I have been holding on to this VCD for a very long time. I grabbed it first because of Gregory Peck. I had long vowed that I will buy any movie with Peck in it. I did. Then I checked the review and found out that it is a 'family story' and also a 'tear jerker'. Hm-hum...

Say what?

I, for one, avoid tear jerker unless they are in Tamil language, which I would still consider giving exceptions to better performers. But this is a 1940's Hollywood tear jerker. Woah! I kept the movie in KIV section. Each time I come across it, I will look at it, read the summary at the back of the cover and put it back. Then yesterday, I summoned up my guts and decided to watch it.

I was not disappointed. I can tell that much, even though some may be screaming "Hey, nutcase. That is a classic. What do you mean just 'not disappointed?" Well, for one I find the language a bit distracting. It is very Southern and fitted for its Frontier era. I had trouble understanding what the actors were saying in some part, since I am a Malaysian. And Peck seemed to be too young to be playing Pa, though he played it well. It is hard to dislike such a noble person as Pa, but must he say "I'm proud of you, son" all the time. Other than those problems, I find the movie to be very good.

The story concerns a twelve year old Jody (Claude Jarmon) who lives with Pa (Peck) and Ma (Jane Wyman) in a little piece of land of their own. Jody wants to have a pet, any pet, but is always objected by Ma. One day he gets himself (after certain worrying situation) a fawn (a kind of young deer, dear Malaysians), which he loves (up to the point of sleeping with it). The family's crop is not doing well and with the fawn destroying it each time leads to a lot of problem for Jody. There are a lot of crying and laughing as well, so the term 'tear-jerker' need not actually apply. There are a lot of feel-good factors in the movie, especially when the scene has Peck in it. Not so with Wyman's Ma, who is embittered and hard, especially when she had lost three children - one young and the other stillborn.

The most noticeable aspect of this movie is the cinematography which won the Academy Award for that year. I especially liked the chase scene involving a bear. I now clearly believe that all that chase scenes we see taking place in the jungle in movies these days owes a lot to this piece of spectacle.

It is hard to say whether which category the movie fits in. There are gruesome scenes involving the killing of animals, which, though it is shown off-screen, can still be offensive and fearsome for children (and SPCA, ah guess). The only element in the film that appealed to me was the father/son relationship. It still looks appealing and I suppose that is something present day audience can relate to.