"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.

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.

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. **

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!