Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

EssenceStory Well Deserved Praise

Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

MartinHafer "Son of Lassie" is a sequel to "Lassie Come Home", the first Lassie movie. The same characters return but time has past and the two leading children in the first movie (Elizabeth Taylor and Roddy McDowell) are recast with adult actors (June Lockhart and Peter Lawford).As I mentioned, time has passed and it is now during WWII. Lassie is older and spends her time chilling at home. Her/his son, Laddie (played by Pal...who is the dog who played Lassie in the films) is young and adores his owner, Joe (Lawford). However, when they try to make him a war dog, he's a total washout in camp. In fact, for much of the film he can't seem to do anything right.Later, when Joe is in the Royal Air Force, Laddie does what his mother/father did in the first film....he goes on a cross country trek to find Joe. Amazingly, he does and the dog spends some time at the air base where Joe is stationed. Instead of going back home, however, Laddie stows away in Joe's plane...and they end up getting shot down over Norway. Most of the film consists of Laddie and Joe trying to find their way home.Much of the time Laddie is in Norway, he's looking for Joe because they became separated. Again and again, Laddie alerts the Nazis and helps them catch Joe! So even though later Laddie proves himself, it's only after this dog nearly gets Joe killed!! Not exactly a great dog!So is this entertaining? Yes. Even though I think the story could have been a lot better (making Pal not so stupid would have been a good start), it is enjoyable.

Mikel3 I was surprised I enjoyed this film as much as I did. Originally I only had it on in the background on TCM while I was getting ready for work. Before I knew it I was peeking at the TV instead of looking for a shirt to wear. I was getting absorbed in the story and losing track of the time. Sure I was was going to be late for work...but I had to know, would Laddy turn out to be as brave trusty as Lassie? Would he continue to follow his master even through war torn Norway and seemingly endless obstacles including heartless German soldiers and miles of snow ? These were all questions I had to find out before I headed to my job ! Lucky for me I found a blank video tape to record the ending so I still made it.I loved this film. It had wonderful acting by all involved, including the dog. Visually it contained beautiful scenery, even great shots of the WWII planes I like so much . The production was top notch. Lots of action, and best of all a good old fashioned happy ending. What more can you ask for? These days gems like this are considered way to sugary by our cynical 21st century society to be produced. To bad cause once in awhile it's very refreshing to see the good guys and the dog all live happily ever after.If you love animals and haven't seen this one yet, get a box of hankies and some popcorn cause you are in for a real treat. Now excuse me while I go hug my beagle.

preppy-3 Sequel to the first Lassie film. Joe Carraclough (Roddy McDowell in the first film, Peter Lawford here) is home briefly from the war. He loves a dog named Laddie (who may be the son of Lassie--it's never made clear). He still loves Priscilla (Elizabeth Taylor in the first, June Lockhart here). He takes Laddie with him to the Army (!!!) and soon he and Laddie are trapped in occupied Norway.This is strictly for the kids. The dialogue is on the level of a bad Archie comic book, there's zero characterization and one sequence with four children has some of the worst acting I've ever seen in a movie. Also they're constantly pushing Laddie in your face so you can go "awwwwwwwww". Still this is shot in gorgeous Technicolor, has stunning scenery and Laddie is a good actor (so to speak). More for kids though--as an adult I was getting pretty bored. It was kind of fun to see Lockhart here considering she was in the Lassie TV show about a decade later. Parents should know a man is shot dead (no blood), Laddie is shot also and is constantly being put in danger. That might bother some kids. I give it a 7.

arieliondotcom If Laddie really were the Son of Lassie, we'd have to hope that she had a lot of other pups in the litter because the writing of this movie makes Laddie into one dumb dog! (In reality, if you check out the Trivia section, this dog is Pal, the original Lassie from Lassie Come Home movie of two years before and the progenitor of every Lassie thereafter, but we'll forget those confusing realities for the moment and pretend this is really the "Son of Lassie").Right from the outset, Laddie betrays his family lineage. Where Lassie always knew the good guys from the bad guys, Laddie tries to get help from Nazis which results in them trailing him and the Allies for the rest of the movie. You start wishing after a while that someone would shoot the dog so he doesn't give away any more secrets as he reveals Allies and their hiding places wherever he goes.Where Lassie only whined when someone else was in trouble, Laddie spends the whole movie whining (and giving away Allies whenever he does so). When trapped in a cabin, instead of finding the way out (as Lassie would have done), old Laddie gets the guy hiding him shot and the only way Laddie escapes is surviving having the entire cabin blown up around him.I must also take exception to the person who wrote how "realistic" the war/POW scenes are. Through the whole movie the Nazis are obsessed with killing the dog (strangely even though they know he will lead them to an Allied parachuter) so when the dog ends up at the POW camp they just let him in to help a blind prisoner. (In reality, both the blind guy and the dog would have been killed a long time ago.) There are some redeeming qualities about the film, though. Beautiful colors and gorgeous scenery worth watching for that alone. And old friends of Lassie, Donald Crisp and a very young June Lockhart who would one day be TV Lassie's matron (Timmy's Mom). And young Billy Severn as Henrik is really great as the little boy who befriends the wounded Laddie. (You'll cringe as he touches the wounded dog with a bloody paw...Making you want to remind children again not to touch a wounded dog). It's amazing how much violence there is in this a "children's" movie in fact. Explosions and several death scenes and shootings. Maybe the kids of the war era were thought to be of sterner stuff. Anyway, as little Henrik cries in his prayers to God to find the lost "puppy", my eyes actually teared up. "I FOUND him and I LOVE him..." Sniff, sniff...He names the dog "Mr. Simply" and it's no wonder since you wonder if it's because the dog is so simple minded.All's well that ends well in a happy reunion, but you leave the movie thinking that Laddie is one dumb dog!! But, even though he's every bit as big as Mama Lassie, you leave the movie thinking "Maybe it's because he's just a puppy after all", and forgive the dumb but sweet critter in the end.