Lassie Come Home: The Book That Became a Great Dog Movie

The dog, Lassie, that inspired books, movies, and television shows was first featured in a short story in the Saturday Evening Post in 1938. The story was by author Eric Knight who soon expanded the story to be a full-length novel, Lassie Come Home, published in1940.

Eric Knight grew up in England, and the story was set there. The plot concerned a family who is forced to sell their dog when they encounter hard times. The dog and family are separated, and the book tells the tale of the dog’s adventures as he journeys to find his young master.  When Lassie Come Home was published, it was an instant best-seller. MGM rapidly snapped up the film rights for $10,000, and made Lassie Come Home starring Roddy McDowall and Elizabeth Taylor.

Casting Lassie

When the casting call went out for a rough-coat collie, about 300 applicants submitted photos of their dogs. (To read more about the dog that got the part, “The Dog That Played Lassie.”) The director wanted a rough collie–also known as a long-haired collie–to play the part. (In Scotland, this breed of dog is raised for herding.)

Though Lassie was a female character, the dog selected was male as the dog—Pal– had the thick, beautiful coat the director was looking for. In addition to Pal’s silky coat, he had a distinctive white blaze on his face.

The dog belonged to animal breeder Rudd Weatherwax who was hired to board the dog and see that he was properly trained. After Pal was well-behaved, the family decided not to pick him up.

Having Weatherwax on board for the film was a definite asset. He and his family were soon among the top animal handlers for the entertainment industry.

Lassie Come Home was quite popular. Several sequels were made including Son of Lassie, a full-length movie starring Peter Lawford and June Lockhart (1945).

Lassie on Radio and Television

By 1947, Lassie had a radio program. The original radio show used Pal for the barking segments, but all other animal vocalizations were performed by humans.

Lassie made the transition to television in 1954. The show went through various iterations, but it remained popular until 1975. The part of Lassie was always played by an offspring of the original Pal. However, selecting the right pup with a matching blaze of white on his face remained a constant challenge.

Lassie is one of only three real dogs to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (The other two are Strongheart and Rin Tin Tin. Cartoon character Snoopy is also featured.)

In 2005, Lassie was named one of Variety magazine’s “Icons of the Century” for the impact she has made on young people around the world since 1938.

A Little-Known Story Behind Lassie

Less than ten years ago, British author Nigel Clarke was at work on a book about shipwrecks. He came upon a story about an incident that occurred in Dorset during World War I that involved a dog named Lassie. Clarke believes that Knight’s inspiration for the story was based on the real-life collie who saved the life of a British seaman.

On New Year’s Day in 1915, the Royal Navy battleship Formidable was torpedoed by a German submarine off Start Point, a promontory in South Devon. More than 500 men were lost.

In a storm that followed the accident, a life raft containing bodies blew along the coast to Lyme Regis. The raft was pulled ashore there. Clearly, the community wanted to help deal with the crisis. The local pub in town offered its cellar as a mortuary.

A Surprising Rescue

When the bodies were laid out on the stone floor, Lassie, a crossbred collie owned by the pub owner, found her way down amongst the bodies. She stopped near one of the victims and began to lick his face. She stayed by seaman John Cowan, nuzzling him and keeping him warm.

Finally, someone came down the stairs and noted that Cowan was trying to get up. He was taken to the hospital. He went on to make a full recovery.

A few weeks later, he returned to thank all who saved his life, particularly Lassie.

Inspiring Story

The sinking of the ship was a severe blow to Britain during these early years of the war. This story was inspirational and heart-warming. When the officers heard the story of Lassie and what she did to rescue Cowan, they told it again and again to any reporter who would listen.

Because the story was widely reported, Clarke feels that the odds are that Eric Knight read the story during the war years or came upon it later on. While Knight had moved from Yorkshire to the United States and served in the U.S. military, Clarke’s suspicion seems well-founded. In addition to both dogs being named Lassie, the story of her rescue of the sailor also bears a resemblance to the Lassie rescue stories.

What Happened to Knight?

After World War I, Eric Knight became a critic and a film writer. He moved from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, hoping to make his name in the movies. He met with many rejections, and eventually returned to Yorkshire to be a journalist, where he wrote his story about Lassie, eventually expanding it into a book.

Unfortunately, he never knew the level of success the book achieved. In January 1944 Knight was helping Frank Capra film a documentary about the war when he was killed in a plane crash. He was only 45. His death came shortly after MGM’s release of the film. It was too early for anyone to know that Lassie Come Home would become a classic.

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