Lassie Come Home **** (1943, Roddy McDowall, Elizabeth Taylor, Donald Crisp, Edmund Gwenn, Dame May Whitty, Elsa Lanchester, Nigel Bruce) – Classic Movie Review 4646

Director Fred M Wilcox’s adorable 1943 MGM children’s movie is the original and the sweetest of the film shaggy-dog stories featuring the lovable collie Lassie (played by male dog Pal).

In Hugo Butler’s screenplay, based on Eric Knight’s novel, Lassie is sold by a penniless Yorkshire family headed by Mr and Mrs Sam Carraclough (Donald Crisp and Elsa Lanchester).

But Lassie treks hundreds of miles back from her new owner, the Scottish squire the Duke of Rudling (Nigel Bruce), back to the open arms of the Carracloughs’ little lad Joe (Roddy McDowall).

McDowall is at his most winsome and there is the most charismatic of support from Crisp, Lanchester, Bruce, Edmund Gwenn as Rowlie, Dame May Whitty as Dally and young Elizabeth Taylor as Bruce’s granddaughter Priscilla, and of course a real cute dog, too.

A lovely looking film with beautiful set designs by Cedric Gibbons and Oscar nominated Technicolor colour cinematography by Leonard Smith, Lassie Come Home just sits up and begs you to hug it.

Also in the cast are J Patrick O’Malley, Ben Webster, Alec Craig, Alan Napier, Arthur Shields, May Beatty, Roy Parry, John Rogers, John Power, Roy Parry, Janet Littlewood, Nelson Leigh, Charles Irwin, Hugh Harrison, Howard Davies, Sherless Collier and George Broughton.

It was was filmed in Washington state and Monterey, California, with the rapids scene on the San Joaquin River.

Sequel: Son of Lassie in 1945, in which Pal plays his own son (ie Lassie’s son)!

McDowall and Taylor remained lifelong friends.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4646

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