Savage Sam

The novel Savage Sam was the 1962 sequel to Old Yeller written by Fred Gipson. It was inspired by the story of former Apache captive Herman Lehmann, whom Gipson had seen give an exhibition when he was a child.

The live-action film was released by Walt Disney on June 1, 1963. Tommy Kirk and Kevin Corcoran returned to reprise their roles as frontier brothers, Travis and Arliss Coates. Both mother and father (originally played by Fess Parker and Dorothy McGuire in "Old Yeller") are away visiting McGuire's sick mother and have left oldest son, Travis in charge of things. Travis and Arliss are once again at odds with the old issue "who's in charge?" with Travis trying to get the work done and Arliss wanting to go off hunting with Savage Sam. Brian Keith plays the uncle who comes by to check on how the boys are doing and gives advice to Travis on how to handle Arliss a little better. During the story, Travis, Arliss, and their neighbor's daughter, Lisbeth are taken by Indians. Brian Keith gathers up some neighboring men to go in search of them, which include Lisbeth's father, Bud Searcy (once again played comically well by Jeff York) and Slim Pickens joins the group. Travis is rescued, and all men, along with Travis and Savage Sam rescue Arliss and Lisbeth.