Fred M. Wilcox directed this fourth film to feature Lassie, though again this tells a stand-alone story set in Scotland, where a country Doctor named William McClure(played by Edmund Gwenn) tends to the sick of his village, many of whom are poor, and on one visit he is "tricked" into taking Lassie as payment instead of cash, but is stunned to learn that the collie is afraid of the water, which is most embarrassing and inconvenient to his profession. He is also hoping that a young medical student training to be a doctor will take over his practice when he passes on, but first he is determined to break Lassie of her water fear, and a fierce storm will give him a chance to do just that... Charming and appealing film is fine fare for the whole family, and animal lovers alike.

This is a wonderful family film, but if you are expecting the emphasis to be on Lassie and her adventures, then you will likely be somewhat disappointed. Instead, the emphasis is on Dr. William MacLure (Edmund Gwenn), the elderly physician to a rural Scottish area in the 19th century. Donald Crisp plays Drumsheugh, MacClure's closest friend and a good adviser. These two actors, along with Tom Drake, who plays MacClures's assistant, were in several Lassie films during the 1940's playing different roles each time.MacClure is one of those doctors from a bygone era that makes house calls in the middle of the night and accepts payment in goods as well as money. At one point in the film, he is sitting at a table in a restaurant having tea as patient after patient comes up to him and practically forces payment upon him. MacClure loves his work, and payment is a secondary issue with him. One person, though, decides to cheat MacClure and gives him Lassie as payment, with MacClure believing that she is a sheep dog. MacClure figures she will be a good companion and messenger dog, so it doesn't matter so much that she turns out not to be a sheep dog. However, it does matter that she is afraid of water since the glen in which they live has heavy snow and rain at times, and crossing streams when getting to patients is a necessity. At first MacClure, angry at being deceived, decides to give Lassie away. However, he changes his mind and decides to teach the dog not to be afraid of water. This doesn't work out so well, as Lassie is willing to do just about anything short of swimming. MacClure gives up on this effort, but still he keeps Lassie. In spite of his complaints about her usefulness as a working dog, she is becoming a pet to him. This is something MacClure is not about to admit since his whole life has been about service to others. He has always denied himself anything he deems as a luxury, and this would certainly include having an animal whose only purpose is companionship.The rest of the film is about the good doctor facing the various medical crises that impact the residents of the glen. During this time, dog and master bond and become fast friends. MacClure is aware that his days as a doctor are coming to an end, and thus he has picked a young man of the village (Tom Drake) to travel to Edinburgh to study medicine and become his replacement upon graduation. Towards the end of the young man's time at medical school, MacClure is called out one snowy winter night on one of his house calls. He is knocked unconscious and will freeze to death in the snow unless Lassie is able to overcome her fear of the water and swim across the stream to bring help to the doctor.This is going to be one of those films you either love or hate. If you are ever in the mood for an old-fashioned rather slow-moving story that will really tug at your heartstrings, this movie really fits the bill.

Very heartwarming and quaint representation of the era. A Classic! Needs to be seen over and over again, to appreciate the sentiments portrayed. A story about the generous, faithful, over-worked and under-paid country doctor, and his grateful patients throughout the glen. Enjoyed listening to the Scottish accents, and the stereo-typical cultural stubbornness in accepting or giving compliments. Enjoyed the scenery too.Perhaps the first time I saw it, I may have thought it to be slow-moving, too. But for those of us who enjoy watching "classic movies", it's wonderful.However, for a Lassie movie, the dog has a relatively small part to play, in comparison to what you see in the Lassie series over a decade later.

Well, at least it's nicely filmed with some good shots of Scotland. I say, "at least" because this Lassie film was a huge disappointment. I grew up watching the fine television series and thought the movie - especially with the human cast featuring Edmund Gwenn, Donald Crisp and Janet Leigh - would be even better.Wrong. In fact, the first 30-40 minutes were so bad, I never finished the film. It was boring and annoying. Lassie is afraid of water so the dog's owner, Gwenn, constantly is angry with the dog. Lassie, meanwhile, whimpers and cries the whole time. The whole thing gets irritating, fast! To be fair, I should have stuck with it. You just know that Lassie will overcome his fear and things will turn out well, as always, I'm sure it got better than the first half that I watched. Nonetheless, filmmaker should learn what sports teams realize the hard way - you have to play hard and well the whole game - not just one half and this film's first half stunk enough so that at least one reviewer went home at halftime.