Where the Red Fern Grows 1974

  This film is based on a novel by Wilson Rawls.  The setting is in the Ozark Mountains during the Great Depression.  Billy Coleman works hard with multiple jobs and saves his earnings for two years.  His dream is to buy two coonhound pumps.  Billy faces overwhelming challenges roaming the river bottoms of Cherokee country with Old Dan and Little Ann.  Billy and the dogs are an inseparable trio as they try to tree an elusive Ghost raccoon.  They win a coveted gold cup in the annual coon-hunt contest.  They capture wily ghost coons and bravely fight a mountain lion. 
     There is a LOT more to this film than just a young boy and his dogs!!  Billy develops a deeper trust and faith as he faces challenges.  He learns the meaning of true friendship, loyalty and more.  Billy carefully trains his dogs and they enjoy coon hunting together.  He learns he can’t let his dogs down even when it calls for all his strength.  There is joy and also sadness.  I don’t know how you can watch this film without a few tears!!  5* (I really liked this movie) 

97 min, Drama directed by Norman Tokar and written by Wilson Rawls, Douglas Stewart, Eleanor Lamb with James Whitmore, Beverly Garland, Jack Ging, Lonny Chapman, Stewart Petersen, Jill Clark, Jeanna Wilson, bill Thurman, Bill dunbar, Rex Corley, John Lindsey, Garland McKinney, Robert S. Telford, Charles Seat, Roger Pancake, Marshall Edwards.

Note:  Imdb 6.9 out of 10, Amazon 4* out of 5* with 2128 reviews, 75% audience on Rotten Tomatoes with 8751 reviews, Common Sense Media, age 9+ with 5*, Letterboxd 2.8* out of 5*, Goodreads gives the book 4.07* with 318,539 ratings and 10,460 reviews.

Special Note:  Filmed in Tahlequah, Vian and W. Siloam Springs, Oklahoma.  Grandpa's store is located west of Keys, Oklahoma in an area known as Qualls.  It is a privately owned reservation only restaurant serving home cooked meals called Jincy’s Kitchen as of 2017.  The building still maintains the old general store theme and the wagon seen in the movie is still there.  Visitors can see the waterfall in this movie.  It’s located in Natural Falls state Park in West Siloam Springs.  The barn and cabin were washed way in the historic flooding of 2015 on the Illinois River in Oklahoma.  A few prints of this film still remain but it was discovered that the negatives were destroyed by the lab where they were stored.  This fact was found out while research was conducted for a retrospective documentary.  Only a few prints remain.