Ameriatch One of the best films i have seen

GarnettTeenage The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Allissa .Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

weezeralfalfa A classic coming of age story, which older children, especially, are likely to enjoy. Young Claude Jarman had the most important role, as Jody, the half-grown only remaining child of Penny and Ora Baxter. He's stuck out in the 1878 Florida wilderness, with only one boy about his age(Fodderwing) within walking distance, and there is(of course) no school bus to take him to a school. Part way through the film, Fodderwing dies, leaving Jody with only his father to pal with. Fortunately , his father is very accommodating. However, his mother is very withdrawn, due to losing 3 very young children, and fearing she will lose Jody before he matures. She is also petrified about the possibility that Penny may be killed by some mishap. With his mother in such a perennial depressed state, Jody often feels deprived of emotional attachments. He would like some 'critter' pets to play with, not just their hunting dogs. Thus, when a motherless fawn presents itself(his father having killed the doe), he pleads to keep it as a pet. Unwisely, his parents give in, with the stipulation that if it gets to be a nuisance, it has to go. Well, after about a year, it has become a serious nuisance, eating the young corn, trampling the tobacco, and knocking down protective fences. Finally, Penny tells Jody he must shoot the yearling(called Flag), or they will starve. Jody goes out to do this, but finds he can't bring himself to follow through. Ora(his mother)takes the family rifle and shoots Flag, but he is only wounded. Penny tells Jody to shoot Flag dead, which he reluctantly does. Jody then runs away, but returns after 3 days, mighty hungry. His mother returns later that day from looking for him, and greets him warmly. End of story.... Jody had to learn the lesson that cherished pets, or other possessions and habits must be abandoned when they threaten our existence. Ora had to learn that Jody needed more emotional involvement from her, especially in their isolated state.Fodderwing, Jody's deceased friend, was a member of the Forrester family, their closest neighbors. The relationship between these families was one of conflicting competition and cooperation. Pa Forrester was played by the charismatic old codger Clem Bevans, who had been a minor supporting actor in "Sergeant York", in another backwoods setting. Margaret Wycherly played Ma Forrester. She had played Alvin's mother in "Sergeant York". Well known character actors Chill Wills and Forrest Tucker played Buck and Lem Forrester: full grown sons, who occasionally got into mischief.I have to ask how realistic is the story of Flag? It appears there were other deer in the woods around their fields. Why didn't they eat their crops? Of course, they had plenty of other plants to eat, and Flag was habituated to being in the vicinity of their crop fields. It's been a long time since I read the book for comparison, but I have seen the 1994 made-for-TV version, which invites some comparisons. The '94 version, on the whole comes across as a more realistic experience. For example, Gregory Peck's Penny seems to be from too genteel a background to be satisfied with such a hard scramble life. His acting is comparatively stiff. Peter Strauss makes a more believable Penny. Jean Smart plays a more vocal, more animated, less traumatized Ora than Jane Wyman. Jane's largely silent characterization was sort of a warm up for her later role of the deaf mute, in "Johnny Belinda". I prefer Claude as Jody, over Wil Horneff. Clearly, Claude seems younger, cuter and had more charisma. I thought the fight with the bear was equally well done. Neither film had much humor. Both were shot in color, on location in Florida. The'46 version ran 128 min. vs. 90 min. for the '94 version. The '46 version was well received at the box office, but didn't make much profit because of high production costs

