After the American Civil War, a rebel soldier and his wife become pioneer farmers in Florida. Their son Jody is 11 years old; he gets along well with his warm and affectionate pa, but his ma is haunted by the death of her other children, so she's somber, even cold. The boy wants a pet: the dad is sympathetic, the mom obdurate. When a rattler bites pa, pa kills a doe to use its organs to draw out the poison. Jody begs to keep the doe's fawn as a pet. The parents agree, and the boy and the deer are soon inseparable. The fawn grows quickly, and as a yearling tramples tobacco shoots and eats the newly-sprouted corn. This is too much for ma, and Jody has to face harsh, adult realities.

Starring:

Arthur Hohl, Chill Wills, Claude Jarman Jr, Clem Bevans, Dan White, Forrest Tucker, Frank Eldredge, George Mann, Gregory Peck, Henry Travers, Houseley Stevenson, Jane Green, Jane Wyman, Jeff York, June Lockhart, Margaret Wycherly, Matt Willis, Victor Kilian

Genre:

Drama, Family