Rating: 
Summary: MR.PECK WASN'T BAD ENOUGH
Review: Monsieur Peck plays a self-righteous,moral,virtuous father(gasp!what a stretch)who takes us on a journey to a place where everyone is loving,and loved,and they love you,and you love them....but with the mandatory evil person that all these wholesome children's movies need.So formula,so predictible,how anyone can say it makes them cry is beyond me.The "tear-jerking" moments are so contrived it might as well say on the screen "hello?you're supposed to cry now".And Peck has the nerve to not even redeem this awful movie by adding his signature bad dialogue or wooden attempts at emotion.He did pretty good working his facial muscles this time around.Painkillers and booze are the thing of miracles at times..but that's another story.Not worth watching unless you're a pedophile(the kid is in various stages of undress throughout) or you can manage to suspend your disbelief for long enough to actually think this movie is original and sincerely heartfelt.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the Finest Films Ever Made!
Review: Pretty strong endorsement. Well, I stand by it. This is one of the finest films ever made. Forget that this has a rep as a "family film". It is that. It is a wonderful film for children. But, it is also a film that can be fully appreciated by adults. It is simply beautiful and timeless. The Technicolor cinematography is simply stunning. The direction & performances first class.The story of a backwoods couple in post Civil-War Florida, their only (surviving) child and his love for a Yearling fawn, and their friends & neighbors, is told simply with wit & humor, with compassion and sensitivity, and with subtlety to the undercurrents of emotion and feeling. A story of fun and sorrow, of the struggle for existence, of tragic necessity and loss and the redemptive power of love. Real life lessons served with some humility, sensitivity, and compassion, in a real setting, with natural and low-key performances punctuating the morals of the story nicely. And, YES, dammit, it'll choke you up. Far superior to most of the tripe that passes for family films, this one holds up. Gregory Peck is funny & relaxed and wonderfully caring as the father, a performance in some ways more natural and deeper than his Oscar winning turn in To Kill a Mockingbird. Jane Wyman graduated to the big leagues of serious acting with her performance as the mother, wounded and fearing to love because of her previous losses of infants & toddlers. And Claude Jarmon is open-faced, honest and effective as Jody, a role that earned him a special Oscar. The final speech about the joy & tragedy of life Peck gives to his son Jody was plagiarized and lifted almost word-for-word for the final similar speech in Disney's Old Yeller, a beloved film that today looks cheap and quickly and poorly made with terrible acting. Old Yeller might still work for little kids, but I can't imagine an adult sitting through it. The Yearling, in contrast, was made with an adult sensibility and it will remain richly rewarding for anyone. I can't imagine anyone who feels human emotions and has had the pure joy of childhood freedom & adventure, and also faced awful decisions and tragic losses as child and adult not enjoying this film. As for the rest, well, nuff said. And, why in hell hasn't it been preserved on DVD!
Rating: 
Summary: The Dissenting Vote
Review: Sorry to be out of tune with all the other reviewers, but I just didn't like "The Yearling" AT ALL. In fact, I was so turned off, I turned IT off. Now, I realize that not having seen the movie to its end makes my opinon less important than other folks', but I'll take that chance.
There are three main characters, the father, the mother, and the son. Let's start with the son. I didn't like his looks--something about him really irritated me. Perhaps it was his listless hair, perhaps it was the feeling that he had a perpetual runny nose, I dunno, something like that. Then there's the father, played by Gregory Peck. Personally, I think Peck had to mature into being a better actor. I believe he was given a lot of roles in his early movie career for which he lacked the depth to portray convincingly. Here, he's supposed to be an ex-Confederate who's trying to eke out a life on his Florida farm who has had to bury his older children. Peck is not at all convincing in this role; even his feigned Southern accent is poor. The only life experience I'm convinced he has had is having grown tall. I think Henry Fonda or Robert Mitchum would have been able to bring much more to this role. Now, Jane Wyman as the mother is a different story. I truly believe her as this embittered woman who has lost so many children that she cannot bear to risk her heart again on the last remaining boy. If the other two actors had been different, I would have stayed with the movie to find out what was going to happen to Wyman's character.
Maybe one day, when I have seen everything else that I ever wanted to see, I will steel myself to sit through "The Yearling" in its entirety, but not before then.
