Starring: Peter O’Toole, Samantha Morton and John Lynch
Director: Charles Sturridge
Rated: PG
THE press notes for Lassie tell us that there have been 11 Lassie films or television series.
And none of them were filmed in Britain where Eric Knight wrote and set his story, Lassie Come Home.
Actually, it is over 60 years since Roddy McDowell and Elizabeth Taylor shed their tears over Lassie.
They were war refugees from Britain, working in Hollywood, and their film was a wartime morale booster.
The war is still the timeframe of the story but veteran director Charles Sturridge (Brideshead Revisited, A Handful of Dust), who also wrote the screenplay, takes his team to Ireland, Scotland and northern England to re-create the Yorkshire and Scotland of the story.
It’s a very nice and enjoyable film, especially with its Christmas setting. In fact, it is somewhat miraculous. The film critics enjoyed it!
The dogs portraying Lassie are marvellous-looking collies.
The little boy (Jonathan Mason) who plays Joe is very little but very believable. Hester Odgers plays Cilla, the duke’s granddaughter.
Joe’s parents, a miner and his hard-working housewife, are played with strength by Samantha Morton and John Lynch.
Peter O’Toole is as eccentric as ever as the duke. Steve Pemberton (from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) is one of the most convincing “hiss the villain” types for some time.
The bulk of the story is Lassie’s hard journey from Scotland back to Yorkshire, managing, surviving.
There is a very pleasing interlude where she meets a tinker (Peter Dinklage from The Station Agent) but not everybody is kind to Lassie.
It’s hard to go wrong with Lassie. In fact, it’s hard to go wrong with a boy and his dog story.
This version of Lassie succeeds on all counts.
