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. The rest of the movie follows little vignettes as Lassie tries to find her way home and comes across Edmund Gwenn, Dame May Whitty, Arthur Shields, Alan Napier, and Nigel Bruce.
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. The rest of the movie follows little vignettes as Lassie tries to find her way home and comes across Edmund Gwenn, Dame May Whitty, Arthur Shields, Alan Napier, and Nigel Bruce.