Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

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.

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.

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.

... 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.