Courage of Lassie

Rating:
Summary: STRANGE SEQUEL NOT NEARLY AS ENGAGING AS ORIGINAL!
Review: "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.


Rating:
Summary: The courage of Bill
Review: The Courage of Lassie has beautiful scenery but from the beginning it already has problems. Mainly the first fifteen minutes has to do with Lassie's life in a forest. The attention span was gone. Elizabeth Taylor, the reason why I watched this, is a supporting character to the dog. It's supposed to be the other way around. It's not even Lassie. Sure the title says so and it's the same dog but in here Lassie is playing a dog named Bill. Besides isn't Lassie supposed to be a girl?

Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Film
Review: 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.