

When Lassie's master dies, an old friend tries to convince a judge that the dog's life should be spared.
Acting
Edmund Gwenn's twinkly-eyed gravitas — Santa Claus defending a collie, basically.
Direction
Richard Thorpe keeps 1949 Edinburgh feeling lived-in and legally tense.

Director
Richard Thorpe
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was the third Lassie film but the first not starring Roddy McDowall — the franchise basically treated collies like James Bond actors.
The 'Wanted by the Law' marketing leaned surprisingly hard on crime thriller aesthetics for a movie that's 70% a dog being sad in Scotland.
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