Heimweh

I sat down tonight to watch this movie, thinking it would be good, warm-hearted fare at the end of a hard day at work. I couldn't watch it. Just. Could. NOT.

I spent the first 15 minutes of the movie crying. I started out teary-eyed for the few brief minutes where Lassie and her boy (played by a roughly 12-yr-old Roddy MacDowell) were together, knowing from the basic plot of the movie (father sells dog to man who lives hundreds of miles away) that the boy and the dog would soon be separated. From there I moved on to full-blown tears when Roddy comes home from school and asks his parents where Lassie is. Anyone who's ever had a dog or ever loved a dog will not be able to take this scene.

We then see where Lassie is living now ... in a kennel, on a rich man's estate who has tons of dogs. Lassie is laying in her kennel all listless because she misses her family. (More tears!) A mean caretaker of the animals tells Lassie, "I'll make you eat even if I have to shove your food down your throat." That did it for me! That was 15 minutes into the movie, I was crying my eyes out, and I said to myself there's no way I can sit through another 75 minutes of this torment of seeing Lassie and her boy separated, of seeing all the terrible ordeals that Lassie must go through before she is reunited with her boy.

I fast-forwarded to the end, thinking the ending would make me happy, and would make up for the 15 minutes of sobbing. Well ... it did and it didn't. I saw the last 2 or so minutes of the film, beginning with a much skinnier Lassie limping on 3 legs to meet Roddy at his school. (How did she get so skinny? What happened to her front paw that made her not be able to walk on it? I don't want to know!) The scene is so touching, so heart-breaking, I don't think anyone could watch it without bursting out sobbing like a baby. Young Roddy did a terrific acting job when he showed his glee and love at seeing his precious Lassie again.

I've read the other comments here, and understand that Lassie went through many trials while traveling back home from Scotland to Yorkshire. I'm glad I fast-forwarded the movie; I don't think I could've taken those scenes! If you ever need a good cry, just watch this movie. I can't recall any other movie I've ever seen that has stirred such emotionality in me, and certainly none that has ever made me cry so hard, both from sadness and happiness and a dozen other emotions.

This review is based on seeing 17 of the 90 minutes of this film. I think if I saw all 90 minutes, I'd be drowning in a pool made from my own tears right now. I don't have enough Kleenex in the house to watch this whole danged movie!

I'm not going to say much about this movie...because it is, of course, very good...BUT the end is what i want to talk about. I'm a guy so it humbles me a little to make the following comment: It makes you so happy to see that Lassie has overcome the most impossible odds just to meet Joe at school, Ya just start bawling like a lil baby! they will be some of the happiest tears you'll ever cry. 9 out of 10 just because the end makes up for any downfalls the movie might have!(not that it has many)

I was expecting to hate this film. After all it's a kids film (I'm 37). I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it! It's one of those few films that works for both adults and children. It's in color (which was rare in the early 1940s), has a simple story and never becomes too sentimental or childish. It's particularly fun seeing Elizabeth Taylor and Roddy McDowall as children; Elsa Lancaster as roddy's mother(!!!); and Nigel Bruce NOT playing Doctor Watson for once and actually proving he could be gruff and aggressive in a performance. Best of all though, is Lassie. I don't know how they did it, but the dog (actually a male dog named Pal) gives in an astonishing performance. Just the expressions on her(his) face tells you what she(he) is thinking! Also has a great ending that is very moving (in a good way). Very well woth seeing. Only complaint--the color in this film is so washed out! Why doesn't someone restore it?

Lassie makes a remarkable screen debut. Under the guidance of trainer Rudd Weatherwax, the dog will become one of the most popular and enduring animal "stars" ever. It's easy to see why, in "Lassie Come Home". The collie, and its descendants, performed this basic role for some decades to come.

When the story begins, Lassie must be sold, by the poor Carracloughs: father Donald Crisp, mother Elsa Lancaster, and their boy Roddy McDowall. Mr. Crisp loses his job, and can't afford to keep the pet. Though Lassie is sold, his real emotional "owner" is the boy Joe, played by Mr. McDowall. McDowall's performance is terrific, and the others are no less than competent. The MGM color cinematography is gorgeous, and the story understandably sentimental. Interestingly, Elizabeth Taylor appears in her second film role; she will become Lassie's owner for the third series film, "Courage of Lassie" (1946).

If "Lassie, Come Home" doesn't raise some emotion, you may not be human.

********* Lassie Come Home (1943) Fred M. Wilcox ~ Roddy McDowall, Donald Crisp, Elizabeth Taylor, May Witty

Can I be honest? I wasn't expecting to love this film, I thought it would be childish and predictable. How wrong I was, Lassie Come Home is delightful! Sweet, moving and exciting, I absolutely loved the film. The cinematography is beautiful, and the scenery is lush and like looking at a watercolour painting. The music is also gorgeous, memorable and lyrical with amazing orchestration. The direction, script and story are also first rate, the script being intelligent, the direction assured and the story well paced. Also excellent was the acting, Roddy McDowall and Elizabeth Taylor are appealing as the children, Nigel Bruce gives a gruff, aggressive yet sympathetic performance with some Dr Watson-like facial expressions and Edmund Gwenn who I know best from the original Miracle on 34th Street is outstanding as Rowlie. What made the film though was Lassie, an astonishing canine performance from Pal, who acts so convincingly and moves as swiftly as the wind. Also Lassie's pining were so achingly sad, you couldn't help feel for the poor dog, especially in the very poignant ending. And yes, I cried when Toots died. Overall, I loved Lassie Come Home, though I do think it is deserving of a restoration. 10/10 Bethany Cox