MartinHafer "Son of Lassie" is a sequel to "Lassie Come Home", the first Lassie movie. The same characters return but time has past and the two leading children in the first movie (Elizabeth Taylor and Roddy McDowell) are recast with adult actors (June Lockhart and Peter Lawford).As I mentioned, time has passed and it is now during WWII. Lassie is older and spends her time chilling at home. Her/his son, Laddie (played by Pal...who is the dog who played Lassie in the films) is young and adores his owner, Joe (Lawford). However, when they try to make him a war dog, he's a total washout in camp. In fact, for much of the film he can't seem to do anything right.Later, when Joe is in the Royal Air Force, Laddie does what his mother/father did in the first film....he goes on a cross country trek to find Joe. Amazingly, he does and the dog spends some time at the air base where Joe is stationed. Instead of going back home, however, Laddie stows away in Joe's plane...and they end up getting shot down over Norway. Most of the film consists of Laddie and Joe trying to find their way home.Much of the time Laddie is in Norway, he's looking for Joe because they became separated. Again and again, Laddie alerts the Nazis and helps them catch Joe! So even though later Laddie proves himself, it's only after this dog nearly gets Joe killed!! Not exactly a great dog!So is this entertaining? Yes. Even though I think the story could have been a lot better (making Pal not so stupid would have been a good start), it is enjoyable.

AaronCapenBanner S. Sylvan Simon directed this sequel to "Lassie Come Home", set several years later, with Lassie's son being a trained war dog who assists a grown-up Joe(now played by Peter Lawford) while he is behind enemy lines in Norway during WWII, where he is now a soldier who must flee the Nazis in his bid for freedom. June Lockhart takes over the role of Priscilla from Elizabeth Taylor, who here is romantically involved with Joe, praying for his safe return. Donald Crisp returns as his father Sam, and Nigel Bruce also returns as the Duke of Rudling. Entertaining continuation of the first film pretty much gets it right with an interesting wartime setting, though it's a pity the time-frame didn't allow the return of original actors Roddy McDowall & Elizabeth Taylor, though Lawford & Lockhart do just fine.

preppy-3 Sequel to the first Lassie film. Joe Carraclough (Roddy McDowell in the first film, Peter Lawford here) is home briefly from the war. He loves a dog named Laddie (who may be the son of Lassie--it's never made clear). He still loves Priscilla (Elizabeth Taylor in the first, June Lockhart here). He takes Laddie with him to the Army (!!!) and soon he and Laddie are trapped in occupied Norway.This is strictly for the kids. The dialogue is on the level of a bad Archie comic book, there's zero characterization and one sequence with four children has some of the worst acting I've ever seen in a movie. Also they're constantly pushing Laddie in your face so you can go "awwwwwwwww". Still this is shot in gorgeous Technicolor, has stunning scenery and Laddie is a good actor (so to speak). More for kids though--as an adult I was getting pretty bored. It was kind of fun to see Lockhart here considering she was in the Lassie TV show about a decade later. Parents should know a man is shot dead (no blood), Laddie is shot also and is constantly being put in danger. That might bother some kids. I give it a 7.

rgbg4142 I was surprised to discover how much I enjoyed this movie. Having traveled in beautiful Norway several years ago -- the land of my ancestors -- and visited the WWII Resistance Museum in Oslo, the movie was of particular interest to me. I suspected the location shots were in Canada, for having traveled across the mountains of Norway, something didn't appear quite right, but very close. Lassie's performance as 'Laddie' is amazing and so many of the cast give fine performances, including a very young (22) Peter Lawford. Watch also for teenage Terry Moore! And sadly, one of the last movie roles by handsome former silent star Nils Asther as he slid into obscurity by the end of the '40s. Ironically, there is also 20-year-old June Lockhart, who later played the mother two decades later in the Lassie series on TV. A nice touch is the music of Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg used throughout the score. Fine film for family viewing.