''Hills of Home'' (also known as ''Danger in the Hills'' and ''Master of Lassie'' ) is a 1948

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

, the fourth in a series of seven

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

Lassie Lassie is a fictional female Rough Collie dog and is featured in a short story by Eric Knight that was later expanded to a full-length novel called ''Lassie Come-Home''. Knight's portrayal of Lassie bears some features in common with another fic ...

films. It starred

Edmund Gwenn Edmund Gwenn (born Edmund John Kellaway; 26 September 1877 – 6 September 1959) was an English actor. On film, he is best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in the Christmas film ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947), for which he won th ...

Donald Crisp Donald William Crisp (27 July 188225 May 1974) was an English film actor as well as an early producer, director and screenwriter. His career lasted from the early silent film era into the 1960s. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor ...

, and

Tom Drake Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in '' Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

Plot

Dr. William MacLure (

) a Scottish doctor, adopts Lassie, who has an unnatural aversion to water. The Dr. tries to cure Lassie of her fears, but she remains water-shy. Young Tammas Milton needs an operation. The doctor wants to use chloroform but the locals in the Glen are against this new idea. The doctor proves its worth by using it to put Lassie to sleep for over twenty minutes. After operating in his own house to save the young man's life, the elderly doctor in payment has extracted a promise from his father, a friend who was the previous owner of Lassie, that he will allow him to send the young man on a four-year medical course in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

so he can take over from him one day as doctor in the Glen. The young man when recovered is sent away and the increasingly old doctor continues administering to his patients in the area, who begin to fear for his health. One snowy night the doctor is called out and sees a patient. On the way home, he dozes off on his horse and a tree branch knocks him down into the snow. Lassie rushes across a damaged bridge over a flood swollen river to get help and when she returns with two men, the bridge has been washed away. With MacLure's life in danger, the dog is forced to dive into a raging river to get to the other side. After almost being pulled under by a whirlpool twice, Lassie makes the other side on her second attempt and seeing this, the two men wade across the waist deep flooded river. They find MacLure who is still unconscious in the snow and very cold and get him home. He eventually comes to and spends some days in bed but it has been too much for him and he dies. Shortly after his funeral, attended by all in the Glen, the new doctor arrives, having passed his exams, and takes over the practice.

Main cast

Pal Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...

(credited as "Lassie") as Lassie *

as Dr. William MacLure *

as Drumsheugh *

as Tammas Milton *

Janet Leigh Jeanette Helen Morrison (July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004), known professionally as Janet Leigh, was an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. Her career spanned over five decades. Raised in Stockton, California, by working-class parents, ...

as Margit Mitchell * Rhys Williams as Mr. Milton *

Reginald Owen John Reginald Owen (5 August 1887 – 5 November 1972) was a British actor. He was known for his many roles in British and American films and television programs. Career The son of Joseph and Frances Owen, Reginald Owen studied at Sir Herbert ...

as Hopps *

Edmund Breon Edmund Breon (born Iver Edmund de Breon MacLaverty; 12 December 1882 – 24 June 1953) was a Scottish film and stage actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1907 and 1952. Life and career Born in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Br ...

as Jamie Soutar *

Alan Napier Alan William Napier-Clavering (7 January 1903 – 8 August 1988), better known as Alan Napier, was an English actor. After a decade in West End theatre, he had a long film career in Britain and later, in Hollywood. Napier is best remembered for ...

as Sir George *

Hughie Green Hugh Hughes Green (2 February 1920 – 3 May 1997) was an English radio and television presenter, game show host and actor. Early life Green was born in Marylebone, London, to a Scottish father, Hugh Aitchison Green, a former British Army offic ...

as Geordie Howe *

Lumsden Hare Francis Lumsden Hare (17 October 1874 – 28 August 1964) was an Irish-born film and theatre actor. He was also a theatre director and theatrical producer. Early years Hare studied at St. Dunstan's College in London. Career Hare appeared ...

as Lord Kilspindie *

Eileen Erskine Eileen Erskine (15 August 1914 – 8 November 1995) was an English actress from Nottingham who was active in film mainly in the 1940s when she appeared in ''This Happy Breed'' (1944) and '' Great Expectations'' (1946). Her theatre work include ...

as Mrs. Belle Saunders

Music

In 2010,

Film Score Monthly ''Film Score Monthly'' is an online magazine (and former print magazine) founded by editor-in-chief and executive producer Lukas Kendall in June 1990 in music, 1990 as ''The Soundtrack Correspondence List''. It is dedicated to the art of Film sco ...

released the complete scores of the seven Lassie feature films released by MGM between 1943 and 1955 as well as

Elmer Bernstein Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 origi ...

’s score for '' It's a Dog's Life'' (1955) in the CD collection ''Lassie Come Home: The Canine Cinema Collection'', limited to 1000 copies. Due to the era when these scores were recorded, nearly half of the music masters have been lost so the scores had to be reconstructed and restored from the best available sources, mainly the Music and Effects tracks as well as monaural ¼″ tapes. The score for ''Hills of Home'' was composed by

Herbert Stothart Herbert Pope Stothart (September 11, 1885February 1, 1949) was an American songwriter, arranger, conductor, and composer. He was also nominated for twelve Academy Awards, winning Best Original Score for '' The Wizard of Oz''. Stothart was widel ...

. Although none of the music masters for the fourth film in the series survive, FSM has included the opening music from the film's music-and-effects tracks to provide listeners an idea of Herbert Stothart’s richly colored score for the picture. Track listing for ''Hills of Home'' (Disc 3) #Opening Title and Narration* 2:56 Contains Sound Effects

Reception

The film earned $1,407,000 in the US and Canada and $905,000 overseas, resulting in a loss to MGM of $689,000."Top Grossers of 1948", ''Variety'' 5 January 1949 p 46
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References

External links

* * * * {{Fred M. Wilcox 1948 films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films directed by Fred M. Wilcox Lassie films 1948 drama films Films set in Scotland Films based on British novels Films with screenplays by William Ludwig Films scored by Herbert Stothart American drama films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films