User reviews

Rightfully considered to be one of the premier family films of all time, this is a handsome adaptation of the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings book about a Florida farm family surviving day-to-day hardships. Superbly directed by Clarence Brown, who brings the same "children's book" ambiance to the project as he did with "National Velvet". Well-acted and stunningly photographed on location (by Leonard Smith and Charles Rosher, who won Oscars). Young Claude Jarman, Jr. becomes attached to a troublesome baby deer, and his teary devotion is quite heart-rending. Some of the dialogue is fearsome, and, yes, it's a corny picture in an old-fashioned vein, however it is certainly worth-seeing, even for cynics. *** from ****

Don't let the film's plot fool you, this is not just a story about a baby deer. This is a classic story of father and son and the relationship of love that they have. Peck and Jarman do a terrific job in portraying father and son. Many of the scenes are carried by their performances, especially close to the end. The scene where Peck is caught modeling one of his wife's dresses speaks to the entire film. The coming of age element with Jarman slowly becoming a man and Peck trying to teach his son what he needs to know to become that man is present. Some of the movie is comical and touching, but overall the message of the story is the love traded by father and son. You have to see this movie at least once. If you are a fan, you have no choice but to see it again.

Every so often a film comes along that is so endearing, so righteous and so just darn decent - "Old Yeller", "Pollyanna" and, this one, "The Yearling". When watching this film, I couldn't help but think of the others. And, no, not just because of the fact the plot involves a family and the emotional fallout and drama caused by a pet such as in "Old Yeller", or the fact that Jane Wyman stars with an adorable child actor, such as she did in "Pollyanna". It's the feel and the atmosphere that invoked these comparisons. However, where "The Yearling" is on a pedestal all its own is in regards to the fine performances. No, "The Yearling" is not my kind of film. I tend to avoid the saccharine and goopy syrup of movies like this. You know the old adage, "Never make a movie with kids or animals"? Well, mine is "Never watch a movie with kids or animals". But this one sucked me in. I don't quite know what did it. But I got sucked in and couldn't get out. The performances make this movie.

Claude Jarman Jr. stars as Jody Baxter, a young boy living in post-Civil War America who longs for the companionship and love of a pet - someone to take care of and nurture. While Jody's loving father, Ezra(Gregory Peck)makes great strides to give Jody companionship and someone to look up to, Jody suffers from the neglect of his hardened mother, Orry(Wyman), still reeling from the untimely deaths of her other children. Jody befriends a fawn and takes it in as his own. The two bond and love each other. But what happens when the young deer begins to eat the crops that the family live off of? Only tragedy can ensue.

"The Yearling" is a delicately handled film that encapsulates the best of 1800's living. And while this is deemed a "family film", there are some surprisingly difficult scenes and sub-plots that might be scary to some children. I know I was uncomfortable watching the animal fight scenes and the death of one of Jody's close friends. And even though this has got to be one of the most predictable movies, the performances we get from Wyman, Peck and, especially Jarman, are stellar. In the movie's final emotional scenes, no one has been so convincing as Jarman in conveying heartache and mind-numbing trauma. And Wyman, while on the sidelines, is incredible as a woman afraid to open up and terrified to lose her one remaining child. On top of that, the cinematography is first-rate, with some stunning sunset shots and silhouettes set against the backdrop of rural America. And despite some off-kilter bits at the end revolving around Jody getting lost on the river and being found by a ship, "The Yearling" is a solid and heart-warming film that has earned its place among the top Hollywood classics.

This wonderful film is one of a handful that has the power to call me back to my childhood days and wrap me in warm memories of my Mom, Dad and little brother sitting around the television on Saturday night, watching the late show.

From the opening scenes of this beautifully photographed movie I found myself caught-up in the intriguing post Civil War story of a boy and his pet faun and their fantastic adventures on a scruffy Florida Everglades farm. The film stars Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman and Claude Jarman in the lead roles, with some of Hollywood's best character actors in the supporting roles.

