the biggest human actor in this movie is Paul Kelly. Kelly was a good actor, but more character actor than star. His grizzled old prospector was weird casting for an actor who mostly played tough cops (and sometimes hoods) in crime movies. He's unrecognizable in white wig and beard, but I'm guessing he was glad of that?

One final note. A few reviewers have blasted the movie for its stereotypical portrayal of Native Americans, but I would point out that they are shown as being good and kind people. The wise elder is the one who saves Lassie from the poisoning. (Though it's unclear exactly what he did.)

Stands Strongly On Its Own

[dougdoepke · 8 May 2022]

Plot - A wilderness prospector discovers gold dust, but is undermined by a greedy partner, even as his faithful dog and orphaned boy try to defend their cabin and survive the partner's growing greed.

I can't quite fathom why this little adventure flick is so derided by critics. That may be because developments don't adhere to the usual benchmarks from the series as a whole. In fact, the storyline stands robustly on its own, departure or not, with a number of unexpected developments, plus great location photography and drama surrounding high peaks, soaring clouds, and drop-off cliffs. Then too, if there're studio backdrops to this scenery, I couldn't spot them. But then MGM was a big-budget studio, and it looks like they popped an expense even for this programmer. No, the acting won't get awards, but I do like the way the Native Americans are blended-in in humanizing fashion. Good also to see usual villain Paul Kelly playing a good guy for a change. And, of course, there's Shep (Lassie) as always winning more fans for our 4-footed friends. Anyway, in my little book, the flick's a grabber for both front-row kids and second-row adults, especially if you like scenic adventure. So give it a try.

Not feeling suicidal enough? This is the movie for you!

[Torgo_Approves · 1/10 · 30 December 2006]

A Lassie movie which should have been "put to sleep".... FOREVER. That's how I'd describe this painfully dreary time-waster of a film. So mediocre in every aspect that it just becomes a dull, uninteresting mess, this is one of the most forgettable movies I've seen. It isn't even an achievement as a "so-bad-it's-good" or "so-bad-it's-memorable" movie. The idea of Lassie turning bad is intriguing but so little actually happens, and so slowly, that you feel your life slipping away while sitting there, watching the non-actors read their lines off cue cards waiting for their measly paychecks.

It's an empty, hollow shell of a movie. Seriously, it's not worth wasting your, or your kid's time on. Unless you're both heavily medicated. That's all I have to say.

Avoid, avoid, avoid! It will drive you barking mad! Hahahah, get it? BARKING! Hahahahahahaha!

Sorry, I've had a rough week.

The Reason They Stopped Making Lassie Films?

[jonspader · 2/10 · 13 May 2005]

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!

Reviewing the reviews

[mvickers-1 · 5/10 · 21 October 2017]

Occasionally, the reviews of movies are much worse than the movie, and this is one of those occasions, bec, to view any animal movie from an anthropomorphic pov is just plain silly. Great acting isn't really an option. It's just a sappy animal movie, the Lassie name is just a 'trademark', and there were many Lassies, male and female, bec one dog can't do all behaviors, and that's about all that can be said. So, as for Pal's acting, if it was all his, it was very well done, esp the 1st attack scene, and esp for a Collie. And for kids of x age; they'd love it. Transformers: Age of Extinction - Great effects, giving the Asian Tran a stereotypical accent was as bad as tha Anerinds'

Lassie should hang her head in shame

[Dextrousleftie · 2/10 · 18 December 2006]

Pretty bad. This film about a grizzled(and frankly rock stupid) old prospector and his dog'Shep' i.e., Lassie, as well as an annoying kid whose name I can't recall at the moment. At the beginning of the movie, the old prospector has DELIBERATELY buried himself in some sand so that the poor dog will have to dig him out. Why? Did he hate the dog? Anyhoo, somehow or other this idiot has managed to strike gold, and goes to tell his partner. But the man has died, and his sleazy other partner is happy to assist old Jonathan in digging up the gold. The geezer tries to leave is dog with the dead guy's son, but not even the retarded mutt wants to stay with this kid. There's quaint old preacher(for quaint read smelly), and the oily guy finished off the old guy(surprise, surprise) and tries to steal all the gold. Plus he poisons the dog and tries to kill the kid, too. So I suppose its okay that a devilish and crazy Lassie..err...SHEP does this the guy in at the end, although its pretty disturbing in what is basically a children's movie. There are extremely stereotypical(to the point of racial slur) 'Native Americans' who speak without using verbs(as in, Me Make Camp Fire type speech). And that's pretty much the extent of the cast, because apparently Lassie's salary was too big for them to hire anyone else. Kind of dull. not very interesting, and a tad too dark. Not a great movie in any way.

