weezeralfalfa
First, there is no character in this film called Lassie!, although Lassie may have been the mother of Bill, sometimes called Duke, who starts out as a puppy. Like the first 2 of this film series, the collie, whatever its name is, gets lost for part of the film, has a series of adventures, and eventually finds its way home......Apparently most of the shoots were taken around Lake Chelan: a long, narrow former glacial valley, with substantial mountains on either side, located in north central Washington state.......This time, 14y.o. Elizabeth Taylor(as Kathie) serves as Bill's non-military master, while Tom Drake, as Stg. Smitty, renames the dog as Duke and serves as his master while in the army. In training Duke to be a War Dog, the screenplay is repeating the main plot of the previous film; "Son of Lassie". This time, the dog's unit is assigned to the Aleutians, to fight the Japanese......Some reviewers question the wisdom of the long(20min) initial section, in which the future Bill is accidentally separated from his litter mates, and spends months, judging from his size progression, as a wild dog, in the forest, not seeing any humans. We are treated to seeing various wild animals, some of which Bill interacts with. This should be especially interesting to children, but I found parts interesting too. No mention is made of how Bill manages to survive as such. Presumably, he would be poor at chasing and killing substantial prey, although he stole a fish from a bear! Also, he would be subject to predation by carnivores such as cougars coyotes, or wolves and maybe even hawks and large owls. Also, when Kathie finds him wounded from a gunshot, and picks him up, she should have been wary that he might be a wild dog, and bite her. When recovered, she trains him to be a sheepdog. But, one day, he is run over by a truck. The driver takes him to a vet, but makes little effort finding his owner. So, after a couple months of rehabilitation, it's decided to give him to the army and make a war dog out of him, rechristening him as Duke. On duty, one day he is assigned to carry a message from a patrol in trouble to another patrol, traveling under heavy fire. He is hit and the message lost. He grows weaker and his legs are covered with mud making walking more difficult. He collapses as he reaches his goal. Strangely, there seems to be no radio contact between the 2 patrols. Thus, they ask the exhausted dog to guide them to the patrol in need of ammunition and more personnel. Slowly, he makes his way. He is considered a hero for his extreme effort. However, he then turns mean toward his handler and others. He's suffering from PTSD(or shell shock). It's decided to send him back to Washington state for some R&R. Serendipitously, he manages to jump off the train exactly when it passes Lake Chelan! But, he doesn't immediately find anyone who recognizes him. To survive, he steals chickens from various people. When he is finally found by Kathie, initially, he's hostile. But, there is a sudden change in him when she is knocked unconscious from a fall. He is now back to his old self. But, the victims of his raids want him declared a public nuisance and put away. A trial is held and it looks bad for Bill. But, Frank Morgan: a friend of Kathie's, notices a marking on one ear, and someone identifies it as a war dog ID. Morgan calls up the nearby dog training center and asks for Bill's record, finding that he is regarded as a war hero. This told to the judge, he decides to suspend the expected death penalty, and place him under the supervision of Kathie and Morgan. Note that it's not clear whether he still belongs to the army, or whether they want him released. This is not discussed. By the way, it would be nice for the owner, whoever it might be, to pay for the damage, which was not denied.......Now, suppose Bill were a man, a homeless veteran with a good record, who stole some chickens to keep from starving. Would he have received the same leniency? Should the past character of a person who has committed a crime be considered in sentencing? I think so.......This film is currently available in economical 3 and 4 packs of MGM Lassie-like films.
MartinHafer
"Lassie Goes Nuts"....or, perhaps another title that might fit for this one is "Lassie Goes Through Hell and Ends Up With PTSD". This is because Lassie (here actually called Bill) is tortured and goes through more in one film than most of his others combined!!! In this film, he loses his mother, gets shot, gets run over, gets sent to war and almost dies...and, naturally, ends up losing his mind. While the term was never used, he obviously was suffering from PTSD...and the film was actually a metaphor for the millions of damaged soldiers coming home from Europe and Asia following WWII...which ended the year before.Fortunately, the film is not just one series of torment after another for good 'ol Bill/Lassie. When he's not suffering, he's living with a lovely little girl (Elizabeth Taylor) and loves her dearly. But he gets lost and goes through the worst before he ultimately is reunited with her. The movie is enjoyable and the scenery AMAZING...having been filmed in the Pacific Northwest in beautiful color. And, because it was a prestige project (after all, Lassie was a BIG star at MGM), the studio used some of its best supporting actors (Frank Morgan, Harry Davenport and Tom Drake, among others) and it really is a lovely film. But some might tire of seeing the animal going through torment, so it's not nearly the film as "Lassie Come Home"!Finally, although I liked the movie I really would have loved a scene with Lassie lying on the couch being psychoanalyzed near the end of the story!
AaronCapenBanner
Fred M. Wilcox returned to direct Lassie in his third film, but this is not a continuation of "Son Of Lassie", though original costar Elizabeth Taylor does return as a new character called Kathie Merrick, who rescues a collie pup, and names it Bill(Lassie is not the name here, despite the title!) whom she raises as a sheep-herder, until one day he is hit by a truck and taken to a veterinarian. Bill's life is saved, but is not identified, so is instead sent off as a war dog to assist soldiers in the trenches. Sadly, this experience turns Bill vicious, and upon his return home becomes a livestock killer. Can Kathie convince the court not to put Bill down? Strange film is mostly an uninspired rehash of the first two(unrelated) pictures, when it would have been far wiser to just continue that story, instead of creating this one. A wasted opportunity.
Neil Doyle
This is a mildly entertaining Lassie film in which the collie (who is named Bill in the story) plays the leading role while the human players (ELIZABETH TAYLOR, FRANK MORGAN, TOM DRAKE) are mere foils. The plot concerns a pretty teen-aged Taylor who finds him in the Canadian wilderness, loses him when he goes astray, and finds him again in time for a heart-warming conclusion, but only after war-weary dog has gone on trial for, of all things, murder.It starts out slowly as a nature film with nothing but shots of rabbits and other woodland creatures before it gets to the heart of the story with the opening scenes of Frank Morgan and Elizabeth Taylor (in her early teens and seemingly unspoiled, giving one of her more natural performances). Taylor's fawning over Lassie seems genuine, if a bit too sentimental, and it's a relief at the finale that she is reunited with her pet.Standout are the war scenes where Lassie is forced to help American soldiers in a dangerous assault on some Japanese soldiers. Lassie is trained in these chores by soldier TOM DRAKE and after battle fatigue sets in he becomes another shell-shocked victim of war. How he's able to return to Taylor for the film's happy ending is the balance of the story.Nicely done, filmed in wilderness areas of Canada and the state of Washington, but still just a minor entry in the Lassie stories.