Rating:
Summary: Childhood Favorite
Review: The film, as well as the novel, were always childhood favorites of mine. The film preserves another of Gregory Peck's wonderful performances. It also has personal sentimental value, since it takes place in Marion County, Florida, where I was born. My father was there when some of the outdoor scenes were shot, and he told stories about it for years. Check out the film, "Cross Creek," which tells the story of Rawling's experiences in Marion County, which led to her writing the novel.
Rating:
Summary: Makes me cry EVERY time !
Review: The Yearling is a movie I have watched repeatedly and it never fails to make me cry. Each time I watch it I find something new to enjoy about the dialogue, subtle humor and deep sadness evoked when Jody stops being "a yearling" and leaves his childhood behind. The scenes between Jody and his pet deer, Flag, are touching in their innocence and the sheer joy you share when seeing them run and jump and play. Gregory Peck is wonderful (as usual) as the understanding father - dealing with his desire to let his son enjoy childhood a bit longer and to shield him from some of life's more bitter lessons. Jane Wyman as the stoic mother, Ory - brilliantly portrays a woman who has locked her heart away after the death of 3 of her children, and finds it difficult to let herself freely love her surviving son, Jody. When Ory finally realizes she can open her heart to her son even though life makes no guarrantee against pain, it is a moment that any mother can relate to. I recommend this movie to adults and teenagers, but I feel that the scene where the yearling deer must be destroyed is too heart-rending for smaller children. (I'm 43 years old and I STILL cry like a baby when the deer must be shot ! ) But it's still a movie worth watching over and over again!
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Picture, Beautiful Story
Review: The Yearling is about a young preteen boy named Jody (Claude Jarman Jr.) who wants tp have a pet, but his parents say no, especially his mother (Jane Wyman). But after a while his Pa (Gregory Peck) lets him have a pet fawn, Pa is a tenderhearted man who Jody idolizes very much, but Ma is embittered by the loss of her three young children who passed away at a very young age, but things with the pet fawn isn't always about happiness, later the fawn becomes a yearling and starts destroying the crops one way right after another and Pa tells Jody to go shoot the yearling, then Ma shoots him and Jody runs away from home. This movie is a beautiful picture and after a while, it seems like you're watching a 1960's movie even though it came out in 1946, too bad that they don't movies like that anymore. Recommended for the whole family.
Rating:
Summary: Wretched
Review: They feed a deer for a year and then kill it for eating their food after killing its mother and at first pontificating about taking responsibility for their actions. They blame bears and deer for "misbehaving" by eating while they take no responsibility to use adequate locks and fences or even learn to shoot instead of twice maiming animals and letting them linger.
Rating:
Summary: Wretched
Review: They feed a deer for a year and then kill it for eating their food after killing its mother and at first pontificating about taking responsibility for their actions. They blame bears and deer for "misbehaving" by eating while they take no responsibility to use adequate locks and fences or even learn to shoot instead of twice maiming animals and letting them linger.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent film!
Review: This movie is a classic. I am a native Floridian and this movie is a must see. I spent a lot of time as a child in the small town where the author, Marjorie Kinnan-Rawlings, wrote the book, The Yearling. This movie shows the essence of Florida life prior to this century. Gregory Peck is an outstanding character. He is the strength and the conscience of this small rural family. The movie is filled with drama, humor, and sadness. Many real life lessons in this classic tale.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible story, wonderful performances
Review: This movie really could not be improved upon; every single performance, from Calude Jarman Jr to Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman and Chill Wills are astonishingly believable; you never think you are watching a movie, this is truly a window into a real world. The boy who plays Fodderwing is extraordinary, almost unearthly, in his role. The dream sequences with the deer are breathtaking, as are all the scenes which have animals interacting with people. You really get involved in this one; it is not merely a spectator event; you are THERE, with Jody and his parents, and Flag, his little deer. I have seen this too many times to count, starting when I was about 6 years old, and have never lost one iota of awe when I see it again. It is a shame that movies with this kind of heart, emnotion and inner strength/courage are not made anymore; there are simply no stories now to equal this one, and that is a pity. Still, you can go home again when you see this movie; it never loses its appeal, even through repeated viewings, and you are always immediately caught up in the story and the characters. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings grew up in the Florida Everglades, and waa a master at describing the unique flora and fauna which proliferate there; it is a very unusual place, and this story takes you right to the center. A must for every DVD/VHS library, and a family classic for years to come.
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