Son of Lassie facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Son of Lassie |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | S. Sylvan Simon |
| Produced by | Samuel Marx |
| Written by |
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| Starring |
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| Music by | Herbert Stothart |
| Cinematography | Charles Edgar Schoenbaum |
| Editing by | Ben Lewis |
| Studio | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Distributed by | Loew's Inc. |
| Release date(s) | April 20, 1945 |
| Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Son of Lassie (also known as Laddie, Son of Lassie) is a 1945 Technicolor feature film produced by MGM based on characters created by Eric Knight, and starring Peter Lawford, Donald Crisp, June Lockhart and Pal (credited as Lassie). A sequel to Lassie Come Home, the film focuses on the now adult Joe Carraclough after he joins the Royal Air Force during World War II and is shot down over Nazi-occupied Norway along with a stowaway, Lassie's son "Laddie" – played by Pal. Son of Lassie was released theatrically on April 20, 1945, by Loew's.
Plot
In Yorkshire, at the estate of the Duke of Rudling (Nigel Bruce), the British Army converted the grounds into a training camp for war dogs. The camp is placed under the supervision of Sam Carraclough (Donald Crisp), the kennel caretaker, who immediately begins the process of selecting the best dogs for training, including Laddie, the young pup of the champion collie, Lassie. Joe Carraclough (Peter Lawford), now an adult, joins the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. Departing for training school, he is forced to leave behind his dog Lassie and her pup, Laddie.
Laddie, being considered as a "war dog", follows Joe to training school and then stows away on his master's bomber, just as it takes off on a dangerous mission over Nazi-occupied Norway. The two are forced to parachute when hit by enemy fire. Laddie then seeks help for his injured master. While they are separated, Joe is captured, and the dog is pursued by enemy soldiers. Laddie is sheltered, first by young Norwegian children who find him, and later by a freedom-fighter who is killed. Laddie finally reaches the prisoner-of-war camp where his master had been taken.
The German guards use Laddie to seek out his master who had escaped. In his search for Joe, who is forced into a labor detail on a coastal gun emplacement, Laddie is reunited with his master and thereafter the two race for their lives to reach friendly lines as the Nazis pursue them. Finally free, both Joe and Laddie make their way back to the Rudling estate to reunite with Lassie, Sam Carraclough, Joe's father and Priscilla (June Lockhart), the Duke of Rudling's granddaughter.
Cast
- Pal (credited as "Lassie") as Lassie and grown-up Laddie
- Peter Lawford as Joe Carraclough
- Donald Crisp as Sam Carraclough, Joe's father
- June Lockhart as Priscilla, the Duke of Rudling's granddaughter
- Nigel Bruce as Duke of Rudling, grandfather to Priscilla
- Donald Curtis as Sgt. Eddie Brown
- Robert Lewis as Sgt. Schmidt
- Nils Asther as Olav
- William Severn as Henrik
- Leon Ames as Anton
- Fay Helm as Joanna
- Terry Moore as Thea (as Helen Koford, her birth name)
Music
In 2010, Film Score Monthly released the complete scores of the seven Lassie feature films released by MGM between 1943 and 1955 as well as Elmer Bernstein's score for It's a Dog's Life (1955) in the CD collection: Lassie Come Home: The Canine Cinema Collection, limited to 1000 copies. Due to the era when these scores were recorded, nearly half of the music masters have been lost so the scores had to be reconstructed and restored from the best available sources, mainly the Music and Effects tracks as well as monaural ¼″ tapes.
The score for Son of Lassie was composed by Herbert Stothart. Many of the Norwegian scenes use themes from Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg, notably the Piano Concerto and the Peer Gynt Suite.
Track listing for Son of Lassie (Disc 2)
- Main Title/Laddie (beginning)* - 2:14
- Mischievous Puppy/My First Cake - 3:42
- Say It/Rudling Kennels - 3:24
- Training Routine (Stothart–Castelnuovo-Tedesco) - 2:41
- That’s Where His Heart Is/Lowering the Colors - 2:20
- Bull Terrier/Infraction of Regulations - 3:13
- Laddie at Airfield & Waiting Dog (Stothart–Castelnuovo-Tedesco) - 3:21
- Planes Taxiing/Plane Overdue - 4:52
- Parachute Landing (Stothart–Castelnuovo-Tedesco) - 4:20
- Underground (Stothart–Castelnuovo-Tedesco)/Disconsolate Laddie (damaged) (Stothart–Castelnuovo-Tedesco) - 4:14
- Occupied Village/Locked Storage - 3:40
- Injured Dog* (Castelnuovo-Tedesco)/Of Viking Ancestry - 5:49
- It Should Be Christmas - 0:54
- Frantic Dog (Castelnuovo-Tedesco) - 4:43
- Leading the Blind (Stothart–Castelnuovo-Tedesco) - 1:15
- Reprise (Stothart–Castelnuovo-Tedesco) - 1:14
- Passport - 2:13
- It’s Laddie (Stothart–Castelnuovo-Tedesco) - 0:40
- Seeking His Master (Stothart–Castelnuovo-Tedesco) - 1:41
- Clown Sergeant/The Escape (Stothart–Castelnuovo-Tedesco)/Through the Rapids (Castelnuovo-Tedesco) - 8:34
- Back to the Yorkshire Moors - 0:38
- Final Episode - 2:04
- Overseas Title - 0:15
Contains Sound Effects
Total Time: 68:48
