Good-bye, My Lady (film)

Good-bye, My Lady The Boy and the Laughing Dog
1956 Theatrical Poster
Directed by	William A. Wellman
Screenplay by	Sid Fleischman
Based on	From the novel Good-bye, My Lady by James Street
Starring	Walter Brennan Phil Harris Brandon de Wilde Sidney Poitier William Hopper Louise Beavers
Music by	Music composed and played by Laurindo Almeida – guitar A.S.C.A.P. George Fields – harmonica A.S.C.A.P.
Cinematography	William H. Clothier
Edited by	Fred MacDowell
Production company	A Batjac Production
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	May 11, 1956
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Good-bye, My Lady is a 1956 American 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.

Young orphan boy Skeeter (Brandon deWilde) is being raised in a Mississippi swamp cabin by his poor and toothless Uncle Jesse Jackson (Walter Brennan). One night, a mysterious noise is heard. They later discover that the noise was caused by a strange breed of dog (My Lady of the Congo) they do not recognize. Rather than a bark, the dog has a yodel or laugh. The animal has keen senses, and they decide to train her for bird hunting.

In time, Skeeter learns that an ad had been placed for a female Basenji which had been lost in their swamp months earlier. Skeeter arranges for a telegram to be sent, and a representative (William Hopper) of the dog's rightful owner appears to take it back. Skeeter is forced to "come of age" and surrender the animal. With the $100 reward money given, he is able to purchase Jesse the false teeth that he needs and put a down payment on a 20 gauge shotgun.