20 October 2022 07:30
The four-legged artist was able to build a successful career.
The first film adaptation of Eric Knight’s works on the faithful dog Lassie was released in 1943. The film immediately became famous and starred not only the main actors, but also a dog named Pal, who played Lassie.
When Pal was casting, he went through a lot of rehearsal before being approved among 1,500 four-legged performers for the role. But his efforts paid off: during the filming, the dog received a separate apartment and a replacement who replaced him in the most dangerous scenes. The dog was paid a salary of $ 250 per week, which, taking into account inflation, would now amount to 200 thousand rubles.
This situation was not always appreciated by the other artists involved in the film. For example, young Elizabeth Taylor, who played the lead role of Priscilla, only made $ 100 a week.
However, Pal, as noted by his colleagues, was the friendliest and most affectionate dog. He not only played the role of him perfectly, but was able to establish communication with all members of the film crew. And so there was never a real conflict or misunderstanding between the dog and the other actors.
