The Yearling (1946)

Set in 1878 Florida, an ex-confederate soldier (Gregory Peck) and his wife (Jane Wyman) live in the backwoods and struggle to support themselves with their meager crops. Their 11 year old son (Claude Jarman Jr.) has a passion for animals and when his father is forced to kill a doe, the boy adopts the doe's orphaned fawn. Based on the Pulitzer prize winning novel by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and directed by Clarence Brown (THE RAINS CAME). I love this movie! It's a beautifully crafted family film in the best sense of the word. This isn't a Disneyfied look at pioneer life but a hard look at the struggles of surviving in the wilderness while also sharing an emotional observation of children and their love of animals. The underrated Brown had already shown his uncanny ability of looking at the bond of children and animals in NATIONAL VELVET two years earlier, so he seemed an obvious choice. Cast against type, Peck and Wyman (in Oscar nominated performances) are surprisingly effective, shedding their movie star auras as the rustic parents. In young Jarman, Brown brings out a natural performance without the usual forced acting in so many child actors of the era and not just Jarman but a lovely performance by Donn Gifft as his tragic friend. The haunting score is by Herbert Stothart (borrowing from Delius). Be sure you have plenty of Kleenex on hand. With Forrest Tucker, Margaret Wycherly, Chill Wills, June Lockhart, Henry Travers and Jeff York.