AutCuddly
Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,
ActuallyGlimmer
The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
Portia Hilton
Blistering performances.
Aaron1375
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.
sol1218
***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!
Jon Spader
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!
Paul Curtis
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?
