Lassie Come Home (1943) Online

1943 Roddy McDowall Donald Crisp May Whitty Fred M. Wilcox

Original Title :: Lassie Come Home
Genre :: Movie / Adventure / Family
Year :: 1943
Directror :: Fred M. Wilcox
Cast :: Roddy McDowall,Donald Crisp,May Whitty
Writer :: Hugo Butler,Eric Knight
Type :: Movie
Time :: 1h 29min
Rating :: 7.2/10

Lassie Come Home (1943) Online

Hard times came for Carraclough family and they are forced to sell their dog to the rich Duke of Rudling. However, Lassie, the dog, is unwilling to leave the young Carraclough boy and sets out on the long and dangerous journey in order to rejoin him.

Complete credited cast:
	Roddy McDowall	-	Joe Carraclough
	Donald Crisp	-	Sam Carraclough
	May Whitty	-	Dally (as Dame May Whitty)
	Edmund Gwenn	-	Rowlie
	Nigel Bruce	-	Duke of Rudling
	Elsa Lanchester	-	Mrs. Carraclough
	Elizabeth Taylor	-	Priscilla
	Ben Webster	-	Dan'l Fadden
	J. Pat O'Malley	-	Hynes (as J. Patrick O'Malley)
	Alan Napier	-	Jock
	Arthur Shields	-	Andrew
	John Rogers	-	Snickers
	Alec Craig	-	Buckles
	Pal	-	Lassie (as Lassie)

Elizabeth Taylor replaced Maria Flynn in the role of Priscilla. Some sources say Flynn was afraid of the dog on the set. Others say that she grew taller than Roddy McDowall or that the strong Technicolor lighting caused her eyes to water. In any case, production was halted. The producer was walking the 600 block of North Foothill Road in Beverly Hills doing his nightly patrol as an air raid warden when he met Francis Taylor, who patrolled the 700 block. Knowing he and Sara wanted to get their daughter into the movies, he asked him to bring Elizabeth to the studio. There she was introduced to Lassie and the production resumed.

After a nationwide hunt for a suitable dog for this movie failed, MGM called in dog trainer Rudd Weatherwax. He had many purebred collies, but Pal, his one-year old-male collie (who had no papers), easily won the role. Pal retired at age 5, after which all subsequent Lassie films used his direct descendants.

Pal, who played Lassie, earned a salary of $250 per week, while young Elizabeth Taylor was paid $100 per week.

Though Lassie is supposed to be a female dog, this and all subsequent Lassie films have used male dogs to play her, supposedly because males are easier to train.

The number of purebred collies registered in the United States in the late 1940s increased from 3,000 to 18,400, probably because of the Lassie series of films.

The film was shot in the state of Washington and in Monterey, CA, while the rapids scene was shot on the San Joaquin River in California.

First in a series of seven MGM films starring "Lassie."

Many people misinterpret the title of this movie. The title is not "Lassie, Come Home" (with a comma). It's not as if anyone is commanding Lassie to come home. The title is "Lassie Come Home" (with no comma), which is heard in the last line of the film: "You're my Lassie come home." Another way of saying this is, "You are my Lassie who has come home." In the title and the last line, the phrase "come home" is an adjective that describes "Lassie," not a verb in the imperative mood. "You're my Lassie come home" has the same grammatical structure as "She's a lamb gone astray," "It was problem met head-on," and "There's one houseplant left outdoors."

Feature debut of director Fred M. Wilcox.

This film was first telecast in Philadelphia Sunday 14 April 1957 on WFIL (Channel 6), and in Los Angeles Friday 19 April 1957 on KTTV (Channel 11), followed by Altoona PA 28 April 1957 on WFBG (Channel 10), by Chicago 11 May 1957 on WBBM (Channel 2), by New York City 3 June 1957 on WCBS (Channel 2), by Hartford CT 14 June 1957 on WHCT (Channel 18), by Honolulu 4 August 1957 on KHVH (Channel 13), by Memphis 31 August 1957 on WHBQ (Channel 13), by both Salt Lake City and Tampa 2 September 1957 on KTVT (Channel 4) and on WFLA (Channel 8), by Baltimore 12 September 1957 on WJZ (Channel 13), by Seattle 18 November 1957 on KING (Channel 5), and by San Francisco 3 May 1958 on KGO (Channel 7). At this time, color broadcasting was in its infancy, limited to only a small number of high rated programs, primarily on NBC and NBC affiliated stations, so these film showings were all still in B&W. Viewers were not offered the opportunity to see these films in their original Technicolor until several years later.

