La cadena invisible

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).

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)

'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'.

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

"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)