Why are the Lassie movies so upsetting? I don't understand why it's considered "family friendly" to watch the beloved screen collie get abused on the screen. If I were a kid when I'd seen these movies, I'd run out of the room crying. In Hills of Home, Lassie gets terribly abused! The opening scene shows her cruel owner punishing her for her fear of water by shoving her under as they cross a brook. When she gets sold, her new owner is in the circus, and he explains to Dr. Edmund Gwenn that he's planning on making her a dancing dog by putting her on a hot stove, forcing her to hop up and down. Thankfully, Santa Claus rescues her from the circus and takes her home with him. He patiently trains her to not be afraid of water, but when she panics during a storm, he throws her out of his horse-drawn cart and says, "You're a coward! I've no use for you!" How is this entertainment?
As if this isn't upsetting enough, Teddy is trying to prove that the new medical technology known as chloroform is safe to use. How does he prove it? By experimenting on Lassie - I'm not kidding. Hollywood condones medical experiments on Lassie. Lassie isn't even sick needing an operation; he just puts her under to show the town that, hopefully, she'll wake up afterwards.
You might wonder why I bothered to watch this movie all the way through. It was Edmund Gwenn's week on Hot Toasty Rag, and since the Lassie franchise features some of his most famous flicks, I felt obliged to watch them.
There is a very unengrossing side story of a romance between budding medical student Tom Drake and country girl Janet Leigh. Compared with veterans Donald Crisp and Edmund Gwenn, Janet's Scottish accent is pretty cringe-worthy. But she was very new to the screen, so you can cut her a break. And with all the abuse to Lassie, you probably won't even remember she's in it. Seriously, folks, there's no reason to watch this movie unless you hate animals and want to watch a sweet dog suffer.
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to upsetting scenes involving animals, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.
As if this isn't upsetting enough, Teddy is trying to prove that the new medical technology known as chloroform is safe to use. How does he prove it? By experimenting on Lassie - I'm not kidding. Hollywood condones medical experiments on Lassie. Lassie isn't even sick needing an operation; he just puts her under to show the town that, hopefully, she'll wake up afterwards.
You might wonder why I bothered to watch this movie all the way through. It was Edmund Gwenn's week on Hot Toasty Rag, and since the Lassie franchise features some of his most famous flicks, I felt obliged to watch them.
There is a very unengrossing side story of a romance between budding medical student Tom Drake and country girl Janet Leigh. Compared with veterans Donald Crisp and Edmund Gwenn, Janet's Scottish accent is pretty cringe-worthy. But she was very new to the screen, so you can cut her a break. And with all the abuse to Lassie, you probably won't even remember she's in it. Seriously, folks, there's no reason to watch this movie unless you hate animals and want to watch a sweet dog suffer.
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to upsetting scenes involving animals, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.