Peck gives an Oscar caliber performance as the warmhearted father who does his best to make a better life for his family, with absolutely no help from the elements, which surround them. Jane Wyman brilliantly plays Orry, the hardened mother and wife who is so embittered by past tragedies in her life that she is unable to show any love for her one surviving child for fear of losing him as well. And Claude Jarman plays Jodie, the wistful young boy who is just one summer away from adolescence and all the emotional growing pains that come with it.

This story is laced with excitement and adventure sure to please the kids, but each of the adventures is also a great lesson in life that will stay with them for years to come. The cinematography is spectacular and received a well-deserved Academy Award and the wildlife scenes are incredible as well. Just watching Jodie romp through the woods with his faun is a joyous site to behold. The way Orry finally begins letting herself love her son will bring tears to your eyes. This movie was one of the most emotional experiences of my young life and I believe I am a better person from the lessons learned here.

I highly recommend this film, it is one to be experienced with your entire family.

"The Yearling" is one of those movies I had stayed away from because of my misguided perceptions about what it was going to be like (maudlin, sentimental, "family friendly" in all the worst ways). How wonderful to have those perceptions proven wrong and to discover such a beautiful, moving film.

Most people know the plot of this movie. It takes a tough, matter of fact attitude about death and the natural world and doesn't offer a lot of cornball platitudes to soften the blow the way you might expect a movie from the 1940s to do. I wonder if this is largely because it came out right after the end of WWII, when films could begin allowing themselves to be honest and jaded rather than peppy morale boosters. At the same time, it's not a depressing movie; far from it. It captures perfectly one of those experiences -- of which there are many -- that mark the transition from childhood to adulthood. Much is to be gained from being able to experience the world as an adult, but much is lost too.

One of the things I liked best about "The Yearling" was its visual style. Art directors Cedric Gibbons and Paul Groesse along with cinematographers Charles Rosher, Leonard Smith, and Arthur Arling use Technicolor to create an almost expressionistic version of the Florida swamps and an isolated farmstead. Parts of the film almost look like they're happening in a dream. The effect highlights the beauty and wonder of the natural world, but it also serves the purpose of making the men who populate it seem even smaller and humbler in comparison to all the grandeur.

Gregory Peck and especially Jane Wyman give lovely performances as parents, and Claude Jarman, Jr. won a special juvenile Oscar as the young boy who adopts an ill-advised pet. The film deservedly won the Oscars for Art Direction and Cinematography in the color categories, and brought nominations to Peck and Wyman in the Actor and Actress categories, respectively, as well as to Harold Kress for his editing, Clarence Brown for his directing, and MGM for Best Picture of the year.

Grade: A+

This film adaption of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings novel The Yearling was completed on a second try. Just prior to the USA entry into World War II, a version that would have starred Spencer Tracy and Anne Revere was started, but problems developed and the project was scrapped.

If there was a jinx attached to the novel it was broken on the second try. Over 60 years later, The Yearling remains one timeless classic about a family's trials and tribulation living on a farm during the turn of the last century in the Florida swamps. Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman both were nominated for Best Actor and Actress and I'm not sure either of them was better in the performances they eventually won for.

Claude Jarman, Jr., making his film debut won a special Oscar as a juvenile performer that year. He's a most appealing lad who tries to have as normal a childhood as possible living in what we would call close to the poverty line today. The Baxter family barely scratches a living from the farm.

The main point of the plot is Jarman finding and adopting a young orphaned fawn and making it a household pet. Later on when it grows up it becomes more than a nuisance, eating the Baxter family's precious corn crop as it's sprouting out of the ground.