The worst of the Lassie movies

[TheOneManBoxOffice · 2/10 · 4 August 2015]

Movies that were made by MGM in the 1950s and before were known for their high quality in terms of filmmaking. They were also responsible for distributing a good majority of movies featuring the famous dog Lassie. Unfortunately, like any other studio, they have a few bad films under their belt, and one of them happened to feature Lassie. Say hi to 1951's "The Painted Hills", which is often considered to be the worst of the Lassie movies, and for good reason.

The movie goes like this: Jonathan, a gold prospector that hit pay dirt, but unfortunately, his partner has recently died, leaving his only son Tommy without a father. Jonathan, who is the owner of a dog named Shep (played by Lassie), decides to give Tommy the dog so that he won't be alone. In the meantime, Jonathan gets a new partner named Lin (our villain), who is interested in keeping the gold all to himself, and would even kill to get it all, which is what he does. Lass--I mean, Shep, finds out what happened and then tries to warn Tommy. So, in short, it's a revenge story about a backstabbing partner whose plan is ultimately foiled and is killed by one of the most recognizable dogs in movies and television.

This movie is the equivalent to that of a really bad Lassie episode, in that the acting is pretty horrible, as if every actor is reading off a cue card held by the director. The story, as you can clearly see from the synopsis I've just given, is rather basic and cookie-cut that you can easily predict what will happen next, making it not even worth sitting through, despite its short running time of approximately one hour. That is, unless you watch the film via Mystery Science Theater 3000, which is what most people have done. That's right. The movie was bad enough to warrant an MST3K episode, and seeing that the movie is in the public domain, it's basically open season for anyone willing to riff the hell out of it.

If you find this movie in a bargain bin, don't even bother picking it up. Even if you're wanting to give it to your kids for them to watch, don't even bother. They'll probably want to watch something else, most likely a Disney film, or probably any movie other than this.

This really is better than its reputation...

[AlsExGal · 6/10 · 14 July 2013]

... and I watched it yesterday already knowing the very low IMDb ratings. But seriously, everything Marion Davies ever did gets an 8/10 on this site and this gets 3/10??? I don't think so.

You can tell that this was not one of MGM's A List productions. No Liz Taylor, Edmund Gwenn, or Donald Crisp. Plus the story has been transferred to the pioneer days of the American west. The biggest recognizable star in the film besides Lassie herself (actually himself, since Lassie was played by Pal, a male dog) is Paul Kelly as an old prospector and Shep's (Lassie's) owner, and Mr. Kelly is practically unrecognizable. He's only 52 at this point, but he's donned up in whiskers and makeup that make him look like a thin version of Santa Claus. His hands clearly show he is not as old as the role he is playing.

This Lassie story is a bit different, besides just the move from Scotland. Lassie usually plays the passive lovable dog waiting for the good-hearted yet hard-headed Scots that are to decide her fate to come to their senses. Here Lassie has a more Clint Eastwood-like aggressive posture towards the man who killed her master for his gold and attempted to poison her and goes full fang on the guy at every opportunity producing a very ironic and just ending. By the way who names a female dog "Shep" anyways??? Paul Kelly is good as the prospector and master of Shep/Lassie except it is clear that he doesn't trust his partner, begging the question, why did he make this obviously nefarious fellow a partner in the first place? Bruce Cowling is absolutely awful as the villainous partner. He has a demeanor that would be better suited to a B scifi film of the 50's rather than this action adventure film. He is always looking up and around with a horrified expression on his face as though he expects an alien spacecraft to land at any moment. Gary Gray gives a good but not great juvenile performance as the murdered prospector's grandson - I didn't find him whiny at all. Native Americans are hammily and stereotypically portrayed, but at least they show them as seeming to be the only people for 100 miles around who know anything about veterinary medicine, even if one good stereotype doesn't wipe out the negative ones.

If you like or love the other Lassie films I'd say give this one a try. It's not boring and most of the film is focused on Lassie.

The golden fur of a dog will defeat the not so golden greed of man.

