Customer Reviews

Courage of Lassie [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This film is simple and spans alot of territory for one beautiful dog. However, it is refreshing to see this type of movie with such a message of gentle caring, and loyalty between an animal and it's owner.

Films aren't made like this anymore, and while this it is not academy award material, I enjoyed every minute. I can't wait to share it with my elementary school aged, Grandchildren.

The Courage of Lassie is not about Lassie at all, but her son Bill. Little Bill is the runt of Lassie's litter, and since she's wandered off to give birth in a small wood, there are lots of reasons for Bill to wander off from his family. Thus, when Lassie leads her babies back to the water's edge to go back home with her master, Bill falls behind because he prefers to play with the crows and bears and foxes.

It is in these woods that little Kathie (Elizabeth Taylor) discovers the pup, just after a boy (Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer) shoots him by mistake. Kathie cares for Bill until he is well and they become fast friends. She trains him to be a sheep dog, and all is well until Bill is hit by a truck. The driver takes him to a vet, and Kathie does not know where he is to claim him.

The army recruits him to be a K9 Unit and he sees combat in the South Pacific as Duke.

But of course, Bill must return home to his owner, somehow.

This is a heartwarming story perfect for animal lovers, but it is not the slam dunk that the original film was. It seems that the filmmakers tried a bit too much to play on our sympathies for the animal, and it is quite frustrating that Bill cannot seem to get an even break. I wondered a several times about whether "any animals were harmed during the making of this picture." After all, PETA was not around in 1946.

Bill a sweet dog, and it is quite enjoyable to watch him go on his adventures. Much of the film has no dialogue; we're just enjoying life through Bill's eyes.

This movie is plain and simply described as . . . fantastic! It centers around the dog "Bill" who is portrayed by Lassie. And let me say, if there were an Academy Award for animal actors, Lassie would be the champion. What fabulous acting! Lassie outshines many human actors in terms of expression and convincing acting. I don't know how they were able to film it. Elizabeth Taylor is simply beautiful in this movie, young, but already a phenomenal beauty. She portrays the girl who first rescues Bill and trains him to be a sheepdog. He gets run over and through a series of events becomes a war dog. Who then suffers from post-traumatic war syndrome. Even though, we all know it is a movie with a happy ending, I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat when Bill's trial is on. As Bill turns into quite a primitive animal after his war experience, but I don't want to reveal the entire plot. Suffice it to say, it is a lovely family film (although I do wonder about the anti-Church attendance message) and it is relevant to today with the exploration into post-traumatic war syndrome that affects returning soldiers. Anyone watching this movie, will cheer for Bill all the way through. And will admire Elizabeth Taylor's role as the caring young girl. I thoroughly enjoyed this film. And whole-heartedly recommend it!

While this film really can't compare with the story line of the original Lassie Come Home, it is cetainly one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. Is there really a place so beautiful? Then I read from the cover notes of the two disc,three film version, that it was filmed in Canada during the Second World War. That country is gorgeous! It must have more pristine scenery packed into it than anywhere else on earth.

In "Courage of Lassie," the dog gets top billing, but a pretty teenager (Liz Taylor) has plenty of crying and hugging to do as a supremely devoted mistress...

Another heart-warming story, filmed in the wilderness of Washington State, the movie (which begins with a long, curious, wild-life sequence) mixes farm-family folksiness with an unusual dog story: Lassie goes to a training school for war dogs, is shipped to the front and performs heroically... Returned to America, the dog suffers a nervous collapse, becoming a menace to society...

As the willful farm girl who finds a dog, loses a dog, and regains a dog, Liz Taylor is again the overwrought, ecstatic child, lavishing her attention on Lassie...

Because her greatest fame came later, as a young woman, most people forget what a skillful child actress she was... Less burdened than at any later time by her beauty and fame, she is at her least self-conscious in these early performances... Untouched, she reveals in these animal stories her natural flair for tears and hugs--the paraphernalia of an emotional female...

I still don't understand how Lassie showed up in the title to this movie because she plays a male dog named Bill. Elizabeth Taylor is OK, but the best actors in my opinion are Frank Morgan and Tom Drake. The end is heart-warming, but the trailers sure didn't sound like the film would give anybody warm fuzzies. Watch the movie before the trailers. It's better that way. All in all, this is worth watching for the scenery, with its breathtaking shots of mountains and lakes.

"The Courage of Lassie" MGM's 1946 sequel of sorts to its blockbuster, "Lassie Come Home" is by far the most depressingly humiliating cinema excursion for those old enough or young at heart enough to recall the tender poignancy of the original film. Minus Roddy McDowell, the film stars Elizabeth Taylor this time as Kathie Merrick - an angelic nymph living in serene surrealism until Lassie comes hobbling out of the forest with a gun shot wound. Seems Lassie took on for the team by a hunting youth played by none other that Little Rascals Alfalfa, Carl Switzer (billed here only as `first youth'...oh, well - it's a living!) Kathie restores the dog to health, inexplicably names her "Bill" (presumably because gender is something that Liz just didn't get at that early age) then sets Bill on a course of one perilous and implausible mishap upon the next. Bill gets hit by a truck, serves as part of the U.S. war effort in the Philippines, is considered an outcast of society, then a war hero, then gets shot yet again in a sort of war time bedtime story that would have made the likes of Ernest Hemmingway gush. Though this film too was a resounding hit upon its initial release there's very little in the way of the original's magical charm to insight loyalty or repeat viewings once you've sat through it once. The war nonsense is too intense for a family picture and, at times, laughable in a "I can't believe they did that" sort of way.

Warner's DVD is even more of a disappointment than "Lassie Come Home". The worn film negative exhibits a very dated picture with inconsistently rendered colors that, at times, are vibrant - if garish - and other times, quite pale and uninspiring. Age related artifacts abound throughout and there is a considerable amount of edge enhancement and pixelization. Overall, fine details are very nicely realized. However, contrast and black levels are not very solid. The audio is mono but respectably cleaned up and presented with a fidelity that outweighs the visual characteristics. There are NO extras.

This is another great timeless family film anyone might enjoy. I would recommend it. I think this is the best Lassie movie.

I've seen this movie at least three times and never grow tired of it. It is not as charming as it's predecessor, but still engaging. Elizabeth Taylor as a teenager is lovely and she makes you feel the love she has for this dog she names Bill. Although her acting is somewhat limited to lots of sobbing, and exclamations of "oh Bill", even so you feel the chemistry between girl and dog. The story is maybe a bit of a stretch of the imagination with girl finding dog that has been shot, nursing dog back to health, losing dog to the war, getting dog back (with post-traumatic stress syndrome which he snaps out of quite quickly), and then the prospect of losing the dog again. The best performances are by Frank Morgan and of course Bill or Lassie or who ever he/she was.

In an age where we have graphic brutality, sex and violence on both the small and big screen how refreshing it was to watch this movie released in 1946. It was made a year before I was born and it took me back to a time in America when Hollywood produced clean, wholesome, decent entertainment that appealed to all ages.The wildlife sequences at the beginning of the film are priceless and one wonders how they could be coordinated with such precision and Elizabeth Taylor's performance is emotionally endearing. If you can watch this movie without tearing up at least three or four times you must have ice water flowing through your veins! Well worth the price and the DVD transfer is excellent considering the vintage of the the film! Three thumbs up!