User reviews

Zolorn

A magnificent British collie struggles to cover the hundreds of miles that separate her from the family she loves.

LASSIE COME HOME is one of the truly great family films. Crafted with care by MGM and based on the classic novel by Eric Knight, it will strike a warm response in the heart of anyone who has ever loved a dog.

The production values are first rate and the color photography is spectacular. While the scenery & filming locations are strictly Western North America, they nevertheless make evocative stand-ins for the settings in the book. It might be worth the viewer's time to check the relationship of the Yorkshire Moors with the Scottish Highlands on a map, so as to better appreciate the phenomenal journey which the dog undertakes.

The casting is excellent throughout: Donald Crisp, Elsa Lanchester & Roddy McDowall as the poor, proud family which must sell their only treasure, Lassie; Nigel Bruce as the gruffly tenderhearted Duke which buys the dog; a young Dame Elizabeth Taylor plays his lively granddaughter. J. Pat O'Malley portrays the brutal dog handler employed by the Duke.

Along her journey Lassie encounters old folks who need her companionship (Dame May Whitty & real-life husband Ben Webster, in his last film role), a traveling tinker who values her protection (Edmund Gwenn), and suspicious sheepmen on the watch for killer dogs (Alan Napier & Arthur Shields).

Lassie is played by Pal, a male dog trained by the celebrated Rudd Weatherwax (1907-1985), who was responsible for generations of Lassies which appeared in movies & television. Pal gives a remarkable performance, providing the very heart & soul of the film.

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Eric Mowbray Knight was born in Yorkshire, England, on April 10, 1897. Moving to America in 1912, he became a student in New York, but left to join the Canadian Armed Forces with the outbreak of World War One. In 1932 he published a collection of his wartime letters - Portrait Of A Flying Yorkshireman. Later came two novels which made good use of authentic Yorkshire dialect: Invitation To Life (1934) and Song On Your Bugles (1937). He didn't think much of his 1940 children's book, Lassie Come-Home and was very surprised at its great success. His next novel, This Above All (1941), a World War Two romance, was also popular. Knight joined the United States Army and rose to the rank of Major. Working with an Army film unit under the direction of Frank Capra, Eric Knight was tragically killed in a plane crash off the coast of Suriname on January 15, 1943. MGM dedicated LASSIE COME HOME, which was released later that year, to his memory.

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The snatch of ballad Edmund Gwenn is singing while shaving in his first scene is "I Dreamt That I Dwelt In Marble Halls" from the 1843 operetta The Bohemian Girl by Michael William Balfe (1808-1870).

Brannylv

Lassie makes a remarkable screen debut. Under the guidance of trainer Rudd Weatherwax, the dog will become one of the most popular and enduring animal "stars" ever. It's easy to see why, in "Lassie Come Home". The collie, and its descendants, performed this basic role for some decades to come.

When the story begins, Lassie must be sold, by the poor Carracloughs: father Donald Crisp, mother Elsa Lancaster, and their boy Roddy McDowall. Mr. Crisp loses his job, and can't afford to keep the pet. Though Lassie is sold, his real emotional "owner" is the boy Joe, played by Mr. McDowall. McDowall's performance is terrific, and the others are no less than competent. The MGM color cinematography is gorgeous, and the story understandably sentimental. Interestingly, Elizabeth Taylor appears in her second film role; she will become Lassie's owner for the third series film, "Courage of Lassie" (1946).

If "Lassie, Come Home" doesn't raise some emotion, you may not be human.