Jane Wyman who usually played very light roles in her early years, first got noticed for heavy drama as Ray Milland's long suffering girl friend in The Lost Weekend the year before. She takes a big giant step in her Oscar quest in this film. Wyman is a tough, but weary farm wife who struggles day by day on the farm. During the course of the film, Peck explains that she's hard as she is because of the loss of several previous children in childbirth or to disease that is no longer prevalent at the time. Other than A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, I've never seen the lack of pre-natal care for women discussed in a film. Both films take place right around the same period, one in an urban and one in a rural setting. Wyman gilds her hard portrayal with an edge of sadness that is unforgettable.

If you were to ask most people the role they most identify Gregory Peck with, I'm willing to say a good majority will answer Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird. Though both of these men are from the south, there's light years difference between Atticus Finch and Penny Baxter. Finch is a member of the upper class and in a profession as a lawyer while Baxter is a dirt farmer. Yet Peck speaks with a simple eloquence about life that Atticus in his best courtroom speech could not top. When a young crippled neighbor boy dies it is Peck who his family asks to say a eulogy over the grave as they're so far back in the swamps there is no clergyman anywhere around. It's one of Peck's finest moments on the screen and you will be moved to tears with it.

Speaking of which young Donn Gift as the crippled Fodderwing Forrester should also get singled out. He and Jarman have a beautifully played scene together when Jarman and Peck are visiting the neighbors. Director Clarence Brown got once in a lifetime performances from both as real kids, not Hollywood kid actors.

Jarman was so good in this that he got to do another film for MGM adapted from a Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings novel, The Sun Comes Up. He was just as good in that one as a slightly older and orphan version of Jody Baxter.

The Yearling won two Oscars that for Art&Set Design and Cinematography for a color picture. Besides Wyman and Peck it was also nominated for Best Picture and Best Director for Clarence Brown. Unfortunately this was the blockbuster year of The Best Years Of Our Lives.

Still The Yearling holds up well being a timeless classic. It's the best kind of family entertainment with a strong message about the beauty and tragedy of life and how you have to take it as it comes.

Just caught this today on the CBC Afternoon Matinee. Amazingly, this is the first time I have seen the film, having read the book in grade school.

All I can say is this a masterpiece, from the writing to the cinematography to the score to the fine performances.

It is always a pleasure to watch the late great Gregory Peck. Like James Stewart, the man exudes class, integrity and kindness. They don't make actors nor films like this anymore.

This is a classic which works on many levels, which will function as a coming of age story for youngsters, and an introspective film for adults about the loss of innocence and the price of responsibility.

I so wish that the whiz kids at Disney and DreamWorks would stop wasting their time and effort on computer animated feel-good trash, and reach into their hearts and make a film this wonderful.

"The Yearling", an adaptation of the Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings novel about a Florida family in the 1800s, is a fairly well-made family film that suffers mostly from bad acting and a slow plot.

Jane Wyman, as the mother, blows every one else off the screen. You can see why she would go on to win the Oscar only a couple of years later for a non-speaking role in "Johnny Belinda".

Gregory Peck, an excellent actor otherwise, is out of his league, poorly attempting a southern accent while trying to play the staid father.

The worst acting of all comes from Claude Jarman Jr. who portrays the young Jody as if he were acting in a silent film. Less is more, Claude. He thankfully retired from acting about 10 years later, after as many films.

The cinematography is beautiful, and worthy of the awards it won.

Overall, I give this film 6 out of 10 - thumbs down, except for fans of Jane Wyman.

This is one of the great lost films. I run into ridicule every time I tell people it's one of my favourite films, but what a great film it is. It's got more treacle than Lyles, very sentimental and heart rendering, but I love it for that. It's also got one of the movie worlds most immortal lines when Ma Forester says of her recently deceased physically handicapped son "I lost ma boy!...ma poor crookedly boy". What a movie, takes me back every time. The essence of the main characters is perfectly portrayed by the main leads of Gregory Peck and Jayne Wyman, but Claude Jarman Jnr as Jody has a special place in my childhood. He plays the head-strong boy to perfection, with great depth and warmth. The Yearling will always live on.

