Ring Of Bright Water (1969)

In London, a man (Bill Travers) buys an otter on impulse from a pet shop. It isn't long before he realizes that a London flat is no place for an otter so he moves to a small coastal village in Scotland where the otter can run free over the fields and swim in the sea. Based on the best selling non fiction book by Gavin Maxwell and directed by Jack Couffer. Maxwell's autobiographical book was about his experience of bringing back an otter from Iraq and living in Scotland. The film fictionalizes his story, keeping only the man and otter in Scotland storyline. Travers and his wife, Virginia McKenna, had made BORN FREE three years earlier. This film has the same affection for wild life and the adorable otter (actually two otters) playing Mij is irresistible. This is a wonderful family film although the sad ending might be too traumatic for very young children. Travers and McKenna (as the village doctor) are just fine but they are no competition for the otter who steals every scene he's in. Wolfgang Suschitzky's cinematography does the beautiful Scottish location justice and there's a lovely score by Frank Cordell. With Peter Jeffrey.