********* Lassie Come Home (1943) Fred M. Wilcox ~ Roddy McDowall, Donald Crisp, Elizabeth Taylor, May Witty

Doath

I was expecting to hate this film. After all it's a kids film (I'm 37). I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it! It's one of those few films that works for both adults and children. It's in color (which was rare in the early 1940s), has a simple story and never becomes too sentimental or childish. It's particularly fun seeing Elizabeth Taylor and Roddy McDowall as children; Elsa Lancaster as roddy's mother(!!!); and Nigel Bruce NOT playing Doctor Watson for once and actually proving he could be gruff and aggressive in a performance. Best of all though, is Lassie. I don't know how they did it, but the dog (actually a male dog named Pal) gives in an astonishing performance. Just the expressions on her(his) face tells you what she(he) is thinking! Also has a great ending that is very moving (in a good way). Very well woth seeing. Only complaint--the color in this film is so washed out! Why doesn't someone restore it?

Sataxe

'Lassie Come Home' is the classic first tale of Lassie, and this film is based on the novel by Eric Knight. This story is about the bond between a boy and his dog. Lassie is sold by the boy's father because of hard times, and Lassie makes a long journey to be back at her master's side again. It's a touching and beautiful story for children, and it was my favourite story for a while when I was much, much younger. I have forgotten much of this story now, but I have not forgotten how much I used to watch this film, over and over again on the old VHS. I think that all children should have the opportunity to watch 'Lassie Come Home'.

Chi

Early MGM technicolor is a real asset to this boy/dog tale based on a novel by Eric Knight. When Roddy McDowall's parents (Donald Crisp, Elsa Lanchester) are forced to sell their beautiful collie to the Duke of Rudling (Nigel Bruce) in Scotland, the boy is heartbroken. But not to worry. The bond is so strong that Lassie swims rivers, climbs mountains, fights other dogs, and makes his way through miles of picturesque pastoral countryside to return to his master after the long trek from Scotland. And by the end of the film, his devotion to the boy is so overwhelming that the Duke pretends not to recognize the dog as the one he bought. Elizabeth Taylor, at eleven, makes a touching appearance as Nigel's niece, sympathetic to the plight of the dog who has rejoined his master. If this one doesn't bring a tear to your eye, you have a heart of stone. Lassie is a natural and performs everything on cue brilliantly--you almost feel he's living the part. All of the performances are ingratiating and the technicolor photography cannot be faulted. Handsomely produced and perfect family entertainment.

RUsich155

I'm not going to say much about this movie...because it is, of course, very good...BUT the end is what i want to talk about. I'm a guy so it humbles me a little to make the following comment: It makes you so happy to see that Lassie has overcome the most impossible odds just to meet Joe at school, Ya just start bawling like a lil baby! they will be some of the happiest tears you'll ever cry. 9 out of 10 just because the end makes up for any downfalls the movie might have!(not that it has many)

Umor

I'm sure that when MGM was filming Lassie Come Home they were not aware they would be setting up the foundation of a collie franchise. The film obviously was meant to be a B picture filler as none of MGM's big box office names were used. But the story of the loyal collie dog who traveled over 1000 miles from Scotland to Yorkshire to return to his young master struck a nostalgic chord in the English speaking world.

What MGM did do for this film was use location footage, most likely in California and film it in Technicolor. Doing that made the film a classic and wanted by today's market which disdains black and white.

Two young future stars Roddy McDowall and Elizabeth Taylor are in this as children and they are an appealing pair. For the rest of the cast MGM made liberal use of the English colony in Hollywood with Elsa Lanchester, Donald Crisp, Nigel Bruce, Edmund Gwenn, Alan Napier, Arthur Shields, and Dame May Witty and her husband Ben Webster. In fact if you take away the two child stars, this film may just have the oldest average age of any film cast around.

Elizabeth Taylor and Roddy McDowall formed a lifetime friendship from this film. She also became very attached to Donald Crisp who became a father figure for her until his death in 1974. Crisp and McDowall are reunited as father and son as they were in How Green Was My Valley.

The plot is a simple one. Because he's out of work and needs the money for food on the table, Donald Crisp sells the pure bred collie to Lord Nigel Bruce who takes him from Yorkshire to Scotland. But Lassie ain't having this and escapes and makes the journey to what she considers home. The story is about her adventures on the way.

After over 60 years Lassie is still appealing to children of all ages everywhere.