In 1870s Florida, pioneering Gregory Peck (as Penny "Pa" Baxter) and Jane Wyman (Orry "Ma" Baxter) raise both corn and children. But, growing children can sometimes be a problem. Their first son dies before reaching age two, the next child doesn't make it to age three, and a third is born dead. The pain hardens Ms. Wyman's defenses, while Mr. Peck takes it easier with surviving fourth child, cute Claude Jarman Jr. (as Jody Baxter). The boy optimistically declares, "I'm eleven years old. I'm a-way past the age of dying!" And, so he is - but, that doesn't mean "The Yearling" is done with tragedy.

The boy raises a fawn, after cutting out its mother's heart to draw poison from his snake-bitten father.

Of, course, you know where this story is going - but, you've got to admit, it's done exceptionally well.

Every frame is staged for the maximum amount of heart-tugging cinematic beauty possible. Guided by expert movie makers Sidney Franklin and Clarence Brown, the film is distractingly gorgeous. But, the unnatural quality of picturesque art is balanced by fact that all the animals act like animals; and, Peck anchors it all with an inspirational performance. The only living creature given truly "magical" qualities is Donn Gift (as Fodder-wing), the boy who learns to fly like an angel. This character seems to embody much of the lyricism present in writer Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' original tear-stained pages.

The story puts everything in perspective. Everyone has to get their "insides tore out" sometimes.

********** The Yearling (12/18/46) Clarence Brown ~ Gregory Peck, Claude Jarman Jr., Jane Wyman, Donn Gift

Never before have I seen a movie that tried so hard to alienate it's target audience. A children's / family film obsessed with death and the hurting of innocent creatures doesn't settle well with me, but still this movie has a strange draw when taken as an adult film that longs for the lost innocence of youth. This movie's beautiful, Academy Award winning cinematography and vivid Technicolor are worth the view alone and the fine performances of the entire cast lift the film far above the usual sentimental tearjerkers.

I just read the book for the first time then saw the movie. It was a fine movie, but as usual did not come near the quality of the book. Gregory Peck played the role of Penny well. Jane Wyman was just like the character in the book. I was sorry to see so much of the book left out, as usually happens when movies are made from books. Overall it was very good.

This movie is based on a book by excellent American novelist Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. It has to do with a family living on a farm many years ago. They are just barely making it and are having to deal with thieves and other threats to their farm. Jodi is a young boy, the only surviving son after many childhood deaths. He is a bright, kind boy, but his mother has turned harsh from all her tribulations. He longs for a pet, but there is barely enough for the family to eat. When a doe dies the fawn is removed and Jodi takes care of it. The problem is that the little critter can't stay away from the family's corn crop. The ending to this film is really quite sad and real. There was little sentiment in the West when a bit of food could be the difference between life and death. Gregory Peck is excellent as the father who would love to provide better for his family. A classic American story.

I like a good coming of age movie but this movie is just too melodramatic and sappy for my taste. I mean, just look at the movie its cover and it should tell you enough. However the movie was still a greatly compelling one, which was mostly due to its visuals.

This movie simply has some superior Technicolor camera-work in it. The colors are incredible and it's simply beautiful all. It's not surprising that both the cinematography and the art-direction won an Academy Award for this movie. It sets the right tone for the movie its atmosphere and the soul and heart of the movie its story.

Well, the movie still mainly has a good main plot-line in it, that tells a good story but it's just that everything around gets presented a bit too over-the-top in terms of its drama. Nevertheless the story for most part will still work out as a compelling one, though it probably will not grab or touch you emotionally.

it's pretty nice that this movie has some many great actors in this as well. They surely help to uplift the movie and make it a perfectly watchable one. This movie was one of Gregory Pecks's earliest roles and although it also was far from his best or most memorable one, it shows some of the things to come, from his future acting career. The child-actor Claude Jarman Jr. was also pretty good and credible enough in his dramatic role. I wasn't too fond of Jane Wyman but that had more to do with her character than her acting skills really.

