The Painted Hills (1951)
“Loyalty has a long memory.”
Streamed free from the Internet Archive · no signup, no cost — this film is in the public domain.
Synopsis
MGM's Technicolor Lassie adventure sends the famous collie into the California gold country, where she avenges her murdered master. Based on Alexander Hull's novel "Shep of the Painted Hills," it pairs frontier melodrama with the studio's family-friendly animal star. Pal, the original Lassie, headlines.
Cast
About the Director
Harold F. Kress — Harold F. Kress, primarily an editor, directed this final entry in MGM's Lassie feature series with an emphasis on Technicolor landscapes and the dog's heroics, shooting in the California hills where the story is set.
Why It’s Free: The Public-Domain Story
The film is in the US public domain because MGM neglected to file the copyright renewal in 1979, along with seven other MGM titles from the first half of 1951. The lapse left the film freely usable as an audiovisual work.
Behind the Scenes
This was the last of MGM's theatrical Lassie features. It adapts Alexander Hull's novel "Shep of the Painted Hills," with the gold-rush setting shot on California locations.
Did You Know?
- Pal, the original canine Lassie, plays the lead dog role, billed within the story as Shep.
- It was MGM's final Lassie theatrical feature before the franchise moved to television.
- One archive print exhibits a heavy blue color cast typical of aged Technicolor sources.
Reception & Legacy
Critics treated it as modest family fare, but it remains a nostalgic favorite for Lassie fans, and its public-domain status keeps it in wide circulation.
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