Vishura

I love this movie. If I even watch a minute of it I'm guaranteed to cry. My favourite bit where I'm really howling my eyes out is near the end when Lassie has arrived at the cottage, looking like she's been through the wars, well, if you watch the movie, you'll know that she has!. The mother of the house attempts to feed her the last bit of food that they have in the house. The Lord who has bought the dog comes looking for lassie on the off chance that she will have traveller the hundreds of miles to be where she truly belongs. he recognises that it is indeed lassie but proclaims that there's no way that this bedraggled dog could possibly be Lassie and leaves, offering the man of the house a job looking after his dogs. Then the clock strikes four on the mantelshelf and Lassie who looks like she is unable to walk the length of herself gets up and makes her way limping pathetically toward the door. (By this time I'm working my way through the tissue box, howling "God love her") The mum and dad try to dissuade her but she keeps scratching at the door until it's opened. she makes her way toward the school to meet the boy (Roddy McDowell) and when he sees her (cue another load of tissues) he says Lassie, you've come home. It all works out in the end, the Dad gets his job with the lord looking after the dogs, Lassie has pups and the boy becomes friends with the lord's granddaughter. This movie should only be watched by people who enjoy a good greet!

Wire

I love dogs so this movie is probably the best ever of showing the courage and love of a dog. This film is set in a little Yorkshire town. Two of the great character actors (Donald Crisp and Edmund Gwenn) as Sam Carraclough and Rowlie Palmer respectively add so much to the "feel" of this film. Carraclough family needs money so sell the only thing of worth, a dog named Lassie to Nigel Bruce "the Duke." Roddy McDowall plays Joe Carraclough who loves the dog with all his heart and vice-versa from Lassie. The dog is taken to Scotland and Lassie must escape in order to "come home" to Joe. There is a great river to swim to reach England but Lassie does it. The cost is great, she is near death until an old couple care for her and nurse her back to health. But something is wrong, at 3:50pm each day she must leave somewhere? The couple gave her freedom for the journey home. Lassie then joins Rowlie Palmer a "pots/pans" traveling salesman along with his own beloved dog, Toots. Little Toots is better than a wife for Rowlie because she is neat, clean and gives no back check to Rowlie. Poor Toots is killed trying to save her master. Finally Lassie makes it home. Damaged, injured and a wanted dog, she braves whatever it takes to get home. But wait, she belongs to the Duke not Joe, can the humans in the story arrange a proper home for Lassie? Tune in to this classic and find out.

Rocksmith

I sat down tonight to watch this movie, thinking it would be good, warm-hearted fare at the end of a hard day at work. I couldn't watch it. Just. Could. NOT.

I spent the first 15 minutes of the movie crying. I started out teary-eyed for the few brief minutes where Lassie and her boy (played by a roughly 12-yr-old Roddy MacDowell) were together, knowing from the basic plot of the movie (father sells dog to man who lives hundreds of miles away) that the boy and the dog would soon be separated. From there I moved on to full-blown tears when Roddy comes home from school and asks his parents where Lassie is. Anyone who's ever had a dog or ever loved a dog will not be able to take this scene.

We then see where Lassie is living now ... in a kennel, on a rich man's estate who has tons of dogs. Lassie is laying in her kennel all listless because she misses her family. (More tears!) A mean caretaker of the animals tells Lassie, "I'll make you eat even if I have to shove your food down your throat." That did it for me! That was 15 minutes into the movie, I was crying my eyes out, and I said to myself there's no way I can sit through another 75 minutes of this torment of seeing Lassie and her boy separated, of seeing all the terrible ordeals that Lassie must go through before she is reunited with her boy.

I fast-forwarded to the end, thinking the ending would make me happy, and would make up for the 15 minutes of sobbing. Well ... it did and it didn't. I saw the last 2 or so minutes of the film, beginning with a much skinnier Lassie limping on 3 legs to meet Roddy at his school. (How did she get so skinny? What happened to her front paw that made her not be able to walk on it? I don't want to know!) The scene is so touching, so heart-breaking, I don't think anyone could watch it without bursting out sobbing like a baby. Young Roddy did a terrific acting job when he showed his glee and love at seeing his precious Lassie again.

