The Painted Desert The Painted Desert The Painted Desert is a 1931 American pre-Code film released by Pathé Exchange. Produced by E. B. Derr, it was directed by Howard Higgin, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Tom Buckingham. It starred low-budget Western stars William Boyd (in his pre-Hopalong Cassidy days) and Helen Twelvetrees, and featured a young Clark Gable in his talking film debut. The picture was shot mostly on location in Arizona. Two cowboy friends, Jeff (J. Farrell MacDonald) and Cash (William Farnum), are traveling through the desert in the southwest U.S., when they come upon a baby who has been abandoned
Painted Desert Inn as the Stone Tree House due to much local petrified wood used in its architectural elements. After post-war design revisions by architect Mary Jane Colter, it was operated by the Fred Harvey Company as a Harvey House from 1947 to 1963, when it closed. Demolition was proposed in the mid-1970s, but after public protests the building was reopened for limited use in 1976. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987. The main lodge building of the Painted Desert Inn was extensively rehabilitated and restored, reopening as a museum and bookstore in 2006. Overnight accommodations and food service are