Allan Dwan directs the family-oriented drama Driftwood, starring nine-year-old
Natalie Wood. Orphan Jenny Hollingsworth (Wood) is found in a rural small town in Nevada that is ravaged by Rocky Mountain fever. She meets the local doctor, Steve Webster (
Dean Jagger), who is working on a research project. Steve plans on leaving the girl with his girlfriend, Susan Moore (
Ruth Warrick), while he goes to San Francisco to do research. However, {Jenny's dog attacks a little boy and gets taken away by Sheriff Bolton (
James Bell). Jenny develops Rocky Mountain fever from the dog and gets deathly ill. Also starring
Walter Brennan as Murph,
Charlotte Greenwood as Mathilda, and
Jerome Cowan as Mayor Snyder. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide