The Painted Desert 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 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
The Painted Stallion shot in the Coachella Valley, California. "The Painted Stallion"'s official release date is 5 June 1937, although this is actually the date the sixth chapter was made available to film exchanges. A 67-minute feature film version, created by editing the serial footage together, was released on 11 February 1938. It was one of fourteen feature films Republic made from their serials. In the early 1950s, "The Painted Stallion" was one of fourteen Republic serials edited into a television series. It was broadcast in six 26½-minute episodes. On December 27, 2005, a Region 0 DVD of the serial was released by