The story tends to get a bit messy at times, when it starts to drift away and tries to put too much emotions and drama stuff in it but luckily the movie knows how to restrain itself for most of the time and it keeps its main focus on the father-son relationship of the movie. So it's a pretty well directed movie as well, despite all of the complaints I'm still having about this movie.

Certainly a good but above all beautiful movie to look at.

7/10

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One would have to be heartless not to be disarmed by this beautifully photographed, acted and realized story of a young boy's timeless, blissful childhood, represented by the yearling, and its inevitable end.

There is a stage in childhood, somewhere between the terrible twos and teens, when a boy or girl is without guile, believing that kindness and good intentions make everything right. Then, one day they discover that sometimes kindness and good intentions are not enough. That sometimes only death will put things right.

Directed by the great Clarence Brown, the entire film is a delight, but there are moments in it . . . the boy's night in a treehouse, with an ethereal little lame friend, when the boy discovers the faun, when they both gambol in the everglade. By all rights, scenes like these - and some of the lines - ought to make one cringe, but they don't. They are transcendent.

This is a family film. This means one for the whole family. See it with your kids. Learn from it as they do.

Following the Civil War, a family struggles to make ends meet in the Florida wilds. This film has a lot going for it, including beautiful Technicolor cinematography, an engaging story, and fine acting by Peck as the father. In his film debut, Jarman is quite effective as the son who adopts a fawn, leading to emotional turmoil. On the down side, the dialog is corny and the Southern accents are so thick that subtitles are needed. It is surprising that this is regarded as a great family film because it contains disturbing scenes of animal violence and puts too much emphasis on killing and deaths, making it unsuitable for pre-teens.

I'm very confused as to how this book won a pulitzer prize, was voted best book of the year (1938) and was then made into a popular film when it is nothing but a very blatant story about animal cruelty. It would have been better titled as, 'How to kill your innocent family pet.' I have never read the book but I did see the movie, and I think any parent who would choose to make their child watch this film has got to be as insensitive as the woman who wrote the book.

It is a story about a struggling floridian family who have bad luck thrown their way (the loss of their children from infant deaths, crop failures, and how poor, poor Ms. Baxter doesn't have a thing to wear because her clothes are being worn out from treading to a source of water because she doesn't have a well).

Enter the doe, who is killed by Mr. Baxter so that he can use its heart and liver to draw venom from a recent rattlesnake bite.

Enter the fawn, who the boy finds, and later decides to adopt (it's only fair, his father killed it's mother), because he wants a pet. Mr. Baxter is all gung ho about this at the idea of seeing his boy prance around with a wild animal.

Well, the fawn, when growing up to be a yearling, bonds with the boy, who tries desperately to keep it out of mischief, which he fails to do.

It eats away at Mr. Baxter's tobacco cash crop (not because it's evil, but it is a hungry animal). It gets into their corn crop and eats the shoots (again, not because it is a malicious and evil thing, but because that's what deers do when they are hungry).

All of a sudden All the family woes are blamed on this animal. The BURDEN of their failures fall on this poor animal who has bonded with the family, loving and trusting them.

The parents decide to execute the animal and in the process, make the boy emotionally suffer, INSTEAD of being responsible to the animal and locking it up at night so that it won't get into their crops, then watch over it during the day, making sure it gets fed other things that deers eat.

What kind of a moral is this? The Baxters were having problems before the deer showed up, and most likely had them after the poor deer was slaughtered.

When the boy ran away, I said, go for it. Get away from that stupid, creepy family.

Is this teaching your children to kill the family pet, because a family has misfortune, or what? I was sickened by it. And that so many people thought this was a wonderful story, well, that makes me even sicker. If anything, it teaches the lack of responsibility.

If you think you are doing something wonderful for your child by subjecting them to this, that's very sad. I suggest you open your mind and think, before you praise this kind of story.