Lassie Come Home is a 1943 MGM color film set in Depression-era England which tells the story of a poor boy's dog who, when sold to a rich nobleman, makes a difficult journey to return home to her original owner. It stars Roddy McDowall, Donald Crisp, Dame May Whitty, Edmund Gwenn, Nigel Bruce, Elsa Lanchester, Elizabeth Taylor, Ben Webster, J. Pat O'Malley, Alan Napier, and of course Lassie. A male collie named Pal, trained by Rudd Weatherwax, played Lassie.
The movie was adapted by Hugo Butler from the novel Lassie Come-Home by Eric Knight. It was directed by Fred M. Wilcox. During the film's production, MGM executives previewing the dailies were said to be so moved that they ordered more scenes to be added to "this wonderful motion picture."
It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Color. In 1993, Lassie Come Home was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
This was the first of a long series of movies and television series starring Lassie. The movie was followed by a sequel, Son of Lassie, in 1945. A British remake of the 1943 movie was released in 2005 as Lassie.
Hard times came for Carraclough family and they are forced to sell their dog to the rich Duke of Rudling. However, Lassie, the dog, is unwilling to leave the young Carraclough boy and sets out on the long and dangerous journey in order to rejoin him. Written by Dragan Antulov
