ianlouisiana Review of Lassie Come Home

Lassie Come Home (1943)

By land and by sea - a dogged journey to lift the six year old heart

[7/10 · 8 February 2012]

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.