Greyfriars Bobby: The True Story of a Dog (1961)

Scotland 1865. An old shepherd and his little Skye terrier go to Edinburgh. But when the shepherd dies of pneumonia, the dog remains faithful to his master, refuses to be adopted by anyone,... See full summary »

Director:

Don Chaffey

Writers:

Robert Westerby (screenplay), Eleanor Atkinson (story)

Stars:

Donald Crisp, Laurence Naismith, Alex Mackenzie

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Donald Crisp	...	James Brown
Laurence Naismith	...	Mr. Traill
Alex Mackenzie	...	Old Jock
Duncan Macrae	...	Sgt. Davie Maclean
Andrew Cruickshank	...	Lord Provost
Gordon Jackson	...	Farmer
Rosalie Crutchley	...	Farmer's wife
Freda Jackson	...	Old woman caretaker
Moultrie Kelsall	...	Magistrate
Joyce Carey	...	First Lady
Vincent Winter	...	Tammy
Jameson Clark	...	Constable (as Jameson Clarke)
Jack Lambert	...	Doctor
Bruce Seton	...	Prosecutor
Joan Juliet Buck	...	Ailie (as Joan Buck)

Storyline

Scotland 1865. An old shepherd and his little Skye terrier go to Edinburgh. But when the shepherd dies of pneumonia, the dog remains faithful to his master, refuses to be adopted by anyone, and takes to sleeping on his master's grave in the Greyfriars kirkyard, despite a caretaker with a "no dogs" rule. And when Bobby is taken up for being unlicensed, it's up to the children of Edinburgh and the Lord Provost to decide what's to be done.

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Plot Keywords:

shepherd | master | dog | scotland | pneumonia | 

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Taglines:

The true story of a dog.

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Genres:

Family | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 July 1961 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bobby Trofast

Filming Locations:

Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bobby slept faithfully on Old Jock's grave every night for fourteen years, regardless of the weather.

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Connections

Remade as Greyfriars Bobby (2005)

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Soundtracks

"The Seventy-Ninth's Farewell to Gibraltar"
(uncredited)
Traditional bagpipe tune
Arranged by John McDonald

User Reviews

A great story for kids of all ages and all the better for being true.

This is a great story well told and all the better for being true. I took a girlfriend to see it way back in 1962 and I remember she spent the last ten minutes of the film sobbing her heart out. I sat and watched it again on the television only last week along with my two grandsons, who have been brought up on a diet of movies dedicated to mindless violence and ever more extreme special effects, and they thoroughly enjoyed it too. They even shed the odd tear towards the end although they would never admit it. There was one slight error - the cost of a dog licence in the United Kingdom was 7/6 ( seven and sixpence or 37.5 new pence after we went decimal in 1971 ) and not seven shillings as in the film. Disney have always excelled in the making of feel good movies, movies that show the best in people and I for one wish they made more of them today.