Review of The Proud Rebel

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** I went to see this wonderful Technicolor film in 1958, when I was eleven, and it became one of my all-time favorite movies. Alan Ladd is top-billed, but the film belongs to his real-life, eleven year old son, David, who, in a truly outstanding performance, practically steals the whole film from his famous father. Set just after the end of the American Civil War, Alan Ladd plays John Chandler, a Confederate traveling the countryside searching for a doctor who can cure his mute son, David, who has been struck dumb with shock after seeing his mother killed in front of him and his home burned to the ground during the war. David's constant companion is his sheep dog, Lance, and the pair are devoted to one another. They are taken in by a spinster, Linnett Moore (Olivia de Havilland), in return for them helping her on her farm, which is coveted by a land-hungry rancher, Harry Burleigh (Dean Jagger) and his two obnoxious sons. When a doctor is found in far away Philadelphia who holds out a hope of curing David, John, unable to raise the money any other way, sells Lance to a dog breeder without David knowing. The operation is a failure and when David returns home to find Lance gone, he is inconsolable. Meanwhile, Lance has fallen into the hands of Burleigh, who, knowing John must come to get the dog back for his son's sake, sets a trap for him. David follows his father to Burleigh's ranch and the shock of seeing his father about to be shot from behind restores his power of speech. Just in time, he shouts a warning to his father, who turns and shoots his attacker, killing him. The final scene, where David runs across the fields with Lance into the arms of Linnett, sobbing "I...can...talk...I can...talk!" had me and the rest of the audience in tears. Jerome Moross' wonderful music score greatly added to the overall effect of this classic movie, which I rate ten out of ten!