Lassie Come Home

Lassie Come Home is a 1943 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Technicolor feature film starring Roddy McDowall and canine actor Pal, in a story about the profound bond between Yorkshire boy Joe Carraclough and his rough collie, Lassie.Variety film review; August 18, 1943, page 10. The film was directed by Fred M. Wilcox from a screenplay by Hugo Butler based upon the 1940 novel Lassie Come-Home by Eric Knight. The film was the first in a series of seven MGM films starring "Lassie."
The original film saw a sequel, Son of Lassie in 1945 with five other films following at intervals through the 1940s. A British remake of the 1943 movie was released in 2005 as Lassie to moderate success. The film has been released to VHS and DVD.
In 1993, Lassie Come Home was included in the annual selection of 25 motion pictures added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and recommended for preservation.
== Plot ==
Set in Depression-era Yorkshire, England, Mr and Mrs Carraclough are hit by hard times and forced to sell their collie, Lassie, to the rich Duke of Rudling, who has always admired her. Young Joe Carraclough grows despondent at the loss of his companion.
Lassie will have nothing to do with the Duke, however, and finds ways to escape her kennels and return to Joe. The Duke finally carries Lassie to his home hundreds of miles distant in Scotland. There, his granddaughter Priscilla senses the dog's unhappiness and arranges her escape.
Lassie then sets off for a long trek to her Yorkshire home. She faces many perils along the way, dog catchers and a violent storm, but also meets kind people who offer her aid and comfort. At the end, when Joe has given up hope of ever seeing his dog again, the weary Lassie returns to her favorite resting place in the schoolyard at home. There, Lassie is joyfully reunited with the boy she loves.
== Cast ==
* Roddy McDowall as Joe Carraclough, a Yorkshire schoolboy
* Donald Crisp as Sam Carraclough, Joe's father
* Dame May Whitty as Dally, an elderly woman who aids Lassie on her journey homeward
* Edmund Gwenn as Rowlie, a tinker who befriends Lassie
* Nigel Bruce as Duke of Rudling, grandfather to Priscilla
* Elsa Lanchester as Mrs. Carraclough, Joe's mother
* Pal as Lassie (credited as Lassie)
* Elizabeth Taylor as Priscilla, a young girl sympathetic to Lassie's plight 
* Ben Webster as Dan'l Fadden, married to Dally
* J. Patrick O'Malley as Hynes
* Alan Napier as Jock
* Arthur Shields as Andrew
* John Rogers as Snickers
* Alec Craig as Buckles
* George Broughton as Allen (uncredited)
== Reception ==
The movie was a big hit. According to MGM records it earned $2,613,000 in the US and Canada and $1,904,000 overseas, resulting in a profit of $2,249,000.
The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Color and later the character of Lassie received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6368 Hollywood Blvd. In 1993, Lassie Come Home was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Bosley Crowther in The New York Times of October 8, 1943 uniformly praised the performers and production, noting that the film "tells the story of a boy and a dog, tells it with such poignance and simple beauty that only the hardest heart can fail to be moved."
Almost 50 years after the film's release, Parade discussed its lasting cultural impact, quoting the Saturday Evening Post which said the film launched Pal on "the most spectacular canine career in film history". Lassie Come Home was also cited as a cultural icon in Jane and Michael Stern's 1992 book, Encyclopedia of Pop Culture.
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
* 2003: AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains:
** Lassie – #39 Hero
* 2005: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
** Joe Carraclough: "You're my Lassie come home." – Nominated
* 2006: AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers – Nominated
==References==