Lassie Come Home (1943)

94% of critics liked it
(16 reviews)
69% of users liked it
(5,863 ratings)

Female dogs tend to shed while in heat; this is why all the collies who've played doggy heroine Lassie in the movies have actually been well-disguised males. A magnificent animal named Pal was the screen's first Lassie in 1943's Lassie Come Home. Set in Yorkshire during the first World War, the film… More Female dogs tend to shed while in heat; this is why all the collies who've played doggy heroine Lassie in the movies have actually been well-disguised males. A magnificent animal named Pal was the screen's first Lassie in 1943's Lassie Come Home. Set in Yorkshire during the first World War, the film gets under way when the poverty-stricken parents (Donald Crisp, Elsa Lanchester) of young Joe Carraclough (Roddy McDowall) are forced to sell his beloved Lassie. While her new master, the duke of Rudling (Nigel Bruce), is pleasant enough, Lassie prefers the company of Joe and repeatedly escapes. Even when cared for by the duke's affectionate granddaughter, Priscilla (Elizabeth Taylor), Lassie insists upon heading back to her original home. This time, however, the trip is much longer, and Lassie must depend upon the kindness of strangers, notably farmers Dally (Dame May Whitty) and Dan'l Fadden (Ben Webster) and handyman Rowlie (Edmund Gwenn). Based on the novel by Eric Knight (originally serialized in The Saturday Evening Post), Lassie Come Home was released quite some time after Knight's death. Like all the Lassie sequels turned out by MGM between 1943 and 1951, Lassie Come Home was lensed in Technicolor. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: G, 1 hr. 29 min.
Directed By: Fred M. Wilcox, Fred Wilcox
Written By: Hugo Butler, Eric Knight
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Kids & Family, Classics

In Theaters: Oct 7, 1943 Wide
On DVD: Aug 24, 2004
Studio: MGM

Critic Reviews

, TIME Magazine
Lassie celebrates nothing more profound than the simple and timeworn relationship of a boy and a dog. It dramatizes the uncomplicated goodness of an animal in a complicated human world.
Variety Staff, Variety
Lassie emerges as nice entertainment enhanced by color photography and good scenic shots.
Bosley Crowther, New York Times
A thorough delight.
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
The classic 1943 canine weepie about a collie who crosses most of Britain to return to the little boy who loves her.
Emma Cochrane, Empire Magazine
This was understandably inspiring to wartime audiences and actually still holds up as a heartwarming story with a very decent cast.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
This film is a fairly well-balanced effort, and if you're in the mood for an evening of obvious sentiment, this boy-and-his-dog film works quite well.
Heather Boerner, Common Sense Media
Barkin' good moral-rich classic. But violent, too.
Steve Crum, Video-Reviewmaster.com
MGM tear jerker supreme for dog and child fans.
Trevor Johnston, Time Out
Nobody made this heart-warming fluff better than MGM.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
It's the classic shaggy dog story that began it all.
Steven D. Greydanus, Decent Films Guide
As Old Yeller is the classic story of a boy and his dog, Lassie Come Home is the classic story of a dog and her boy.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Lassie Come Home gives the screen's first dog star, Rin-Tin-Tin, a run for his money, mostly thanks to its rich Technicolor cinematography and its top-shelf cast.
, Film4
Sentimental slush.
Dragan Antulov, rec.arts.movies.reviews
One of those rare and precious films that are to be enjoyed by all generations.
Steve Rhodes, Internet Reviews
Still good family entertainment today.

Read all 15 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

AJ V

Lassie Come Home? No, Lassie please leave! That's the real problem in this movie, Lassie wont stay away. The family is too poor to keep the dog, so they sell it, but it keeps coming back home. This really got on my nerves, not only that , but the scenes with Lassie fighting… More
Lassie Come Home? No, Lassie please leave! That's the real problem in this movie, Lassie wont stay away. The family is too poor to keep the dog, so they sell it, but it keeps coming back home. This really got on my nerves, not only that , but the scenes with Lassie fighting bears in the woods so he could get back home were so crazy and ridiculous that I hated this movie. I did like Roddy McDowall in the movie, though, he was good, so I gave the movie more stars than it deserved.
Anthony V

If you don't like this movie you better see the wizard about a heart.