The Painted Desert

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For other uses, see Painted Desert

The Painted Desert
DVD cover for the film
Directed by	Howard Higgin
Produced by	E. B. Derr
Written by	Tom Buckingham
Starring	William Boyd Clark Gable
Music by	Francis Gromon
Cinematography	Edward Snyder
Editing by	Clarence Kolster
Distributed by	RKO Radio Pictures
Release date(s)	7 March 1931
Country	United States
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Painted Desert (1931) is a film released by RKO Radio Pictures which marks the debut of Clark Gable in a talkie. Gable's performance as Rance Brett, an unshaven former criminal who does not feel sorry about the crimes he has committed, made him an important supporting actor overnight as the result of an avalanche of unexpected fan mail and opened the door for him to become "The King of Hollywood" during the 1930s.

Gable's extraordinarily powerful voice proved extremely effective for sound films. The low-budget Western starred William Boyd in his pre-Hopalong Cassidy days as well as early sound starlet Helen Twelvetrees. Oddly, another actor with a powerful voice, Robert Mitchum, also started out playing a bearded villain in a William Boyd movie twelve years later. Both Gable and Mitchum drew so much fan mail that the studios had no choice but to take notice.

[edit] Cast

William Boyd ... Bill Holbrook (as Bill Boyd)
Helen Twelvetrees ... Mary Ellen Cameron
William Farnum ... Bill 'Cash' Holbrook
J. Farrell MacDonald ... Jeff Cameron
Clark Gable ... Rance Brett
Charles Sellon ... Tonopah
Hugh Adams ... 'Dynamite'
Wade Boteler ... Bob Carson - Ore Wagon #1 Driver
Will Walling ... Kirby
Edmund Breese ... Judge Matthews
Edward Hearn ... Tex (as Guy Edward Hearn)
William Le Maire ... Denver (as William LeMaire)
Richard Cramer ... Provney - Ore Wagon #1 Shotgun Rider