Strictly average movie

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Probably, the first of the stories about a dog that overcomes various obstacles to get back to what it considers home from hundreds of miles away. Obviously, MGM put a lot of thought and money into this production, which hopefully helped to cheer up a war-weary world. But, it doesn't take a world war to enjoy reruns of this classic., which spearheaded a series of Hollywood and TV sequels. Filmed in vibrant Technicolor, in various California locations, as well as Washington state, which substituted for the supposed Scotland and Yorkshire , England. ......The cast was perfectly selected, with Pal, a male collie, playing the central role of Lassie. Donald Crisp was always perfect for this type of role. I remember him in a rather similar role in "How Green Was my Valley". Else Lanchester plays his long-suffering wife, trying to feed her family, which included 14y.O. Roddy McDowell and Lassie, on virtually no income, as Crisp had been laid off as a coal miner. They finally came to the point where they had to sell Lassie, as their only significant asset. She was sold to the kindly Duke of Rudling, played by the charismatic Negel Bruce, who wants this beautiful dog as a show dog. However, she doesn't like the kennel keeper, Hynes(J. Pat O'Malley), who keeps her on a chain both inside her cage and outside on walks. She needs lots of time to be free to wander around and play. So, eventually, she gets free of Hynes and runs for the front gate. 11y.o. Elizabeth Taylor recognized that she was homesick, so opened the gate enough to let Lassie escape. She's starting her hundreds of miles odyssey from Scotland to Yorkshire. negotiating various forests, glens, shorelines and pastures. She is nearly killed by a rifle shot by a shepard(Alan Napier, and Arthur Shields), who suspected her of being a sheep killer. This is followed by a fight with their ferocious guard dog. Not injured seriously enough to sideline her, she continues onward, across a swollen river, laying exhausted on the other bank. A kindly elderly couple(played by Dame May Whitty and Ben Webster) take her in and nurse her back to health. But, eventually it's clear she has an agenda, and wants to be let free........ When she's nearly exhausted again, she meets a kindly old tinker(Edmund Gwenn) and his little dog Toots, out in a forest. Initially afraid, she soon accepts the food offered, and becomes friendly with Toots. But a crisis happens when a pair of thieves accost the tinker. Lassie and Toots help in beating them off, but Toots is killed. The tinker would like Lassie to take Toot's place, but recognizes that she wants her freedom. Lassie's last major hurdle is to outrun a pair of dog catchers. She has to jump out a second story window, and badly sprains or breaks a leg on landing, so that she has to limp the rest of the way home. You may rest assured that that things work out for Lassie, and between the Duke and Crisp, who part as friends.

A wonderful story about a boy and his dog. Possibly the first movie of that type too.Simple yet heart-warming plot, great cinematography and scenery and some great performances.Movie features some stars in the making. Roddy McDowall is hardly recognisable at 14 years old, and puts in a solid performance as the boy. Elizabeth Taylor was only 10/11, and acting in her second movie, when she appeared in this. Good supporting cast too.And let's not forget the performance of the dog who plays Lassie - great work from her.Great, classic, movie and suitable for all ages.

Fred M. Wilcox directed this popular adaptation of the Eric Knight novel that sees the debut of Lassie, a brave and loyal collie dog that lives in the Yorkshire home of the Carraclough family; Son Joe(played by Roddy McDowall) father Sam(played by Donald Crisp) and his wife(played by Elsa Lanchester). The family is destitute, and in desperation, Sam sells Lassie to the Duke of Rudling(played by Nigel Bruce) for his daughter Priscilla(played by Elizabeth Taylor) in Scotland, where Lassie will undertake a long perilous trek back home to the boy he loves, Joe. Heartwarming and beautiful film with a fine cast of actors, even among the supporting players like Edmund Gwenn, and especially a wonderful interlude with an elderly couple who nurse Lassie back to health. The ending may not be in doubt, but who would want it to be any other way?

After AOL pulled my (and a bajillion others) website on hometown-aol, I have finally re-created another in honor of my grandfather, Maj. Eric M. Knight. Please visit this informative web site: http://www.lassiecomehome.info This has been an exciting year for me as I traveled to Suriname just one year ago and trekked through the swamps to the exact crash site. I have posted pictures you may like to see. I was invited by a well-known Surinamese film maker who is making a documentary on Suriname in World War Two. A Dutch colony at the time of the plane crash in which my grandfather's life was tragically cut short in 1943, the people of Dutch Guiana naturally supported the Allies' attempts to free Europe from the Nazi threat. This was also why Knight, who had fought for the Canadians in World War One, re-enlisted in the US Army.Today, the Surinamese are an intelligent and friendly group of people who were terrific hosts to me.Thanks, Betsy