Photo of Roddy McDowell with the original Lassie, from 1943 movie Lassie Come Home
(Photo kindly borrowed from the Wikipedia web site)
There's a wonderful story you can listen to on National Public Radio's In Character blog, titled Lassie, the Perfect Dog.
The 7-minute story is about the history of the collie Lassie through book and films, the standards her character set for real dogs and expectations by real people, and associated memorabilia.
Most importantly, we are given a brief glimpse of Lassie's legacy in our everyday lives - the trust and hope in our dogs to both love us and serve us well.
Trivia:
- The 1943 movie Lassie Come Home starred both Elizabeth Taylor and Roddy McDowell (one of detroit dog's favorite old movies)
- Lassie is one of several dogs that has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (others include Rin Tin Tin and first "dog star" Strongheart
- Lassie was originally a boy! (the name Lassie is Scotch/Irish for "young girl")
I've seen loads of dog movies, but never this one. I think I'll rent it sometime soon. Is this your favourite? I really liked Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog, although the imdb gives it a poor rating - I bawled my eyes out over it.
ReplyDeleteI also like the movie White Fang, though that's about wolves.
I saw your post at The Oswegan re: Mitt Romney. I didn't know anything about the "dog incident" so I googled it. That makes me ill. If I were American, I'd be out on the streets picketing to ruin his campaign (and I don't do that sort of thing ordinarily.)
Kat
Hi Poetikat, thanks for stopping by.
ReplyDeleteI love Lassie Come Home for several reasons. One is that it's a good weekend afternoon movie! Reason #2 is the actors. Reason #3 is that it shows life "back in the day" - very real and very different from American life, even back then. Very period piece, I guess.
Re Mitt Rommney: Yes, it's horrendous - equally as much from a political contender point of view --- what kind of judgment does this guy use? eek! I wrote an earlier post about it; the US House of Reps landed on the page and read it, right about the time the story came out in the media.
Good on you! Has that affected his campaign? These big-name people who get away with animal atrocities and neglect really "get my goat" (if you'll pardon the expression). I'd like to put them all in a zoo where we could go and visit them and point.
ReplyDeleteKat
Hi Kathleen, I think it has affected his campaign a small amount. I remember seeing tons of stuff in blogs and comments on news articles and you name it, right about the time the story broke -- even among Republicans. However, memory and time are something else completely. (I think people need a reminder.)
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this post. It has brought memories flooding back of the very first film I sobbed my heart out to. "Lassie Come Home" is simply one of the best films ever made, and falls into my catalogue of "perfect Sunday afternoon" films. I was brought up in a household that always had dogs, and I am a devoted dog lover. We had two collies during my childhood and I dearly loved them both. I live on my own now, and would love to have a dog, but work too many hours and it wouldn't be fair to leave it alone in the house for so long during the day. The thing I miss most is the wagging tail waiting for me as I walk through the door of an evening.
ReplyDeleteThank you again for the perfect "walk down memory lane" post... it truly does bring back great memories of my childhood.
Best wishes ~ Graham :)
Thank you for your comment, Graham. My pleasure! Interesting how a household changes when there is no one to greet you at the door; rather melancholy, really.
ReplyDeleteI second everything that Getty's just said, thanks for the post.
ReplyDeleteI did eventually get my own dog when I was 27 and started working from home and having a dog really does make life so much sweeter, having four is even better !!
Guess what breed my very first dog was....? :-)