- Challenge to Lassie
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Challenge to Lassie 
1949 film posterDirected by Richard Thorpe Produced by Robert Sisk Written by Eleanor Atkinson (story)
William LudwigStarring Donald Crisp
Edmund Gwenn
Geraldine Brooks
LassieMusic by André Previn Cinematography Charles Edgar Schoenbaum Editing by George White Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Release date(s) US October 31, 1949 Running time 76 minutes Country United States Language English Challenge to Lassie is an American drama directed by Richard Thorpe and released October 31, 1949 by MGM Studios. It was the fifth feature film starring the original Lassie, a collie named Pal and the fourth, and final, Lassie film that Donald Crisp would star in.
The movie is based on Eleanor Stackhouse Atkinson's book Greyfriars Bobby which in turn is based on a true story. Twelve years after starring in Challenge to Lassie, Crisp would star in another movie based on the novel, Greyfriars Bobby: The True Story of a Dog.
Set in Scotland in 1860, the film tells the story of a rough collie named Lassie whose master, Jock Gray, is killed by robbers in Edinburgh. After his death, the dog keeps a constant vigil beside her master's grave in Greyfriars Kirkyard, which is in violation of the local dog laws. In the original novel, the title dog was a Skye Terrier named Bobby and his owner dies from pneumonia.
Contents
Plot
Jock Gray raises his collie Lassie to be an extraordinary sheep dog and companion. When he is beaten to death by robbers after he retires, Lassie keeps vigil over his grave and refuses to let anyone else take ownership of her. However, the law requires that all dogs be leashed and licensed by a legal owner. With no owner to pay her license and her only "home" being the church graveyard, Lassie faces an uncertain future.
Her late owner's friend John Traill, his law student son, and the keepers of the graveyard struggle to keep Lassie hidden from the zealous police Sergeant Davie and the town magistrate. Matters are brought to a head when they must go to court to plead for the dog's life before the Lord Provost.
Cast
- Donald Crisp as Jock Gray
- Edmund Gwenn as John Traill
- Geraldine Brooks as Susan Brown
- Reginald Owen as Sergeant Davie
- Alan Webb as James Brown
- Ross Ford as William Traill
- Henry Stephenson as Sir Charles Loring
- Alan Napier as The Lord Provost
- Sara Allgood as Mrs MacFarland
- Edmund Breon as Magistrate
- Arthur Shields as Doctor Lee
- Lumsden Hare as Mr MacFarland
- Charles Irwin as Sergeant Major
- Lassie as Lassie
Availability
Challenge to Lassie was released to VHS on July 15, 1997 as part of the Lassie Collection series. It featured Geraldine Brooks on the cover with Lassie and was in a clamshell case. A second VHS version was released on September 1, 1998 featuring Donald Crisp and Lassie on the cover and in a standard slipcover case. Both versions are now out of print and no DVD version has been released, however it airs regularly on Turner Classic Movies.