I've read the other comments here, and understand that Lassie went through many trials while traveling back home from Scotland to Yorkshire. I'm glad I fast-forwarded the movie; I don't think I could've taken those scenes! If you ever need a good cry, just watch this movie. I can't recall any other movie I've ever seen that has stirred such emotionality in me, and certainly none that has ever made me cry so hard, both from sadness and happiness and a dozen other emotions.

This review is based on seeing 17 of the 90 minutes of this film. I think if I saw all 90 minutes, I'd be drowning in a pool made from my own tears right now. I don't have enough Kleenex in the house to watch this whole danged movie!

Risinal

"Lassie Come Home" is an incredibly well made and beautiful looking family film. It represents the best film of its kind MGM could make and is the best of the Lassie movies. And, although it's full of schmaltz, it's such well made schmaltz that just about everyone will enjoy the film if you give it a chance.

When the film begins, the Carraclough family is in serious trouble. They're a poor English family and need money and so the father (Donald Crisp) decides to sell their one prized possession...their dog Lassie! Considering how his son adores the dog, and vice-versa, your heart breaks when little Roddy McDowell has to part with the pooch. What follows is escape after escape...and the dog amazingly is able to somehow find its way back home to the Carracloughs.

Heartwarming...and a tear-jerker. All of the best qualities MGM could put into a film are stuffed into this one--loved color cinematography, very moody and fitting music, some wonderful supporting contract players (such as Edmund Gwen, Elizabeth Taylor and many others) and the MGM style all make this a sweet film and a must-see for everyone but the grouchiest viewers.

generation of new

I feel compelled to rebut the curmudgeon who 'couldn't stand this movie'.

First off, what a cast!..... eight of the greatest film stars and character actors who were ever on the screen, including 11 year old Elizabeth Taylor and 15 year old Roddy McDowall. You will never see child actors this talented in any film made today.

Obviously, the writer is no animal lover. The complaint about Lassie continually whining is a whine in itself. Yes, the whining was meant to pull at the heartstrings. This movie was made in 1943, part of the greatest era in motion picture history. They knew how to tell stories back then, and 'this' story is about a dog trying to find its way home. The entire 'premise' of the film is a heart tugger!

And one more point; no animal character dies in this film, unlike in 'Bambi' and some other Walt Disney films that scare very young children to death.

This is one of MGM's best family films, a wonderful, heartwarming adventure story that anyone who loves dogs will enjoy again and again.

Whitestone

A classic. A dear story of a impoverished English family who has to sell their prized possession, a collie dog named Lassie, to make ends meet. I never tire of seeing this movie whenever it plays, even though I own the DVD. Make sure to get out a handkerchief or some tissues for, surely, you will be tearful, if not totally slobbering. It is that touching and endearing. It is without time constraints, veneer or facade. This was the first Lassie movie and showcases the first Lassie. Now, in 2012, as I write this review, there is Lassie 10, a direct descendant of the original brilliant collie. Again, the collie escapes to travel many miles from Scotland to England to reunite with his master. He endures great hardships on his journey. The movie is lustrous, brilliant, and excellently acted with young ELizabeth Taylor. Just a lovely classic movie, as modern as it is old fashioned, yet not old fashioned at all. I enjoyed the speech patterns and scenery. A movie that is for any age, but remember, get out the tissues. What an endearing movie.

Biaemi

Can I be honest? I wasn't expecting to love this film, I thought it would be childish and predictable. How wrong I was, Lassie Come Home is delightful! Sweet, moving and exciting, I absolutely loved the film. The cinematography is beautiful, and the scenery is lush and like looking at a watercolour painting. The music is also gorgeous, memorable and lyrical with amazing orchestration. The direction, script and story are also first rate, the script being intelligent, the direction assured and the story well paced. Also excellent was the acting, Roddy McDowall and Elizabeth Taylor are appealing as the children, Nigel Bruce gives a gruff, aggressive yet sympathetic performance with some Dr Watson-like facial expressions and Edmund Gwenn who I know best from the original Miracle on 34th Street is outstanding as Rowlie. What made the film though was Lassie, an astonishing canine performance from Pal, who acts so convincingly and moves as swiftly as the wind. Also Lassie's pining were so achingly sad, you couldn't help feel for the poor dog, especially in the very poignant ending. And yes, I cried when Toots died. Overall, I loved Lassie Come Home, though I do think it is deserving of a restoration. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Xinetan

This was one off the first films I ever saw as a child and even today at 31 I still have much love for this film. The ending even now gets me really emotional. I know its only a film but Dogs are really loyal even in real life. Its a shame Man ain't as loyal. A brilliant film where everyone should love.

