FAQ

Joe Carraclough (Peter Lawford) and Priscilla (June Lockhart), grand daughter of the Duke of Radling (Nigel Bruce), are now 17 years old. Lassie has given birth to a puppy that Joe has named "Laddie." WWII is raging, and Joe (now a combat pilot with the Royal Air Force) is sent on a dangerous mission. Not wanting to be separated from his master, Laddie stows away aboard Joe's aircraft. When Joe's plane is shot down over German-occupied Norway and the two of them are separated, Laddie braves snow, ice, fire, bombs, and German guns to catch up to Joe.

Son of Lassie is a movie sequel to the first Lassie movie, MGM's Lassie Come Home (1943) (1943), which was based on a 1940 novel by English-born author Eric Knight [1897-1943]. Son of Lassie is based on a screenplay by Jeanne Bartlett. It was followed by Courage of Lassie (1946) (1946), Master of Lassie (1948) (1948), The Sun Comes Up (1949) (1949), Challenge to Lassie (1949) (1949), and The Painted Hills (1951) (1951), eventually leading to a long-running television series, Lassie (1954) (1954-1973).

Laddie is played by Pal, the same rough collie who played Lassie in Lassie Come Home. This time, however, they got his gender right.

After Laddie sniffs out Joe, who is hiding amongst the Norwegians being forced to work for the German soldiers, Sergeant Schmidt (Robert Lewis) attempts to lead Joe and Laddie back to the German camp from which Joe escaped. Along the way, Schmidt attempts to shoot Joe, but Laddie leaps on him, forcing him to drop his gun. Joe disables Schmidt, and he and Laddie attempt to run away, but they are pursued by German soldiers. With nowhere else to go, they jump into a raging river and are carried downstream through some rapids, finally winding up back at Joanna (Fay Helm) and Anton (Leon Ames)'s house, where they manage to slip away in a boat while Joanna keeps the German guard occupied with food. In the final scenes back in Yorkshire, Priscilla, Sam, and Lassie are looking out over the moors when they see a squadron of airplanes arriving. Lassie starts to bark. Soon after, her bark is returned, and Joe and Laddie come walking up the road. Priscilla runs into Joe's arm, while Lassie welcomes Laddie home. Sam pets both dogs and says, "Our lads have come home."