External links
- Challenge to Lassie at the Internet Movie Database
- Challenge to Lassie at AllRovi
- Challenge to Lassie at the TCM Movie Database
Works featuring Lassie Novel Lassie Come-HomeFilms Lassie Come Home • Son of Lassie • Courage of Lassie • Hills of Home • The Sun Comes Up • Challenge to Lassie • The Painted Hills • The Magic of Lassie • Lassie (1994) • Lassie (2005)Television series Other Lassie (manga series) • Famous Dog Lassie (anime series)The films of Richard Thorpe 1920s Rough Ridin' (with John P. McCarthy) • Rarin' to Go • Battling Buddy • Fast and Fearless • Hard Hittin' Hamilton • Rip Roarin' Roberts • Bringin' Home the Bacon • Thundering Romance • Gold and Grit • Full Speed • Fast Fightin' • On the Go • Double Action Daniels • Quicker 'n Lightnin' • Tearin' Loose • The Desert Demon • Saddle Cyclone • Galloping On • A Streak of Luck • The Last Card • The Roaring Rider • Trumpin' Trouble • The Fighting Cheat • Coming an' Going • The Twin Triggers • Deuce High • Easy Going • Rawhide • Speedy Spurs • Double Daring • The Dangerous Dub • Twisted Triggers • The Bonanza Buckaroo • College Days • Josselyn's Wife • The Bandit Buster • The First Night • The Cyclone Cowboy • Between Dangers • The Galloping Gobs • Tearin' Into Trouble • The Ridin' Rowdy • The Meddlin' Stranger • Pals in Peril • Skedaddle Gold • White Pebbles • The Interferin' Gent • The Soda Water Cowboy • Ride 'em High • The Obligin' Buckaroo • Roarin' Broncs • The Desert of the Lost • The Ballyhoo Buster • Desperate Courage • The Cowboy Cavalier • The Valley of Hunted Men • Saddle Mates • Flyin' Buckaroo • The Bachelor Girl • Border Romance1930s The Dude Wrangler • Wings of Adventures • The Thoroughbred • Under Montana Skies • The Utah Kid • The Lawless Woman • The Sky Spider • The Lady from Nowhere • Wild Horse • Grief Street • Neck and Neck • Forgotten Women • The Devil Plays • Cross Examination • Murder at Dawn • Probation • Escapade • The Midnight Lady • Forbidden Company • Beauty Parlor • Thrill of Youth • The King Murder • Slightly Married • Women Won't Tell • Secrets of Wu Sin • Forgotten • Love Is Dangerous • I Have Lived • Strange People • Notorious But Nice • A Man of Sentiment • Murder on the Campus • Rainbow Over Broadway • The Quitter • Stolen Sweets • City Park • Green Eyes • Cheating Cheaters • Secret of the Chateau • Strange Wives • Last of the Pagans • The Voice of Bugle Ann • Tarzan Escapes • Dangerous Number • Night Must Fall • Double Wedding • Man-Proof • Love Is a Headache • The First Hundred Years • The Toy Wife • The Crowd Roars • Three Loves Has Nancy • The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn • Tarzan Finds a Son!1940s The Earl of Chicago • 20 Mule Team • Wyoming • The Bad Man • Barnacle Bill • Tarzan's Secret Treasure • Joe Smith, American • Tarzan's New York Adventure • Apache Trail • White Cargo • Three Hearts for Julia • Above Suspicion • Cry 'Havoc' • Two Girls and a Sailor • The Thin Man Goes Home • Thrill of a Romance • Her Highness and the Bellboy • What Next, Corporal Hargrove? • Fiesta • This Time for Keeps • On an Island with You • A Date with Judy • The Sun Comes Up • Big Jack • Challenge to Lassie • Malaya1950s Black Hand • Three Little Words • Vengeance Valley • The Great Caruso • The Unknown Man • It's a Big Country (with Clarence Brown, Don Hartman, John Sturges, Charles Vidor, Don Weis, and William A. Wellman) • Carbine Williams • Ivanhoe • The Prisoner of Zenda • The Girl Who Had Everything • All the Brothers Were Valiant • Knights of the Round Table • The Student Prince • Athena • The Prodigal • The Adventures of Quentin Durward • Ten Thousand Bedrooms • Tip on a Dead Jockey • Jailhouse Rock • The House of the Seven Hawks • Killers of Kilimanjaro1960s The Honeymoon Machine • The Horizontal Lieutenant • Follow the Boys • Fun in Acapulco • The Truth About Spring • The Golden Head (with James Hill) • That Funny Feeling • The Last ChallengeSerials Screen
playsThe Fightin' Comeback (1927) • Red Clay (1927) (with Charles Logue)Categories:- American films
- English-language films
- 1949 films
- Lassie films
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
- Films based on novels
- Films shot in Technicolor
- Films directed by Richard Thorpe
- Films set in Scotland
- Films set in the 1860s
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