Lassie – The Painted Hills
Picture: C
Sound: C Extras: C- Film: C
Lassie is a franchise that has seen its best days gone by,
though the name still conjures up family entertainment. The last major feature was in the mid-1990s
and last major TV version had Leonardo DiCaprio. In the MGM-produced The Painted Hills, the gimmick was to
have Lassie play another dog named Shep and may have been intent on launching a
sub-franchise for the dog. It did not
work out.
MGM sold the character, which went on to big TV success
and from the results of this mixed film, you can see why. Shep is helping out 1870s miners, but no one
could save the standard, tired, almost formulaic script. The only plus is that this is not a jokey
piece and is fine for young children who like animal tales. Besides that, skip it.
The 1.33 X 1 image was originally issued in 3-strip
Technicolor when they would actually shoot three black and white strips, but
there is no evidence of those vibrant colors here. Instead, the colors are usually dull and not so good, while there
are detail limits and agedness in the transfer. On the other hand, there are some good moments of color and this
is still better than many TV prints in EastmanColor of various incarnations of
Lassie on the big and small screen going bad, so it could be worse. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is also average
and shows its age, especially being a few generations down. There only extra is text on the cast and
crew.
- Nicholas Sheffo
