updated 28/9/01
First look at Lassie!

CN Movies' Vintage Movie Channel (www.cnmovies.com) continues its Screen Firsts season with a look at the original inspiration for Lassie, 'Rescued by Rover' (1905). This British made short, co-directed by Lewin Fitzhamon and pioneering producer-director Cecil Hepworth, has all the Hollywood ingredients of dramatic narrative and was the first time a dog appeared as the star of a movie.

The film tells the story of Rover, a remarkable dog who saves a young baby after it is kidnapped (for some unknown reason) by an old gypsy woman. Not only that, but the clever canine manages to bring the miscreants to justice as well. Co-producer and cinematographer Cecil Hepworth, also appears in this great example of early cinema, as the baby's father.