The Painted Desert

Plot

Two cowboy friends, Jeff (J. Farrell MacDonald) and Cash (William Farnum), are traveling through the desert in the southwest U.S., when they come upon a baby who has been abandoned in the back of a covered wagon. They cant leave the defenseless child, so decide to take the baby with them, however, they argue over which of them would be better suited to raising the child. When Cash ends up prevailing in the debate, this creates a lifelong rift between the two friends.

Years later the baby has now grown into a young man, Bill Holbrook (William Boyd), who works with his adoptive father on their cattle ranch. Cashs erstwhile friend, Jeff, has remained in the area where the infant was found and has established his own ranch, centered on the water hole where the entire feud originally began, a feud which is still in full force. Jeff lives with his grown daughter, Mary Ellen (Helen Twelvetrees). The feud escalates when Cash wants to use the water hole on Jeffs property to water his cattle. Jeff is ready to confront Cash in a stand-off, preventing him from watering his cattle on the property Jeff has claimed, assisted by an itinerant cowboy, Rance Brett (Clark Gable), who has been smitten with Mary Ellens beauty. The confrontation is temporarily avoided when Cashs herd unexpectedly stampedes.

When Bill discovers tungsten on Jeffs property, he attempts to use it to close the division between his father and Jeff, however this only results in his father kicking him out. He turns to Jeff, and begins a mining operation, which actually has the opposite effect of Bills original intention, only exacerbating the tension between Jeff and Cash. Bill and Jeffs partnership also causes tension with Rance, since Mary Ellen now shows an interest in Bill. After a shipment of tungsten which was on its way to pay the loan they had taken out to develop the mine is waylaid, Bill works furiously with the minors to replace it with another load. He is successful. However, as he is celebrating the success of the mine, as well as his impending nuptials with Mary Ellen, the mine is sabotaged by a series of explosions.

Everyone believes the mines sabotage is the work of Cash, but it turns out to have been an act of jealousy on the part of Rance, who confesses, leaving the two old friends to reconcile, and their two children to marry.

Cast (in credits order)

(Cast list as per named cast members on the AFI database)

Production

The Painted Desert was put on the slate by Pathe Exchange in June 1930. In July it was announced that E.B. Derr had selected Higgin to direct the film, as well as naming the stars of the film, William Boyd and Dorothy Burgess. Later in the month it was reported that Higgin would head to Arizona to begin location scouting for the film, accompanied by fellow director, Tay Garnett, however in August Higgin began scouting in the Arizona desert with the screenwriter, Tom Buckingham. It was also announced that the film would employ over 300 extras. Higgin was familiar with the area, having working in and around Flagstaff, Arizona as a lumberjack prior to his entering the film industry. Towards the end of August it was announced that Clark Gable would join the cast as the antagonist.

In September it was announced that Helen Twelvetrees had replaced Burgess in the cast. Tragedy struck the production shortly after filming began when the fourteen-month-old baby playing the role of the infant Bill Holbrook, died while on location. Cause of death was not released. The infants name was Thais Baer, and she was from Glendale, Arizona. Thais mother, Thelma Baer, was on set during the filming, as well. They both fell ill and the remoteness of the location delayed getting them medical attention. Thelma was stronger than baby Thais and survived. 

Bert Gilroy was named as assistant director, and production began the first week of September. Shortly after, it was announced that William Farnum and J. Farrell MacDonald had been added to the cast. During production, Charles Craig was replaced in the cast by Jerry Drew. During production, somewhere between twelve and forty actors were seriously injured in a dynamite explosion when the charge went off early during filming, and two crew members lost their lives; the injured included the director, Howard Higgin.

The films release was delayed several times. In early October the films release was announced to be October 26, but by late October that release date was pushed back, to a premiere date of November 20. In the first week of November the cast and crew returned from location in Arizona to finish the interior scenes on the studio lot in Hollywood. Ninety percent of the film was shot in Arizona, between the Painted Desert, in Dinosaur Canyon and in Tuba City, Arizona, as well as a nearby Indian reservation. In mid-November it was reported that the recording portion of the film had been completed. Clarence Kolster edited the film during December 1930. By November, advertisements promoting the film were being released to the trade papers.

Produced by Pathe Exchange, the film would become part of the RKO Radio Pictures library when they purchased the studio in March, after which they took over distribution of the film.

Reception

Most reviews of the film were positive. Motion Picture Magazine thought the film was "worth seeing", and complimented the films acting, message and cinematography. They stated that you while you could call the plot "... hokum if you will, its the hokum of which life is made and the spectacle of the clasped hands at the end brings an authentic thrill". The National Board of Review Magazine called the film an "exciting and well done" melodrama.

Picture Play magazine was less kind, who while complimented the acting, commented that it could not "...make a picture unaided by a story", and declaring the film was "duller and more pointless picture ..." than any they had ever seen.