Making of the movie


I was selected as the stand-in for Brandon in this movie and thought it was a great experience. My nick name was Skeet and that probably helped. Brandon and I became great friends over the months and did alot together. We rode in a limo with Phil Harris & Walter Brennan every day to and from the sets and they entertained us. I have looked for photos form the making of the movie but not much luck. Would appreciate anything anyone has. It is sad Brandon was killed at such a young age.

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I love this film and the book also. Love doggies and the Basengi has a long history.... some wonder if they may have belonged to some pharohs. Canine mummies have been found buried with their masters.

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Thanks for sharing your experience. Sorry I can't help you with locating photos from the making of the movie. I agree that Brandon's early death was a tragedy. I remember waking up one morning and hearing about it on the radio. I knew him best from Shane and somehow had missed this movie all together, though I am a died-in-the-wool old movie fan. I saw it (or actually, am watching it) today on AMC for the first time. Not sure how I have missed it all these years. Do you have a copy of the book? I thought I'd try to track it down on abebooks.com (I'm assuming that it is out of print.)

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Many copies of the book are for sale on eBay.

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When I was a kid my dog was a Basenji. I was told that he was a descendant of the dog who played Lady in this movie. I wonder if you remember if there was just one dog, or a number of them (as is often the case) who played Lady, and what was her (or his) name?

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Thanks for the post, davidehard. This is a truly great underrated film by William Wellman, almost Saroyan-esque, and in my opinion up there with Old Yeller and The Yearling. Also interesting in that it featured a young Sidney Poitier. Brandon was a very remarkable actor and I was always sorry he couldn't find starring roles as an adult, because he had the chops. And yes, very sad he died so young.

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