As gentle and tender as The Call of the Wild (1935) can be savage, Good-Bye, My Lady (1956) stands out in William A. Wellman’s decidedly rough and tumble career as his only children’s film, and as such has been sorely overlooked. Brandon de Wilde stars as Claude, a young boy being raised by his uncle (Walter Brennan) in Mississippi, who discovers a peculiar kind of dog roaming the swamplands around their shack. After capturing the “swamp stranger,” Claude trains him to hunt birds with such skill that the dog becomes a local legend. The notoriety, however, brings the dog’s owner calling and Claude faces a hard choice. Wellman avoids sentiment in this nevertheless heartfelt ode to boyhood by downplaying plot in favor of small moments—a fireside chat, a playful chase through a cornfield–wrapped in a felt sense of place.
Batjac Productions, Inc. (Production): Robert Fellows. Director: William A. Wellman. Screenwriter: Sid Fleischman. Based on the novel by James H. Street. Cinematography: William H. Clothier. Editor: Fred MacDowell. Cast: Walter Brennan, Phil Harris, Brandon de Wilde, Sidney Poitier, William Hopper. 35mm, b/w, 95 min.
