It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Fred M. Wilcox returned to direct Lassie in his third film, but this is not a continuation of "Son Of Lassie", though original costar Elizabeth Taylor does return as a new character called Kathie Merrick, who rescues a collie pup, and names it Bill(Lassie is not the name here, despite the title!) whom she raises as a sheep-herder, until one day he is hit by a truck and taken to a veterinarian. Bill's life is saved, but is not identified, so is instead sent off as a war dog to assist soldiers in the trenches. Sadly, this experience turns Bill vicious, and upon his return home becomes a livestock killer. Can Kathie convince the court not to put Bill down? Strange film is mostly an uninspired rehash of the first two(unrelated) pictures, when it would have been far wiser to just continue that story, instead of creating this one. A wasted opportunity.

The third movie in the Lassie series, this one confusingly stars a male dog named Pal playing a female dog named Lassie playing a male dog named Bill, who is then, in the course of the film re-named Duke. Got that? I guess it's not that important. Bill (terrible name for a dog) is born on an island. His mother's master rescues the mother and the rest of the litter, but doesn't see Bill, who then grows up in the wild. The wild, which is populated by a trained bear and some other animals. After growing up to adulthood, Bill is surprisingly non-feral and is discovered by a 14 year-old Elizabeth Taylor. Right after Taylor finds him, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer shoots him with bird shot. Taylor cares for him until he's well again, with the help of Frank Morgan. Then Bill is hit by an Army truck (the poor damn dog can't get a break). After he regains his strength again, the Army guys take him to Japan (or maybe Europe), where they use him as, I don't know, a decoy to draw enemy fire. He finally gets back to America and finds his way back to Elizabeth Taylor, but not before he kills some farm chickens. He's put on trial (!) and gets the death penalty. Frank Morgan saves him after discovering he was an Army dog and understanding he has post-traumatic stress syndrome. Anyway, this is obviously mind-numbingly stupid, and it provides a few good laughs that way in its run. It's filmed in a pretty Technicolor. But it's not worth seeing, obviously. As, I suppose, I watched this in honor of Taylor, I should say a brief word about her. She's a sweet kid, and, like in National Velvet, a pretty good actress already. The film is so silly, though, and she's not really in it that much that she can hardly save it.

I'm reading glimpses of other reviews here and many are a bit skeptical of this movie and of Lassie being a shell shocked war vet. Well I grew up watching Lassie the 50's TV show and I must admit I'm very partial to everything I've seen with Lassie in it. Yes we should all know that Lassie was played by more than one dog (its obvious that thats the way they make dog movies, isn't it?), that Lassie was a female, all that geeky stuff, I say whatever. I was not expecting anything from this movie and had it on in the background as I was surfing the web this morning and doing other tasks, I ended up getting very focused on this film! It's just another testament that if it's a Lassie movie, it's good entertainment. I wish I had watched this with my now teenage daughter while we had the opportunity, I know it would have strengthened our relationship at least just a little. Work overseas and divorce tell me that wont happen any time soon (if ever). If I ever get the chance no matter how old she is I'll try to see this at home with her. It has Liz Taylor and her pet's loving bond in Lassie which is very wholesome, it also has a lot of adult overtones with war and such, so it should keep any mature adult interested. In todays overly skeptical world, I'm happy I have not fallen into the trap to not really enjoy a Lassie movie. 8 of 10.

After emoting so sincerely in "National Velvet", Elizabeth Taylor looks almost forced into this absurd scenario: Collie pup, separated from its family, raises itself in the woods before finding the love of a dedicated young lass, and then--for reasons almost indescribable--is adopted into the Army! Opening nature shots are hilariously 'wholesome': we get birds, a bunny rabbit, and a man in a boat (who yells at a bird to hold its tongue!). Lassie plays the Collie (here called Bill, and later Duke!), and it's a strenuous part even for a dog. Taylor shows the same moony-eyed strength and determination she showed as Velvet Brown, but this part is a mere whisper of her last. After appearing in 1943's "Lassie Come Home", this must've seemed like a step backwards for the young star. It's a tearjerker via the doghouse. ** from ****