After the American Civil War, a rebel soldier and his wife become pioneer farmers in Florida. Their son Jody is 11 years old; he gets along well with his warm and affectionate pa, but his ma is haunted by the death of her other children, so she's somber, even cold. The boy wants a pet: the dad is sympathetic, the mom obdurate. When a rattler bites pa, pa kills a doe to use its organs to draw out the poison. Jody begs to keep the doe's fawn as a pet. The parents agree, and the boy and the deer are soon inseparable. The fawn grows quickly, and as a yearling tramples tobacco shoots and eats the newly-sprouted corn. This is too much for ma, and Jody has to face harsh, adult realities.
Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on January 6, 1947 with Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman and Claude Jarman Jr. reprising their film roles.
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Goofs
Continuity:
Jody's hold on Flag changes as he realizes the rain stopped.
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Quotes
Penny Baxter:
[on the ocasion of the buryal of Fodderwing]
Oh Lord. Almighty God. It ain't for us ignorant mortals to say what's right and what's wrong. Was any one of us to be doin' of it, we'd not of bring this poor boy into the world a cripple, and his mind teched. We'd of bring him in straight and tall like his brothers... See more »
Crazy Credits
All scenes involving animals in this picture were made under the
supervision and with the cooperation of the American Humane Association
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