[mark.waltz · 3/10 · 27 January 2023]

Not really a Lassie movie outside of the fact that a Lassie look alike played by male collie (Pal, playing the heroic Shep) is the heroic pooch out to protect young Gary Gray from the evil Bruce Cowling, a genuinely nasty man who tries to steal the gold that Paul Kelly and his late partner (Gray's father) have found. The widowed mother (Colleen Gray) definitely needs protection as well as Cowling won't stop until he achieves his evil goal which apparently also includes trying to poison Shep. Cowling is so obvious a villain that the script makes it hard to believe that the adults can't see through him from the start, and it's unfortunate that his performance doesn't even seem to hide the fact that he's a dastardly killer.

There are so many ridiculous plot holes and twists that is easy to see why this was a fiasco at the time, and the core of these continuity errors starts with Shep's reactions to Cowling and what happens after he is poisoned, with another dog out of nowhere seemingly coming to his rescue, followed by two Indian braves and the chief of the tribe. Shep, suffering in pain, makes his way to a stream to drink some water which is apparently the magic mirror, and it's because of the sudden presence of the other dog, never seen again as well as the natives, that gives him a second strength to go after the villain. Shep spends much of the film purposely taunting Cowling, crying in a way that makes him think that he's managed to shoot the dog, yet continuing to follow him up into the mountains where Shep plans his revenge. Definitely not the lighthearted Lassie of the Liz Taylor years, and probably one that had kids in 1951 aghast by what they were watching. Ultimately hokey and ugly and unbelievable.

...or, Revenge of Lassie!

[PaulCurt · 7/10 · 4 July 2002]

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?

Lassie as Shep takes on her owner's killer!

[Aaron1375 · 3/10 · 20 December 2014]

I caught this 'Lassie' movie on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, and suffice to say, it was unlike any other Lassie movie I had seen as a child. It is by far the darkest Lassie film I had seen and Lassie does not save the day simply by barking and people figuring out that Timmy has fallen into the well. However, it is not that good of a film, a bit of a slow starter with a pointless plot twist or two before the epic confrontation between Lassie or Shep as it were and her owner's killer! Granted, Lassie herself is a boy dog named Pal meaning the film is Shep played by Lassie, played by Pal.

The story has a prospector who is close to striking gold; unfortunately, his old partner has died leaving the son crushed. Well, the prospector has a dog that he tries to give to the boy, but the dog does not care too much for the new arrangements and instead goes back to her old owner. Well a man who teams up with the prospector to find the ultimate vein of gold; unfortunately, the man is of course greedy beyond belief and it is not too long before the prospector knows of the man's ill intent. Well, not soon enough to save himself. Soon it is up to Shep the dog to avenge her owner as she must be poisoned, shot and chased into the frozen mountains to finally get revenge for her owner!

This made for a pretty good episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. It did start off a bit weak, mind you, as I was thinking that the short that preceded this film about hygiene was going to be the highlight, but the film picks up greatly once Lassie's owner is killed and Lassie begins her quest for revenge. Once that begins the laughter and riffs are in high gear especially during the chase sequence as for reasons unknown the killer is more affected by the cold than is a dog that is soaking wet.

So this 'Lassie' film gets points for being different I guess, but it is hardly a Lassie film when the dog in the film is called Shep and the dog that is supposedly Lassie is named Pal. These days you do not get many dog stars, but back in the day it was more normal. No stars would probably be caught dead having to have second billing to a dog these days including porno stars! The film had some dark elements to it so probably a bit rougher than what many parents were expecting from a Lassie film, but nothing that is all that extreme by today's standards. However, not a very good film either so they'd probably be better skipping this one all together.

Dog gone justice

[jarrodmcdonald-1 · 30 May 2022]

THE PAINTED HILLS was MGM's seventh and final installment in the popular Lassie series. It does not feature Elizabeth Taylor, Roddy McDowall or Claude Jarman like the previous films did. But it has Gary Gray who had been at the studio for ten years...he has a winning smile and good screen presence. More importantly, he works well with Pal, the canine performer who plays the main character.

Pal is billed as Lassie in the opening credits, and while he played "Lassie" in the previous films, he is playing a different character named Shep in this picture. That's because the script is based on Alexander Hull's bestselling novel from 1930, which audiences would have been familiar with, and it was probably a condition in obtaining the literary rights to the story that the dog be called Shep, not Lassie.

As you can see with the book's cover art, the dog looks more like a wolf...and while Hull was supposedly writing about a rough collie not a docile border collie, my guess is that Hull's mind was really thinking along the lines of a German Shepherd when he was creating the character. It would explain the dog's aggressive behavior at key points in the narrative, as well as the name Shep itself, which seems derivative of Shepherd as in German Shepherd.

