the audience applauded

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

I wanted to but couldn't!

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Two prospectors come across an abandoned covered wagon - abandoned, that is, except for a baby. They have a disagreement, one stays to raise the baby and the other leaves, leaving his partner holding the bag, er, baby. Fast forward twenty-odd years, and the baby grows up to be William Boyd. The two prospectors are deadly enemies, and the grown-up baby tries to bring them together. Added bonus; the one who left now has a pretty daughter, a development not lost on the boy.The story is fairly interesting and could have been more so if the movie hadn't been cannibalized and crucial scenes removed for other movies. Several reviewers have mentioned some scenes have been taken out and with them much of the excitement was drained from the film. In addition, the acting is slow and deliberate giving the movie an artificial, stilted feel and will catch modern audiences off balance. 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 star of this film is William Boyd, who made a bunch of westerns for Pathe in his time. As a matter of fact, on the opening credits,Clark Gable isn't even listed. 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. The two fight over where to go next. Jeff Cameron wants to stay at the waterhole because "it is a grub stake" - all people driving cattle through will need this waterhole. Cash Holbrook wants to continue on to grazing land so he can raise cattle. He calls Jeff stubborn, and takes the baby too, daring Jeff to shoot because if he does, the baby will fall from Cash's arms and break his neck.About twenty years pass and Cash has become a wealthy cattleman. Not being ambitious in the old west has cost Jeff. He married, but his wife died in this harsh environment, and all he has left is his daughter, Mary Ellen (Helen Twelvetrees). 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. One night it is coming to a showdown. Cash is going to stampede his cattle to Jeff's watering hole and show him who is boss. Jeff and his daughter are prepared to shoot it out to stop him. 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. Cash is angry, and throws Bill (Bill Boyd) out. Bill went to mining school, discovers tungsten on Jeff's land, and enters into a mining partnership with his dad's sworn enemy.Now this is where the movie is weird. 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. I beg to disagree, because to me Cash IS a bad man up to this point. 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. Meanwhile somebody is sniping at the drivers who are taking the ore into town to the railroad, and then some dynamite disappears and the mine is blown to smithereens. Everybody on Jeff's place blames Cash, and it is up to Bill to stop another potential showdown and shootout. I'll let you watch and find out what happens.This film has absolutely no background music, which was common in early films, and much of the dialogue is very pedestrian. However, it is a good chance to see Gable in his first sound film, and although he hardly utters a word, you can see the beginning of "that Gable style".

Clark Gable in his first big role. He gets low billing but has plenty of screen time to make it appear as if he's one of the stars. Very interesting to see him as a villain in this early Western talkie. It's bigger than a B-western but not quite as fully formed as a feature film; it's somewhere in the middle. Beautiful Arizona locations but terrible production and poor acting aside from Gable and the leading lady, playing opposite western star William Boyd. This really isn't anything especially noteworthy except for Gable's appearance but I'm still glad I got to see it.5.7 / 10 stars--Zoooma, a Kat Pirate Screener

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. The chums "adopt" the boy, but argue over what to name him. Each man wants to pass on, through the child, their surname. Mr. Farnum steals away with the tot, who grows several decades, into adult Bill Boyd (as Bill Holbrook). 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. Note, Gable had about as much to say in "Du Barry, Woman of Passion" as in most of his silent films. Farnum, a huge star in the mid-teens, was in the talking "Du Barry", also. Considering the successful careers had by Farnum, Boyd and Gable, this film is quite disappointing. The dialogue comes out of everyone's mouth like molasses. A little fun to see the stars somewhat dimmer than usual. *** The Painted Desert (1/18/31) Howard Higgin ~ William Boyd, William Farnum, Clark Gable, Helen Twelvetrees