Lassie Come Home

Technicolor, a great dog and Liz Taylor, too

MGM
A YOUNG Elizabeth Taylor with Nigel Bruce in “Lassie Come Home.”

Oh man did Lassie have a time of it in the 1943 family film “Lassie Come Home.”
Filmed in Technicolor, child star Roddy McDowall plays Joe Carraclough, a poor boy growing up in England. But he is rich in that he has the best and smartest collie ever, Lassie, played by Pal.
Pal, by the way, was 3 when he made this movie and played Lassie again two years later in “Son of Lassie.” All Lassies in subsequent films and TV programs are descendants of Pal, who died at 17 in 1958.
The family needs money so dad Sam, played by Donald Crisp, sells the dog to the rich Duke of Rudling, played by Nigel Bruce, best known as Dr. Watson in a series of Sherlock Holmes films.
The duke keeps his pooches in outdoor kennels offering substandard food and an unfeeling keeper.
What is really sad is when young Joe gets out of school and Lassie isn’t under the tree waiting for him. It is his mother, played by Elsa Lanchester, best known as the bride of Frankenstein, who lays out the cold truth. The family is destitute and needs the cash from selling the collie.
Meanwhile, Lassie won’t eat, loses weight and learns to escape by digging under the fence. Joe is overjoyed to see Lassie waiting at school, but of course she (played by a he) must go back to the duke’s home.
This time Lassie escapes by jumping over the fence. Pal is a tremendous actor. Kudos to his trainer! In one scene, Lassie gets back, runs and misses jumping over the fence. He (she) tries again, narrowly missing freedom. The third jump is half-hearted and doesn’t work. All seems lost. But the next jump and the dog is over!
Now I would think it is one thing to teach a dog to jump a fence, but to train it to try and fail three times and succeed on the fourth, all shot in one take, is pretty remarkable.
Of course, a malnourished Lassie must go back to Dr. Watson, er, the duke.
Oh, and the duke has a pretty young niece, who just happens to be Elizabeth Taylor. Be warned, Taylor has a minor role in the film.
Soon the duke and Elizabeth are off to Scotland with Lassie, who gets away again and heads off hundreds of miles to England and her family.
And a nail-biting adventure she has. She is shot, she nearly drowns, she is malnourished, she jumps from the second floor of a big building and is hurt.
Lots of suspense, lots of action. Let me tell you, you will be in there rooting for Lassie!
And you will have a bit of a tear in your eye at the film’s conclusion.
This is a fine family film, although it may prove too much for very young children. It’s best for those maybe 8 or over.
You can’t beat a well-done animal film, especially when the animal is the focus of the film.
So watch it with your family. Will Lassie make it back to her family and will she be able to stay?
As a sidenote, I watched the film on DVD. While it was done in a rich Technicolor, the movie looked worn and had dropouts and color splotches. This would be a great candidate for film restoration and ultimately a Blu-Ray version.
Just a thought.


LASSIE COME HOME • Directed by Fred M. Wilcox • Written by Huog Butler and Eric Knight • Runtime: 89 minutes • Not rated but suitable for all but the very young • 4 stars out of 5