The Boy and the Eagle (1949)

Narrator and star Dickie Moore is recovering from an accident and walks with the aid of a crutch. On a stroll in the countryside he encounters a wounded bald eagle which he manages to wrap in his leather jacket and take home. He’d read that once broken an eagle’s wing could never repair itself,  but he determines that just as he hopes to walk again normally, he wants the eagle to take to the air once again too. Gradually, the pair start to bond a little and when the lad comes across an angry rattlesnake on a rocky outcrop his feathered friend proves that just because it says so in the books, it doesn’t mean… It’s not the best quality of production here, but the lad is engaging enough and the photography illustrates nicely the sheer beauty and power of this majestic bird. It’s perhaps not the most medically sound of films, but there’s a message of perseverance and respect here that is no different from many of the Disney natural history type dramas that were being produced at the time.