Since Pal was under contract at the studio, and was the one that had a huge fanbase, we can accept him in the role. If nothing else, chalk it up to dramatic license. I do have to say that the dog's training is exceptional. When the script calls for him to behave gently, he's easily up to the task, but he can also switch into ferocious mode when needed.

And there are a lot of ferocious elements in the plot. It involves an aging prospector living in the California hills during the gold rush days. Paul Kelly has been assigned the role of the old man, despite being much younger than the part he's playing. Kelly's character has spent a long time in the hills eking out a meager existence, following his gut instinct that there must be a rich vein of gold ore nearby.

While continuing to dig for treasure, he is joined by his faithful companion Shep. They are like two peas in a pod and go everywhere together. One place they visit at Christmastime is the home of his godson (Gray) whose father recently died. Gray forms an attachment to the dog, and he joins Kelly and the animal on their digs.

Meanwhile, a lawyer has been sniffing around Gray's mother (Ann Doran) and he learns Kelly found some small nuggets and may be close to striking a mother lode. The role of the lawyer is played by MGM contract player Bruce Cowling, who usually specialized in villainous characters. This is no exception. The lawyer is a crook and while befriending Kelly, the boy and the dog, he plans to take all the gold for himself.

There is a wonderful montage where the characters are digging and panning gold, filmed on location in the California hills. Lassie/Shep is directly involved, and it's fun to watch. But after these feel-good moments, the story turns dark. Kelly suspects the lawyer plans to file a claim with an assayer behind his back. He also worries that the lawyer may do something dangerous, so he sends the boy away.

In the next sequence, the lawyer leads him to a hilltop where he insists he found the mother lode. But there is no gold there, just a confrontation between the two men. Shep watches as the lawyer pushes the old prospector off the cliff in a horrifying scene. The lawyer then decides to get rid of the dog, and he poisons Shep's food. Shep survives because some concerned natives find him dying along the road and nurse him back to health.

At the same time Gray learns the dog nearly died, and he returns to the cabin. He does not find his godfather, only the lawyer. Shep shows the boy where Kelly's body was buried. The lawyer insists the old man died because of an accidental fall. The boy spends the night at the cabin, but this is not a safe environment. The lawyer still wants to get rid of Shep.

Some tropes occur. A pastor stops by the cabin the next day but doesn't believe the boy's story about a possible murder. Also, the boy is at the mercy of the lawyer, but is somehow spared. When the boy leaves with the pastor, to return to his mother, it is up to Shep to carry out justice. There is a climactic finale, where Shep is chased up the hill by our gun-toting villain who intends to blast him to smithereens. However, Shep is too smart and lures the big bad man to the edge of a snowy peak, so he will fall off the cliff the same way the old man did. It's karmic fate. The dog is then reunited with the boy, and that's how it should be.

Lassie gets put down would be better.

[AHOLDER-1 · 1/10 · 28 February 2018]

Bad acting makes this drivel even worse. Poor script and dialog. Bland story.

My first Lassie movie!

[ericstevenson · 5/10 · 3 December 2016]

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. **

He knows the law of these hills and he lives by it

[sol1218 · 6/10 · 11 February 2012]

***SPOILER*** The last of the seven Lassie films produced by MGM with Lassie, who for some strange reason is called Pal in the movie credits, playing a Collie named Shep. Shep is the loyal companion of gold prospector Jonathan Harvey, Paul Kelly, who ends up playing a Dirty Harry or Charles Bronson like role when his friend and master is brutally murdered by his prospector partner Lin Taylor, Bruce Cowling. It's Taylor who's paranoia reached homicidal proportions who went completely postal and murdered Jonathan by pushing him off a cliff. That in order for Taylor to have all the gold that the two were to share together with young Tommy Blake, Gary Gray, and his mom Martha Blake,Ann Doran, all for himself.

Lassie or Shep as she's called in the movie at first has her suspicions in what happened to her friend Jonathan but keeps them to herself until she find his broken body buried in the woods. It's Taylor who at first was a nice guy who took over the partnership of the gold mine that Jonathan had with Tommy's dad Frank who had since passed away from Pneumonia. It was greed that took hold of Taylor who soon became so crazy that he even accused and was about to shoot, that's until Jonathan stopped him, the kind friendly and bible thumping Pilot Pete, Art Smith, over trying to steal the gold he had hidden in his cabin. That's when Taylor caught Pete preparing supper for him Jonathan Tommy as well as Shep.

