What is that strange animal 12-year-old Skeeter spied in the Mississippi swamp? It looks like a dog. But it laughs - even cries real tears - instead of barking. Skeeter brings it home... and into the best adventure a boy could ever have. From the beloved novel by James (The Biscuit Eater) Street, Good-bye, My Lady boasts a legendary director (William A. Wellman), real Southern-bayou location shooting and a superb cast that includes Academy Award winners Walter Brennan and Sidney Poitier, plus Phil Harris and young Brandon de Wilde (Shane, Hud). But perhaps the biggest star in the entire all-star cast is Lady herself, a rare African Basenji. Skeeter certainly can't resist her. She's his pride, his responsibility, his best friend. So when Lady's real owners advertise to find her, the boy is torn between what his heart and his conscience tell him to do.

William Wellman directed this poignant tale of a young boy named Skeeter (Brandon De Wilde), his uncle Jesse Jackson (Walter Brennan), and the dog that brings joy into their lives. Skeeter is an orphan who lives with Jesse in the Pascagula Swamp in Mississippi, where lumber companies harvest cypress trees. One day Skeeter stumbles on an irreverent pooch that laughs instead of barks. The dog is also able to pick up scents at remarkable distances and cleans itself in a feline fashion. Things take an unexpected turn when Uncle Jesse agrees to allow Skeeter, who hopes to teach her to be a hunter, to keep her. Both De Wilde and Brennan give unsentimental, genuine performances. The understated story is well supported by beautiful black-and-white photography and an acoustic-guitar score, making GOODBYE, MY LADY a terrific family film.