Son of Lassie

Son of Lassie (also known as Laddie, Son of Lassie) is a 1945 American Technicolor feature film produced by MGM based on characters created by Eric Knight, and starring Peter Lawford, Donald Crisp, June Lockhart and Pal (credited as Lassie). A sequel to Lassie Come Home (1943), the film focuses on the now adult Joe Carraclough after he joins the Royal Air Force during World War II and is shot down over Nazi-occupied Norway along with a stowaway, Lassie's son "Laddie" – played by Pal. Son of Lassie was released theatrically on April 20, 1945, by Loew's.
== Plot ==
In Yorkshire, at the estate of the Duke of Rudling (Nigel Bruce), the British Army converted the grounds into a training camp for war dogs. The camp is placed under the supervision of Sam Carraclough (Donald Crisp), the kennel caretaker, who immediately begins the process of selecting the best dogs for training, including Laddie, the young pup of the champion collie, Lassie. Joe Carraclough (Peter Lawford), now an adult, joins the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. Departing for training school, he is forced to leave behind his dog Lassie and her pup, Laddie.
Laddie, being considered as a "war dog", follows Joe to training school and then stows away on his master's bomber, just as it takes off on a dangerous mission over Nazi-occupied Norway. The two are forced to parachute when hit by enemy fire. Laddie then seeks help for his injured master. While they are separated, Joe is captured, and the dog is pursued by enemy soldiers. Laddie is sheltered, first by young Norwegian children who find him, and later by a freedom-fighter who is killed. Laddie finally reaches the prisoner-of-war camp where his master had been taken.
The German guards use Laddie to seek out his master who had escaped. In his search for Joe, who is forced into a labor detail on a coastal gun emplacement, Laddie is reunited with his master and thereafter the two race for their lives to reach friendly lines as the Nazis pursue them. Finally free, both Joe and Laddie make their way back to the Rudling estate to reunite with Lassie, Sam Carraclough, Joe's father and Priscilla (June Lockhart), the Duke of Rudling's granddaughter.
== Cast ==
* Pal (credited as "Lassie") as Lassie and grown-up Laddie
* Peter Lawford as Joe Carraclough
* Donald Crisp as Sam Carraclough, Joe's father
* June Lockhart as Priscilla, the Duke of Rudling's granddaughter
* Nigel Bruce as Duke of Rudling, grandfather to Priscilla
* Donald Curtis as Sgt. Eddie Brown
* Robert Lewis as Sgt. Schmidt
* Nils Asther as Olav
* William Severn as Henrik
* Leon Ames as Anton
* Fay Helm as Joanna
* Terry Moore as Thea (as Helen Koford, her birth name)
== Production ==
Produced under the working title, Laddie, Son of Lassie, the film originally had Elsa Lanchester playing the role of the adult Priscilla. Shortly after filming began, June Lockhart took over the role. It was the first movie filmed using the Technicolor monopack method.Haines 2003, p. 28.
Principal filming took place from May 22 to mid-November 1944, in various locations throughout western Canada, including Vancouver Island and Christopher Point in British Columbia and Banff National Park in Alberta."Original print information: 'Son of Lassie'." Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved May 31, 2016. Other locations included Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Los Angeles in the United States.Collins 1993, p. 61.
The wartime airfield scenes were shot at the air base at Patricia Bay which is now Victoria International Airport."YYJ History." British Columbia Aviation Museum. Retrieved August 20, 2019. The aircraft used included Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighters, Bristol Bolingbroke and Lockheed Ventura bombers of the Royal Canadian Air Force.Farmer 1984, p. 226.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, John Charles Reed sued MGM in October 1947 for plagiarism, claiming the film script was based on his 1943 story "Candy". The jury disagreed and the suit was dismissed.R. R. Bowker, The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures: Film Beginnings. 2. (1941).
Son of Lassie reportedly popularized the name "Lad" for male dogs.Junker 2005, p. 108. Pal, the original male collie who played Lassie in Lassie Come Home (1943) played Laddie. A 20-year-old June Lockhart, whose screen career had consisted of bit parts, had a more meaningful connection to the iconic Lassie story when in 1958, she took on the role of Ruth Martin, who adopts orphan Timmy (Jon Provost) in the long-running TV series Lassie.Collins 1993, p. 6.
== Reception ==
Bosley Crowther in The New York Times of June 11, 1945, felt the sequel to Lassie Come Home fell short of "being a worthy heir to the champion."Crowther, Bosley. "The Screen; Back on the Screen" The New York Times, June 11, 1945.
Variety characterized the principal actors as "excellent" but the film was "sticky sentiment, and flamboyant adventures, carry[ing] sufficient interest to move it along.""Review: Son of Lassie." Variety, 1945.
== References ==