Lad: A Dog (1962)

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This sentimental children's film is based on the true adventures of author Albert Payson Terhune's collie dog, as immortalized in Terhune's early 1920's novel. The story about the dog Lad's saving graces is very much directed toward the youngest moppets whose love of animals has yet to be jaded by… More This sentimental children's film is based on the true adventures of author Albert Payson Terhune's collie dog, as immortalized in Terhune's early 1920's novel. The story about the dog Lad's saving graces is very much directed toward the youngest moppets whose love of animals has yet to be jaded by ruined carpets, chewed-up books, or all-night barking. Lad comes to the rescue again and again, implying in more than one instance that dogs can be smarter than at least a few people. The canine saves his little mistress Angela (a nine-year-old Angela Cartwright just before her role in TV's Lost in Space) from a poisonous snake bite and is mistakenly ill-treated as a consequence, his actions help cure her need for a wheelchair, and furthermore, the dog prevents a local troublemaker from torching the family's barn. A younger Carroll O'Connor of redneck Archie Bunker TV fame, plays a crotchety neighbor. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi