Timmy has his heart set on a pony. He even wonders if he can pray for one. Wishing is Deemed O. K. Good to see prayer even if it's not praying for the right thing. Worth a look to contemplate how much someone should want something. And as is often the case not everyone has good intentions. Action adds to suspense. Always good to find out what's happening before trying to make sense of something for a kid.
2 Reviews
Lassie a thief--really
FlushingCaps23 June 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Here we see Timmy excited to go to Calverton with Uncle Petrie because they have a stand where he can ride a pony. Uncle Petrie has some business at the bank, and he pays $1.50 so Timmy can have 10 pony rides while he is gone. As Timmy is gleefully riding around the circular path on a pony named "Star" and exhibiting the natural imaginative fun a boy of his age could have, the two men who run the ride are talking about getting out of town that night—"two more days before the bank finds out", we hear.
Timmy enjoyed riding Star so much that he asks his parents (second episode for parent set # 2) about praying for God to get him, not just a pony, but Star in particular. He is advised that prayers are better for thanking God, but there would be nothing wrong with just "wishing" for a pony. We see him praying thankfully, with Lassie right beside him as though she too is praying. Then, Timmy explains that now he is just wishing, and he wishes to have Star.
I couldn't help but think about Disney's "When you wish upon a star." There were two kinds of magic that came next. First, Lassie, somehow understood what Timmy wanted, and when he went to bed, she went to town—literally. Luckily, she arrived just as the two men were loading all their ponies and other objects into their truck, about to take off. Lassie barked and the pony neighed as though they understood each other. The second magic was the way the men were a bit negligent and allowed Star to run off the truck following Lassie and the two animals raced off toward Timmy's house. If they had just tied her on the truck right away, Star could not have run away with Lassie.
It was a brilliantly lit moonlit night—looked almost sunny to me—as we saw the animals racing along. Right behind them was the truck, clearly driving at night, with the two men, simply trying to retrieve their pony. At one point, Lassie and Star stopped and the men got out and tried to catch Star. But Lassie grabbed the rope attached to Star and led her running away, while one of the men fell and hurt his ankle. So the men gave up their pursuit.
Back at the farm, Lassie opened the barn door, led Star to a stall and closed the barn door behind her, jumping back into the bedroom and going to sleep on the floor beside Timmy's bed.
In the morning, Lassie showed Timmy the pony—literally sticking his head through the bedroom window and Timmy thought his "wish" had magically come true. The parents couldn't explain what happened, and Paul took Timmy and Star back to Calverton to see what he could learn. When he got there, the sheriff explained that the men had taken off, owing money to several merchants and nobody knew where they were. The only asset left was Star.
The sheriff arranged for the merchants to meet with the judge later that day. Timmy and Paul stayed, with Star being given a jail cell for safekeeping. The judge (SPOILER) decreed that Timmy could keep the pony he so earnestly believed had been magically given to him, but the men who were owed money would have to be paid by Timmy—but he had three years to do so. Next scene was Timmy with a line of kids waiting to pay him 15¢ to ride his pony.
Green Acres fans will enjoy seeing Roy Trendell and Newt Kiley in guest roles. They were never together.
Unresolved was the matter of what happened to the two men who took off. I guess catching them would have been more important if they had robbed the bank—what I thought they were planning at first.
Again, Lassie was "Superdog" racing all the way to town to bring back the pony for Timmy, a stunt for which she obviously had not been trained or even directed to do. It was fun watching them race along together for miles and miles. I confess to thinking there was the unmentioned issue of Lassie actually stealing this pony that did belong to the two men. She certainly didn't know they were leaving with other people's money.
I would say kids would find this episode quite fun but there was nothing much for adults other than a couple of lame jokes between Paul and Ruth about wishing. I'll give it a 5 overall.
Timmy enjoyed riding Star so much that he asks his parents (second episode for parent set # 2) about praying for God to get him, not just a pony, but Star in particular. He is advised that prayers are better for thanking God, but there would be nothing wrong with just "wishing" for a pony. We see him praying thankfully, with Lassie right beside him as though she too is praying. Then, Timmy explains that now he is just wishing, and he wishes to have Star.
I couldn't help but think about Disney's "When you wish upon a star." There were two kinds of magic that came next. First, Lassie, somehow understood what Timmy wanted, and when he went to bed, she went to town—literally. Luckily, she arrived just as the two men were loading all their ponies and other objects into their truck, about to take off. Lassie barked and the pony neighed as though they understood each other. The second magic was the way the men were a bit negligent and allowed Star to run off the truck following Lassie and the two animals raced off toward Timmy's house. If they had just tied her on the truck right away, Star could not have run away with Lassie.
It was a brilliantly lit moonlit night—looked almost sunny to me—as we saw the animals racing along. Right behind them was the truck, clearly driving at night, with the two men, simply trying to retrieve their pony. At one point, Lassie and Star stopped and the men got out and tried to catch Star. But Lassie grabbed the rope attached to Star and led her running away, while one of the men fell and hurt his ankle. So the men gave up their pursuit.
Back at the farm, Lassie opened the barn door, led Star to a stall and closed the barn door behind her, jumping back into the bedroom and going to sleep on the floor beside Timmy's bed.
In the morning, Lassie showed Timmy the pony—literally sticking his head through the bedroom window and Timmy thought his "wish" had magically come true. The parents couldn't explain what happened, and Paul took Timmy and Star back to Calverton to see what he could learn. When he got there, the sheriff explained that the men had taken off, owing money to several merchants and nobody knew where they were. The only asset left was Star.
The sheriff arranged for the merchants to meet with the judge later that day. Timmy and Paul stayed, with Star being given a jail cell for safekeeping. The judge (SPOILER) decreed that Timmy could keep the pony he so earnestly believed had been magically given to him, but the men who were owed money would have to be paid by Timmy—but he had three years to do so. Next scene was Timmy with a line of kids waiting to pay him 15¢ to ride his pony.
Green Acres fans will enjoy seeing Roy Trendell and Newt Kiley in guest roles. They were never together.
Unresolved was the matter of what happened to the two men who took off. I guess catching them would have been more important if they had robbed the bank—what I thought they were planning at first.
Again, Lassie was "Superdog" racing all the way to town to bring back the pony for Timmy, a stunt for which she obviously had not been trained or even directed to do. It was fun watching them race along together for miles and miles. I confess to thinking there was the unmentioned issue of Lassie actually stealing this pony that did belong to the two men. She certainly didn't know they were leaving with other people's money.
I would say kids would find this episode quite fun but there was nothing much for adults other than a couple of lame jokes between Paul and Ruth about wishing. I'll give it a 5 overall.
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