Good-bye, My Lady (film)

Good-bye, My Lady
The Boy and the Laughing Dog
1956 Theatrical Poster
Directed byWilliam A. Wellman
Screenplay bySid Fleischman
Based onGood-bye, My Lady
1954 novel
by James Street
Produced byRobert Fellows
StarringWalter Brennan
Phil Harris
Brandon deWilde
Sidney Poitier
William Hopper
Louise Beavers
CinematographyWilliam H. Clothier
Edited byFred MacDowell
Music byMusic composed and played by Laurindo Almeida – guitar A.S.C.A.P.
George Fields – harmonica A.S.C.A.P.
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • May 11, 1956 (1956-05-11)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Good-bye, My Lady is a 1956 American drama film adaptation of the novel Good-bye, My Lady (1954) by James H. Street. The book had been inspired by Street's original 1941 story which appeared in The Saturday Evening Post. Street was going to be the principal advisor on the film when he suddenly died of a heart attack. A boy learns what it means to be a man by befriending and training a stray Basenji dog and then is forced to surrender her to its rightful owner. Both readers of the story and film-goers found the boy's eventual loss of the dog unexpected.

Directed by William A. Wellman, the film starred Walter Brennan and Brandon deWilde, with Sidney Poitier and Phil Harris in supporting roles. Brennan and Harris previously co-starred in 1951's The Wild Blue Yonder, and Brennan and deWilde would reunite for the cameras in 1965 for Disney in Those Calloways. That same year, deWilde would play producer John Wayne's son in In Harm's Way. The film was produced by John Wayne's Batjac Productions.