Original subtitles

laughing

[Music]

starring tommy reddig as jeff miller

[Music]

jan clayton as his mother ellen

george cleveland as gramps

and of course

lassie

don't ever point a gun like that

where'd you get it on that high shelf

from back of the heat loft it was

wrapped in a piece of canvas

your dad's put it away ten years ago

clean forgot about it it's mine now i

found no no no don't grab don't grab

got to be careful with guns you know

it's not loaded

or let up be just as good as new

let's go shoot it gramps no not so fast

so fast

ain't got nothing to shoot with

we ain't had no shells around here since

uh

since one grams

well never mind that's all i'll win now

can i have it

maybe you're big enough for that

gave it to your dad on his 12th birthday

oh gosh i'm 11 that's almost 12. yeah

thanks gramps we went camping up to long

woods that year and you know what what

he hit the first thing he shot at

timberwolf it was

gosh

[Music]

anything

[Music]

he uh found it in the mind it was my

dad's we're gonna shoot it grandpa will

show me how and i'll kill it

i never want to see that thing in your

hands again do you understand me never

[Music]

[Music]

put it back in the barn jeff

but why

because i'm telling you to that's why

no way

i'm asking you to

put it back

and keep clear the house for a while

i'll talk to you later

it's all my fault ellen i got thinking

about the

first camping trip i took with johnny

and one thing led to another

i know how you feel

but still it's been a long time

that's time got to do with it

gun killed his father

yes i know

he was my son

and yet you want to teach my son how to

use a gun

isn't there enough in this world we have

to go through with

being born living

dying

without making it harder

well helen a boy in the country gets to

learn about guns pretty early

why

why

where is it written that anybody ever

has to learn about guns

well it isn't exactly written but uh

what now ellen you can't set the boy

apart

the gun's the same as a knife relax

or a piece of rock nothing bad about

them till they get into the wrong hands

i suppose you're right

you know it all seems so unnecessary

so is war

drought

and pestilence

we got them with us and the more we know

about them the better off we are

where is he

just came through the kitchen

you want to see him

jeff

come on in the setting room for a minute

what's going to tell him

don't know

well come on in no one's gonna bite you

i'm sorry i lost my temper jeff

it's all right mom no no it isn't

you learned one thing that is that

mothers aren't perfect

now about the gun i was just making

believe mom i didn't mean to point it

out i know you didn't

that wasn't what startled me

i just don't like guns but that's

another story for another time

if graham says it's all right well you

can play with the gun just be sure it

isn't loaded

gee thanks mom

the idea shooting my chickens

i wasn't really shooting them mr king i

was just making believe

look the gun isn't even loaded see no

clip

i sure wish i'd had this about 15

minutes ago i caught a fox digging under

my hen house and

firing pen and my 22s bent

how'd you like to go hunting

real hot it's real enough if we spot

that fox i'll get a cartridge clip and

you send lassie home oh why

cause guns and dogs don't mix unless

they're trained for it besides i got

poison and traps out

send her home

go home lassie

me and joe king are gone

and you haven't been trained for hunting

now go on home go on

[Music]

no don't sit go home go on

[Music]

go home i said go

[Music]

you know how to handle a gun don't you

sure sure i did well come on

[Music]

nothing doing if you don't see a thing

clear you don't shoot

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

oh gosh i missed him he was right here

then he ran into a grass

here go on home

what you're lucky i didn't blow your

head off

you got a lot to learn boy

don't you never get in front of a loaded

gun never

now go on home

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

what's the fox mr pink

[Music]

my dad killed a timberwolf

i'll bet i'm big enough

[Music]

so

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

has he said anything to you um

has jeff said anything to you about what

the gun

no

i don't fret about it so much ellen the

trouble with you is you uh he's coming

mom

mom can i go out and look for lassie

it's a little late isn't it i won't go

far

where'd you see your last

this afternoon we

we were out walking and i sent her home

why

why what

why'd you send her home

well she didn't come home

i was working on the yard all afternoon

come here dear

is anything wrong

no mom you sure

please let me go out and look for her

she didn't have any supper neither did

you i wasn't hungry

don't you feel well i'm all right please

let me go look for her

of course dear but put your jacket on

thanks mom

something's wrong

he's worried about the dog

no it's

it's more than that

she's been out alone time and time again

it's this gun business i heard somebody

popping away with a rifle up back to joe

king this afternoon he probably heard it

too

i told you what he's heading for joe

king's medal well i don't understand

it's just as plain as the nose in your

face all that talk about guns has got

him worried he heard those shots now he

figures that lassie got hit

wait a minute

[Music]

