Lassie: A New Adventure (3½ Stars)

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This is the 11th film about the dog called Lassie, the second film in the series made in Germany. Eight of the previous films were made in America, and one in Britain. Maybe it's wrong to call the films a series. There was continuity between the first five films, made from 1943 to 1949, but the later films are just about a random dog called Lassie, and the owners have different names or nationalities. In addition there have been two live action television series and one animated series about Lassie. The dog first appeared in a novel written by Eric Knight in 1940.

Note: sometimes it's claimed there were more than 11 Lassie films, but I'm not counting the fake films created by editing television episodes.

In this German film, Lassie is a collie who lives with his owner Flo in Bavaria. Flo also has a Jack Russell called Pippa. Flo's family goes on holiday to Gran Canaria, but he doesn't want to be separated from his dogs, so he stays with his Aunt Cosima in South Tyrol, a German speaking area in northern Italy. Everywhere he sees signs that dogs are missing, and his aunt's children tells him that they've probably been stolen. After a few days he witnesses a couple grabbing Pippa and taking her away in a van.

In the following story, Flo searches for Pippa, but the real hero is Lassie. She has the brains to conduct the search and the courage to challenge the dog thieves. The commonly used word is dognapper. I know it's a slang expression, but it sounds appropriate.

Yes, Lassie is a female dog. At least, Lassie is a female in the original book, and the name itself is the Scottish slang expression for girl. However, the dog's gender is deliberately left vague in the film.

The film starts slowly. It isn't until the second half that there's action with Lassie, Pippa and other dogs running around. The film is a comedy. Unfortunately. There are a lot of good German films, but Germans have trouble making comedies. They just aren't funny. If the film had been more serious it would have been better.