Dream

You've got Roddy McDowell, Elizabeth Taylor, and Elsa Lanchester (the bride of Frankenstein) together to produce what is probably remembered as the dog movie of all time. We all know Lassie now, but she was introduced here. When the family cannot afford to keep her, the beautiful collie is sold to Nigel Bruce (Dr. Watson), a rich Duke. But she becomes despondent and Taylor decides it would be best if she were let go. Lassie goes through obstacle after obstacle, beaten and run through briars, on and on. Her endurance is what this is all about. Roddy is quite good as the young boy who loses his dog. The final scene is probably one of the biggest tear jerkers ever.

Dog_Uoll

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?

Mmsa

I watched this movie specifically because I want to relax and enjoy a film that was innocent and dreamy. It turns out that Lassie was this and much more. It is a great film about how a dog lights up a lonely child's life. Lassie is there every day when school ends to meet his owner (Roddy McDowell).

There is a lot more to this film. The boy's parents are good people, but they are poor and have the survival instinct of their class. They like Lassie, but also see dogs as a burden and an expense that are welcome only when there is work. Unfortunately, the boy's father is unemployed right now, and his Mom explains that it is either us or the dog that they can support.

Lassie is sold to a wealthy landowner played by Nigel Bruce. Bruce plays a decent fellow, but one driven by a desire to breed animals that make him money and prestige at shows. He hires a mean man to tend his dogs, someone who is clearly from the lower classes and is in the wrong profession. He dislikes animals and only wants to control them and make them perform in shows.

Lassie is eventually taken to Scotland, several hundred miles away from home in the Yorkshire. You guessed it. Lassie spends the rest of the movie making the perilous journey trying to get back home to the boy. This was the finest part of the film. The main flaw is the scenery was obviously California, not Scotland and England.

Edmund Gwynn plays one of the most lovable characters - an old man who travels from town to town perform tricks with his dog companion. He represents the best in us all - kindness, honor, and appreciation.

Other memorable characters are the elderly couple who rescue him from a rainstorm. The elderly lady is lonely. However, in one of the most heartwarming scenes of compassion she realizes that Lassie wants to get home to someone. She is willing to let go of the dog who relieves her loneliness so Lassie can be truly happy.

What I liked most about this movie is that it was set in a bygone era of innocence. Dogs really make lives better for people. I also liked that it touched base on the people who are touched by dog's lives - what their dilemmas in life were.

Saimath

"Lassie Chien Fidèle" (=Faithful dog,French translation) was one of the first books I read when I was a child .It's a precious memory.

Although it is not,IMHO, Wilcox's most memorable movie (it would rather be his impressive "forbidden planet"),it's still good value and excellent entertainment for the whole family.The color is wonderful .And the real star is Lassie herself for the other characters have less screen time than this extraordinary dog (male colley Pal) and most of them are brilliantly supporting :I particularly like Dame May Witty as the old lady who takes care of Lassie for a short while.

Roddy Mac Dowall was a wunderkind ,my favorite of all the child actors of all time.He is very cute and he is really moving.When I saw the scene he shares with Elizabeth Taylor-very lovely too- in the kennels ,I couldn't help thinking that ,twenty years later ,they would be Octavian and Cleopatra!!!

Like this?try these...

National Velvet (Brown,1944)

The Yearling (Brown,1946)

How green was my valley (Ford,1941,with a younger McDowall)

Foiuost

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.

Otrytrerl

It's hard to call one particular dog "Hollywood's dog" because there are so many canine movies, but if there'a one dog who earned that title, it's Lassie. Written first in a short story, and filmed for the first time on screen in 1943, Lassie is a lovable, loyal collie. In this first film, Lassie's family resorts to desperate measures during their desperate times. They're broke and decide to sell the family dog to the Duke, but Lassie won't have it! She loves her little boy, Roddy MacDowell, too much, and follows the family after they move.