[Music]

i'm going after him why what happened

dad you want to come back

[Music]

mercy

[Music]

mercy

[Music]

classy

let's see

[Music]

let's see

[Music]

[Music]

grams

this the last place you saw

i don't know why

jeff who gave me the shells

nobody

gun was fired yet

joking loaded it we were after a fox

he missed then he unloaded the gun and

gave it back to me

[Music]

i was coming through here i was only

making believe fire in the gun i thought

i saw a box in there but when i pulled

the trigger the gun went off

shell's stuck in the breach

where where'd you see the fox

right there

let's go take a look huh

right

[Music]

ain't nothing there

gramps you don't think it was lassie

now now now hold yourself together ain't

no sign of anything there

but you could have been wounded and

crawled away maybe she's dying someplace

perhaps we gotta look well we've got no

place to look and the chances are she's

back in the kitchen

wondering what happened to you

come on now

let's go see

go

[Music]

[Applause]

so

[Applause]

[Music]

what is it

[Music]

she isn't here

[Music]

sorry you didn't find lassie sweetheart

but i wouldn't worry if i were you she's

been gone before she'll come back

how about an apple

no thanks be good this year not a spot

on them

joe

king tried to ring you but your line was

busy she's on the seat

let's see

let's see almost ran over on the road

laying there half dead

you mean a car hitter i don't think so

you better hop in george you got to get

her down doc wilson she's lost a lot of

blood

no no no no you can't go but grams no

please do as italia jeff will you ellen

take him in the house father the dog is

here she may not be anybody's dog for

the time we get into town

now i don't want him to go along

i got my reasons

come on joe

[Music]

please please

[Music]

she wouldn't even look at me

he knows i did it

did well

i saw something moving in the grass

i thought it was a fox

[Music]

i didn't even know they're gonna go off

mom it was me

i

shot my own lassie

oh darling

[Music]

[Music]

yes

i think i'm to blame for this as much as

you are

maybe more

i'm supposed to teach you things

not just tell you what to do

but i

i shut my eyes to

this i ran away

because i didn't want you ever to learn

about guns

i was wrong

you can't just run away from unpleasant

things and

you can't shut your eyes to what the

world is really like any more than

you can stop accidents by pretending

that you'll never do anything dangerous

or by

hiding all the guns in the world

you've got to learn to live with these

things

[Music]

i realize that now

[Music]

hello

yes yo

oh

thank goodness last is all right are you

sure

yes joe i'm listening doc says she

likely got her foot caught in one of my

fox traps ripped it open getting loose

you tell jeff just in case he's worried

she didn't get shot wait a minute you

you do you tell him he's right here

hello mr king is she all right she will

be just soon as doc gets her bandaged up

like i told your mom she got her foot

caught in one of my fox traps she wasn't

shot of course not are you sure are you

sure she wasn't course i'm sure

here hold on a minute she's right here

handy

go on talk

thanks mr king thanks a lot

oh mom oh darling

[Music]

oh

what's the matter

no lassie

you've got to keep the bandage on that's

what the doctor said

steady

how can he forget so soon it just

happened yesterday

where are you just cleaning it

yeah just cleaning it

oh don't be a you can walk he's

coming over

hey look ellen you've got to face it

it's like falling off a horse

gotta climb right back on again

friends look

i cleaned it up

looks good now

fine

mom you know what i'm gonna do oh dear

why i'm gonna make me a couple of

brackets and hang the gun up in my room

when i'm 12

if it's okay with you gramps will teach

me how to use it

oh yeah

what are you crying for mom

because i love

[Music]

you