war experiences, and he will need time to adjust to civilian life. Bill is freed and joyfully reunites with Kathie. Cast Pal (credited as Lassie) as Bill, a rough collie Elizabeth Taylor as Katherine Eleanor Merrick, a young girl living on a sheep ranch Selena Royle as Mrs. Merrick, her mother Catherine McLeod as Alice Merrick, her sister David Holt as Pete Merrick, her brother Frank Morgan as Harry MacBain, a shepherd Tom Drake as Sergeant Smitty, Bills' trainer in the Army Bill Wallace as Sergeant Mac, Smitty's friend Garry Owen as Cook Swenson - Sailor helping Smitty Harry Davenport as Judge Payson George Cleveland as Old Man, Bill's original owner Morris Ankrum as Farmer Crews, a Merrick neighbor Mitchell Lewis as Gil Elson, a Merrick neighbor Jane Green as Mrs. Elson, Gil Elson's wife Minor Watson as Sheriff Ed Grayson Donald Curtis as Charlie, a truck driver Clancy Cooper as Casey, a truck driver Carl Switzer as First Youth, a hunter Conrad Binyon as Second Youth, a hunter Production The film was shot on location at Railroad Creek by Lake Chelan near Holden, Washington. The film was copyrighted under the working title Hold High the Torch; another working title was Blue Sierra. Margaret O'Brien and Lionel Barrymore were originally slated for the starring roles, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Courage of Lassie was fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Taylor's second "Lassie" film; she first had appeared in Lassie Come Home in the minor role of the Duke of Rudling's granddaughter, Priscilla. Taylor received the first top billing of her career with Courage of Lassie. George Cleveland, the "Old Man" in the opening scenes of Courage of Lassie would become the star of the 1954 television series Lassie. Music In 2010, Film Score Monthly released the complete scores of the seven Lassie feature films released by MGM between 1943 and 1955 as well as Elmer Bernstein's score for It's a Dog's Life (1955) in the CD collection Lassie Come Home: The Canine Cinema Collection, limited to 1000 copies. Due to the era when these scores were recorded, nearly half of the music masters have been lost so the scores had to be reconstructed and restored from the best available sources, mainly the Music and Effects tracks as well as monaural ¼″ tapes. The score for Courage of Lassie was composed by Bronislau Kaper and Scott Bradley, who is well known to score music