If you're animal lover, keep your Kleenexes handy, but feel free to relax. Unlike Old Yeller, this is a true family film, and can be enjoyed by even the little kiddies.

Donald Crisp and Elsa Lanchester play Roddy's parents; doesn't it seem like Donald Crisp is a perpetual father figure? He's just very trustworthy, even when he's doing something terrible, like selling his son's dog. And keep your eye out for a young, eleven-year-old Elizabeth Taylor! She's very beautiful, and for an actor to steal attention away from an on screen animal, that's an incredible achievement. Hollywood always warns against making movies with animals, since no one will pay attention to the human costars. Miss Taylor proved that old adage wrong, and it's easy to see why.

Andromajurus

After her destitute family is forced to sell her, a collie named Lassie escapes from her new owner and begins the long trek from Scotland to her Yorkshire home.

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Color and later the character of Lassie received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1993, "Lassie Come Home" was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Bosley Crowther in The New York Times of October 8, 1943 uniformly praised the performers and production, noting that the film "tells the story of a boy and a dog, tells it with such poignance and simple beauty that only the hardest heart can fail to be moved." Now, I may not have been as moved as audiences were at the time. I may not be as big a dog lover. And you know, I might find the film a little bit quaint by today's standards. But I cannot deny the impact the film had on pop culture. There is nobody who has not heard of Lassie. Now, have they all seen this movie? Probably not. And they probably did not see the sequels. Maybe they saw the TV show, which has had many years of reruns (with "Flipper"). But it all comes back to this... even more than the book it was based on.

Ttyr

Set in Priestley's beloved Yorkshire,there is a picaresque quality to "Lassie come home" that is reminiscent of that great writer's early works.In particular it seems to me to that the casting of Mr E.Gwenn as a tinker brings to mind the spirit of the Geilgud 1933 "The Good Companions"and also "Anthony Lyveden",the one masterpiece by another unfashionable English novelist Dornford Yates. Both are works very much of their age,and the same can be said of "Lassie come home"with its noble working men in their Helen Allingham cottages and bluff kindhearted noblemen doting on their granddaughters. When a proud,unemployed Yorkshireman (Mr D.Crisp - not quite managing the dialect)is forced to sell his dog to the local Duke(Mr N.Bruce - pootling his way through good naturedly)his son(Master R.McDowall - making a good fist as a wee northern lad)is very upset. The dog(Pal - not at all fazed by being forced into a gender swap) is also unhappy and eventually manages a successful home run. By sea and land - rather like the Royal Marines - Lassie gallantly and doggedly(sorry) finds her way back to the bosom of her family. On her journey she briefly enriches the life of Mr Gwenn and Dame May Witty and her husband(rather touching,actually). I suspect today's children will find it a little unsophisticated,but in a kinder,more innocent age,I doubt if there was a dry eye in the house.

Steep

"Lassie Come Home" is one of my favorite films, for the reasons described in other IMDB reviews: wonderful performances by humans, a stellar performance by a dog (and his off-screen trainer), a simple yet classic story set in gorgeous scenery, and (best of all) a few places where it's really hard not to cry. For those who are still on the fence about whether or not to watch this movie, there's one thing I'd like to add. This Lassie film is completely different than the Lassie TV show (1954-1972). In "Lassie Come Home," you won't see Lassie alert the humans that little Timmy is stuck in a well, or jump into a burning building to save a litter of kittens, or build a rudimentary transmitter to signal for help. This film has nothing that hokey. It's a thoroughly entertaining movie.

Cel

Beautiful Elizabeth Taylor. Darling Roddy MacDowall. Magnificent Lassie. Warm Edmund Gwenn. Loot his dog, or whatever his name, so small, sweet and brave. The bad guys were villainous scoundrels. Lassie and Loot really showed them what for. Donald Crisp fathers in several movies I have seen. Lassie or stunt dog magnificent swimming through that swamp and down that river.

Lassie so smart. Knew when it was four o'clock every day. Lassie finding the way home after so long was totally amazing. Reminding me of my own darling canine who was the most loving and loyal of all. Brought tears.

Lassie puppies at end so cute. Elizabeth and Roddy on bicycles so wonderful a final scene.

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