Desert Killer (1952) User Reviews

The "killer" is just one big pussycat.

[jlewis77-1 · 6/10 · 19 March 2011]

Five year old "injun" Little Sure Foot has trouble guarding his flock of sheep against a marauding mountain lion in the mountains of Arizona. His daddy passed away recently and mom is too busy trying to earn a meager living selling her beaded crafts to tourists. Using a roly-poly puppy as a "gift exchange", he gets help from his grown up friend Marvin Glenn and his teenage son Warner, professional puma patrol.

What results is a one-reel outing that closely resembles the couple "bring 'em back alive" shorts (also done by Warner Brothers, as well as Paramount) featuring Florida's Ross Allen roping bobcats in the Everglades. Then again, the Out West cougar seen here looks a trifle less ferocious (despite the dubbed African lion sounds) than those smaller Easterners, even if his prey comes from the sheep and cattle herds. As usual, he does what most felines do best: climb a tree to flee the hounds and chew off his ropes.

With hokey cowpoke narration by Art Gilmore (previously heard in Joe McDoakes comedies and other "Sports Parades"), you just know the kiddies in the movie audience were hardly frighten by the heart-stoppin' adventures here. (In fact, most of you will question why this actually got Oscar nominated.)

Won't spoil the ending, but let's just say that this was made by the same director as several fluffy Walt Disney pics, like STORMY, THE THOROUGHBRED WITH AN INFERIORITY COMPLEX and the Oscar winner THE WETBACK HOUND. He alternated between Disney and Warner Bros. during the early fifties, also doing for Warner a cute seal-and-girl story STRANGER IN THE LIGHTHOUSE and a less critter friendly, but another nominee two years later, BEAUTY AND THE BULL featuring bullfighter Bette Ford.

Meh...

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 1 July 2013]

"Desert Killer" was nominated for Best Short Film, One Reel--so it could be assumed it's a pretty good picture. After seeing it, I am not so sure. When the film began, I was surprised to see that it was made in color--something unusual for a live action short back in 1952. The film looks a lot like a high quality home movie--not just in style but because the film has no sound--just narration and a few sound effects which were added later. The story is about a mountain lion which is being hunted by hunters since it's preying on their livestock. Hunters might enjoy watching the film--others might feel sorry for the animal. Regardless, it just didn't seem all that interesting and the narration was, at times, a bit too much. Perhaps it was a slow year at the Oscars.

not for today

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 17 December 2023]

Surefoot is a 5 year old Indian boy in Arizona. He has to take care of the sheep herd after his father's death. His mother struggles to make ends meet with nobody stopping to buy her crafts. He finds a puppy but he can't keep it. He gives it to mountain lion hunter Marvin Glenn. Marvin and his son are on the trail of a lion.

This is an old Oscar nominated short. It is old in the sense that the narrator is calling native Americans "injun". On top of that, this is not going for the Peta crowd. The lion wrangling is fairly interesting. I expected muzzling the lion before trying to mount him onto the horse. This is definitely not for today.

A curious misfire of a real-life documentary short...

[Doylenf · 17 August 2011]

The only thing that keeps this one afloat is the capture of a cougar by a rancher and his son who know how to rope a mountain lion when he's up in a tree. Otherwise, the story surrounding that scene of capture is suspiciously drummed up by a screenwriter who spins a slight tale about an Indian boy and his encounter with the cowboy after the boy finds a pup that he must give away.

The Technicolor in this short is the film's greatest asset, as is the outdoor desert scenery--but the story is pure hokum.

Narrated by Art Gilmore, it does have a few tense moments once the rancher has managed to collar the cougar with a few ropes, but other than that the story is uninspired. Hard to believe this won an Oscar for best short subject back in 1952.

How Was This Oscar Nominated?

[boblipton · 4/10 · 29 May 2021]

Art Gilmore adopts an Old Coot way of speaking to narrate this story about a small Indian boy who has a cougar killing his sheep.

Gilmore's choice is very annoying. I suppose the fact that this short would make perfect sense without the narration, that it tells its story perfectly well visually impressed the people who made the short list in its category.

The copy that plays on Turner Classic Movies shows some degradation: mostly indications that it's drawn from a 16 mm print, with some fading of the color elements.

Nice short about roping a mountain lion and helping a neighbor

[SimonJack · 6/10 · 13 April 2021]

"Desert Killer" is a 10-minute short that Warner Brothers made in 1952. It was an extra on the DVD I purchased of "Starlift." It obviously wasn't shown with that film in theaters, because it was made a year later.

This is a voice-over film with no spoken roles by the cast. Most of the few people who appear aren't listed. Besides the narrator, Art Gilmore, the only cast listed is Marvin Glenn as himself, the rancher. A young fatherless native American boy seeks Glenn's help in tracking down a mountain lion that has killed one of his sheep.

Glenn is joined by his grown son in the chase. But after his dogs tree the big cat, Glenn has an idea to take the cat alive. The best part of this film shows the two men's attempts to rope, and final success in lassoing the cat, pulling it from the tree and then hog-tying it. They put it in a cage where the boy's mother tries to sell her crafts to motorists. But most just speed by. When the boy puts up a sign to stop and see the live wild lion, it gets tourists to stop and the woman's business takes off.

A nice little story about helping neighbors in more ways than one. Why six stars for such a film? Well, it wasn't a tame circus cat these guys roped and captured. This looks like a project where the camera went along on a real mountain lion hunt. This short was nominated for a short subject Academy Award.

The best line from the narrator is when the young Indian boy sheds a tear because he can't keep a puppy. "Sometimes, when you're only five, it's hard to remember you're supposed to be a man."

Oscar-Nominated Short from Warner

[Michael_Elliott · 17 July 2011]

Desert Killer (1952)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Oscar-nominated short tells the story of a 5-year-old Indian boy who gives a young puppy to a lion catcher who decides to return the favor in a special way. This "story" then mixes in with footage of the lion hunter going into the Arizona wilderness and capturing a dangerous mountain lion that has been stalking livestock. DESERT KILLER isn't a complete success due to some rather silly story elements but then again there aren't too many shorts out there showing how one would go about stalking and catching a mountain lion. The short runs just 9-minutes so one shouldn't expect a full documentary but the early stuff here is pretty lame and Art Gilmore's narration goes for a certain country twang that one really can't help but smile. Once the documentary stuff happens the film really picks up. The basic scene has the lion up in a tree and two men must try to rope it, get it down and eventually get it tied up. This sequence lasts maybe three or four minutes total but it contains some very nice suspense, although if you're extremely sensitive to animals being fought with you might want to skip the picture.