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Lassie gets Hydrophobia
A new Lassie film is being made, but the collie destined to be the new Lassie (the star of 1943 hit film, “Lassie Come Home” has long been residing in that big dog kennel in the sky) will not be doing any of its own stunts. The canine equivalent of Debbie Reynolds not doing the singing in “Singin’ in the Rain.” Our four-legged film-star friend cannot swim, therefore a dog, which isn’t a collie but will have a coat (made out of fake-collie) to make it look collie-like, will do all the stunts. How odd will this look? Bit like having had Johnny Weissmuller swinging through mangroves, en route to meet Jane for tea and dung beetles, and the moment he has to fearlessly cross the alligator-filled babbling brook, the camera produces a shot of the back of one of Fritz Langs’ freaks.
However, the film industry has seen role-reversal. In the film “Willard” the rats were all played by collies with stunted growth, Bambi was a very thin and easily-frightened collie and Dumbo was a collie where the producers had pinned big ears on him. Run. Lassie, run.