Review of Courage of Lassie (1946) by Jonathan B — 16 Feb 2012

Sentimental tale in which the the iconic doggie gets shot, run over, bombed and "busted up real bad" more times than Bruce Willis. Elizabeth Taylor shrieks and yaps her way through the unremarkable script that really nails its colours to the flag as coming from a simpler and less sophisticated age.

The story has the young pup separated from mum in the wilds of America before being rescued by Taylor and trained as a sheep dog. Confusingly, despite the title, the dog is a male named Bill and later, during a stint in the US Army, Duke.

Having heroically saved a platoon of soldiers, Duke turns savage and is retired from duty, going on to escape and terrorise the local chicken farmers. Rediscovered by Taylor, Bill is tried for his crimes before Frank Morgan -of Wizard of Oz fame- makes an timely plea in front of the court ensuring clemency and a return to rural bliss.

The movie has some unintentionally funny moments such as when the young "Lassie" is pursued down a raging river by an obviously rubber wolf and there's an overall lack of realism to this sugary story.

Probably only of interest to those after a nostalgia fix these days, this is of it's era and not a great example of such.