It's soon that Taylor starts to realize that Shep is on to him in her friends Jonathan's murder and plans to shut her up for good by feeding her poison laced chicken that the hungry dog, who hasn't been fed in days, wolfs down. It's was local Indian Medicine Man Bald Eagle, Chief Yowlachie, who saved Shep's life with his home made remedy of herbs and spices which not only brought Shap back to life but finally convinced her that it was Taylor who did in her friend Jonathan and tried to do her in as well!

***SPOILERS*** With Taylor now trying to knock off Tommy who, like Shep, knew he murdered Jonathan Shep springs to his rescue. With a determined Shep chasing him up the snow covered painted hills Taylor's luck runs out when he finds out, in trying to shoot Shep,that he's all out of ammunition. Shep not really interested in bringing Taylor back to civilization to face justice charges him causing Taylor to fall off a cliff, like he pushed Jonathan to his death, and die covered in the snow below.

A bit hard to take in Lassie or Shep completely out of character acting more like a vicious Pit-bull or Rottweiler attack dog then the sweet and loving Collie that we all grew to love over the years. But like the saying goes "Somebody has to do it" in stooping Taylor from murdering little Tommy, and it was Shep or Lassie who was the only one there on the scene to stop him!

Highly underrated movie of Lassie on a dead end on the rocky mountains!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 12 September 2023]

The lovely Collie Lassie after 10 movies and Series on 17 seasons conquered the American's hearts with her natural skills and fearless action to uphold her beloved owner, in The Painted Hills due the tragic outcome with the greedy man who killed his master, mostly of bad reviewers and low ratings gave by large majority due the dog revenge given a bad reputation of the movie despite the picture had many qualities on those breathtaking rocky mountains landscape and an exciting story as well.

The older prospector Jonathan Harvey (Paul Kelly) at last find out a clue where the lodestone in up river on high rocky mountains always escorted by his intrepid female Collie Shep (Lassie) he turns back to the city to warn his old partner about the finding, for his astonishment his partner already died steeply, thus the grieving widow Martha Black (Ann Doran) appoints his friend Lin Taylor (Bruce Cowling) a newest partner in order to replace his late husband on his share on gold prospecting, Martha has a little boy Tommy Blake (Gary Gray) that is invited Jonathan to work with them, soon they find a lot of gold thru the fast mining process, however the wiser Jonathan realizes that Lin Taylor is under extreme distress due he will keep with one quarter of gold only.

Jonathan thinking in advance stealthy order to Tommy returns to town and deliver to your mother the map to register officially the mining area on exactly location described in the letter, meanwhile the bleak Lin Taylor sets a plan to kill Jonathan as it was a mere accident, all this witnessed by the keeper Sheep, aftermaths perceiving the abrupt change of behavior of Sheep, then Lin Taylor poison his food, the local Indians got help the dying dog trying save her life, Tommy arrives and soon figures out all about the missing Jonathan and the poisoned Sheep, to worsen the large amount of gold stored in beneath of the wooden floor disappeared from the little cabin.

In my point of view this picture is highly underrated, a true gorgeous landscape on those high snowy rocky mountain, the rapids on the clean waters river, dense forest, attached with a moving storyline and the special skilled and stunning performance by the cross-trained marvelous Lassie, said that I'm very upset to see this valuable family movie in lowest rating.

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First watch: 1981 / How many: 3 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7.

Gold Fever.

[AaronCapenBanner · 6/10 · 16 November 2013]

Lassie's last film for MGM Studios(before the TV series) is a modest but entertaining family picture directed by Harold F. Kress and stars Paul Kelly as gold prospector Jonathan Garvey, who leaves Lassie with a fatherless boy(played by Gary Gray) but runs afoul of his greedy new partner Lin(played by Bruce Cowing) When Lassie discovers Jonathan has died, she suspects Lin's involvement, but is poisoned by him to stop her, but she recovers and exacts her own revenge... Not that well-liked for some reason, but this is at worst innocuous, and can certainly still be enjoyed by animal lovers. This picture fell in the public domain, but is available in a good print from ROAN DVD.

Okay, I guess, for this kind of thing

[Wizard-8 · 10 August 2014]

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.

Lassie Forever

[zbujic · 7/10 · 5 August 2019]

Good Movie ,not great but much better than today's movies.Faith in God, Love and Friendship are The most important Things in Life