Courage of Lassie 1946  N/R, 92 min.
Genre: Drama / Adventure
Director: Fred M. Wilcox
Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Morgan, Tom Drake, Selena Royle, George Cleveland, Harry Davenport, Morris Ankrum, Arthur Walsh, Catherine McLeod, Minor Watson, Mitchell Lewis, Jane Green, David Holt, Bill Wallace, Donald Curtis
Fourteen-year-old Kathie (Elizabeth Taylor) rescues Lassie and trains him to be a sheep dog. When Lassie gets hit by a truck, he is recruited into the K-9 corps and is sent to World War II. Upon his return, Lassie is shell-shocked and goes on a killing spree, but Kathie helps the collie adjust to life at home.
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Forbidden Planet 1956  N/R, 98 min.
Genre: Sci-Fi / Thriller / Romance
Director: Fred M. Wilcox
Cast: Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, Warren Stevens, Jack Kelly, Richard Anderson, Earl Holliman, James Drury, George Wallace, Robert Dix, Jimmy Thompson, Harry Harvey Jr., Roger McGee, Peter Miller, James Best
This is probably the best science fiction movie of the 1950s. It is the year 2200, and spaceship Altair-4–commanded by John J. Adams (Leslie Nielsen)–has landed on a faraway planet. There he is greeted by Dr. Edward Morbius (Walter Pidgeon) and his daughter (Anne Francis) who are the sole survivors of a colony of settlers. All is not as it should be, and the doctor does not intend to share the secrets of the planet.
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Hills of Home 1948  G, 97 min.
Genre: Family / Adventure / Drama
aka: Master of Lassie
Director: Fred M. Wilcox
Cast: Edmund Gwenn, Donald Crisp, Tom Drake, Janet Leigh, Rhys Williams, Reginald Owen, Edmund Breon, Alan Napier, Hughie Green, Lumsden Hare, Eileen Erskine, Frederick Worlock, David Thursby
In the Scottish mountain town of Glen Urtach, Lassie has been tending sheep but is afraid of the water. Her owner, Dr. William MacLure (Edmund Gwenn), tries to cure Lassie's phobia but fails–until William has an accident, and Lassie dives into the raging river to save him.
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Lassie Come Home 1943 N/R, 88 min.
Genre: Family / Adventure / Drama
Director: Fred M. Wilcox
Cast: Roddy McDowall, Donald Crisp, Edmund Gwenn, Dame May Whitty, Elizabeth Taylor, Nigel Bruce, Elsa Lanchester, J. Pat O'Malley, Alec Craig, Arthur Shields, Ben Webster, John Rogers, Alan Napier, Nelson Leigh, George Broughton
The Carracloughs–parents (Donald Crisp and Elsa Lanchester) and their son Joe (Roddy McDowall)–are a poor Yorkshire family. Needing money, they sell their collie, Lassie, to the Duke of Rudling (Nigel Bruce) who takes her home to Scotland where his granddaughter Priscilla (Elizabeth Taylor) adores Lassie. But, Lassie misses the Carracloughs, escapes from her new home, and makes the long trip back to Yorkshire.
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The Secret Garden 1949 N/R, 92 min.
Genre: Family / Drama
Director: Fred M. Wilcox
Cast: Margaret O'Brien, Herbert Marshall, Dean Stockwell, Gladys Cooper, Elsa Lanchester, Brian Roper, Reginald Owen, Aubrey Mather, George Zucco, Lowell Gilmore, Billy Bevan, Dennis Hoey, Matthew Boulton, Isobel Elsom, Norma Varden
This is, perhaps, the best of several filmed versions of Frances Hodgson Burnett's classic story. Orphaned and spoiled Mary (Margaret O'Brien) is sent to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven (Herbert Marshall) in his dark, run-down mansion. Archibald has turned gruff and uncaring since his wife died in a walled garden on the estate, which he now keeps locked. Likewise, he keeps his crippled son, Colin (Dean Stockwell), hidden away. Mary finds the key to the garden, and, with the help of another youth, Dickon (Brian Roper), brings the garden to life. She also sneaks Colin into the garden on a daily basis. Each family member grows up in the process.
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Tennessee Champ 1954 N/R, 72 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Fred M. Wilcox
Cast: Shelley Winters, Keenan Wynn, Dewey Martin, Earl Holliman, Dave O'Brien, Jack Kruschen, Charles Bronson, Yvette Duguay, Frank Richards, John Indrisano
Daniel Norson (Dewey Martin) is an upright boxer who tries to use his religion to influence his crooked manager, Willy Wurble (Keenan Wynn), to "do the right thing."
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| 1. Courage of Lassie (1946)
2. Forbidden Planet (1956)
3. Hills of Home (1948)
aka: Master of Lassie
4. Lassie Come Home (1943)
5. The Secret Garden (1949)
6. Tennessee Champ (1954)
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