calvinnme ... so completely depressing I would rather jab my eyeballs out with forks rather than ever watch this again. I watched it once all the way through just so I could write the review. That's it. Same for Old Yeller, and that had Likable adult characters! I get that Jane Wyman is playing the part of the mother as cold and hard because all of her other children have died and she doesn't want to get too attached to this one. But she goes too far in my opinion. Any kid raised this way will have no attachment to mom whatsoever when he reaches adulthood. It is said that Gregory Peck is supposed to be making up for mom's coldness by being close to son Jody. But why doesn't he call him by name? Why does he weirdly keep calling him "Boy". Have I accidentally wandered into a Tarzan film? And then into this sweet boy Jody's dismal life comes a pet - a fawn. But all does not stay well. The yearling becomes destructive to the crops and must be killed, and what's worse is that Jody is made to finish the job! His best friend Fodderwing, a cripple, dies as a child. So everyone Jody is really attached to is dead. He is gone three days after the fawn's killing, and then dad acts puzzled and even somewhat indifferent when he returns? As for mom, she hardly looks away from her housework to notice Jody's return. At least if mom dies ,embalming will not be an issue - if they had that at the time - because ice water does not coagulate.For those of you who say this is a classic, I agree only from a standpoint of it being finely crafted and timeless. For those of you who said it warms your heart, see your doctor immediately. The only explanation can be a coronary.If you want to see a tale of how hard life can be that did warm my heart try to track down a copy of "Mrs. Mike" with Dick Powell as a Mountie trying to get his wife, who comes from a civilized place, accustomed to the death, disease, and starvation that accompanies life in the great white north. That one DID warm my heart.I know this review will not be popular, but it is how I see it. I give it a seven for fine craftsmanship only, and I would never let a child under ten watch it unless I was prepared to stay up all night with said child while he or she has nightmares.

zetes I'm probably going to engender a lot of hate for my opinion on this one. I know it's one of the most beloved children's films of all time, but I found it terribly mawkish and boring. Most of my dislike for the film comes from the central performance of Claude Jarman Jr. I hate to say that, because I think he's fantastic in the cinematic adaptation of Faulkner's Intruder in the Dust, and he's perfectly good in John Ford's Rio Grande, too. But, as a 12 year-old actor in The Yearling, he comes off as functionally retarded. I'm guessing the kid in the original novel was younger than 12, but this kid doesn't look any younger than 12, and no 12 year-old kid should be this stupid, pioneer times or not. I'm also pretty sure he was having sex with the deer. I mean, look at the kid's face when he first finds it (I wish I had done a screen capture). And later he's sleeping with the deer, and his mom even says he smells like the thing. If I were her, I'd be checking his pubes for ticks. Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman, who play Jarman's parents, come off a lot better (both were nominated for Oscars), but they're saddled with some awful, faux-archaic dialogue. This film holds the records for the most uses of the word "taint" outside of a gay porno film. And Wyman can come off as an awful bitch sometimes. For good reason, I suppose. I'd be pretty mad that my 12 year-old son was so freaking stupid, too. Jarman's lucky she didn't take him out, too, Lenny-style. By the way, I absolutely love the IMDb trivia bit that says Wyman's real-life daughter wouldn't talk to her for two weeks after she saw the movie. The film also doesn't work for me because I grew up in a place where deer were plentiful - sure, I can enjoy Bambi, but real deer are about the most infuriating animal on the planet. They're vermin. Sure, the baby deer is cute, but as soon as the deer starts eating my corn, I'd turn it into venison tout suite.

dbdumonteil Nobody spoke of children like Clarence Brown ,at least in America !Remember "national Velvet" and the last minutes of "the intruder" ,the long conversation between a lawyer and his son..."The yearling" is learning about life .A young boy in a hostile wilderness ,his everyday life,his small joys and his big griefs ...It could be a mushy melodrama,it's never so: If it never falls in the trap of sentiment and it's entirely due to Brown's natural feeling for economy and sparseness which precludes all forms of conventional sentimentality: three children died? He shows three graves and that's it.Jane Wyman's part is certainly the most difficult:when she finally smiles,the viewer feels happy that this kind of scene can be possible. But my favorite scene has always been Peck's speech in the little cemetery ("because we do not know any prayer") where Fodderwing is being buried :it echoes the crippled boy's dreams when he and Jody spent the night in a tree -one of those magical moments of childhood-.Today's children are used to action-packed violent movies: I hope they will enjoy "the yearling" all the same.