Dogs of War (1923)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Robert F. McGowan

Writers:

Hal Roach (story)
H.M. Walker (titles)

Release Date:

1 July 1923 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Short

Plot:

The gang wages war using old vegetables as munitions. Later, they ruin a movie in progress when they double-expose the film.

Plot Keywords:

Children | Our Gang | Actor Shares First Name With Character

Cast

Hal Roach's Rascals	...	Themselves
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Roy Brooks	...	Actor around the lot
Joe Cobb	...	Joe
Jackie Condon	...	Jackie
Mickey Daniels	...	Mickey
Bob Davis	...	Truck driver
Jack Davis	...	Jack
Dick Gilbert	...	Studio guard
William Gillespie	...	Director of 'Should Husbands Work?'
Clara Guiol	...	Actress, mother of 'Little Clarice'
Jack Hill	...	Officer
Allen 'Farina' Hoskins	...	Farina
Wallace Howe	...	Actor around the lot
Mary Kornman	...	Mary
Harold Lloyd	...	Himself
Walter Lundin	...	Film's photographer
Ernest Morrison	...	Sunshine Sammy
Ernie Morrison Sr.	...	Film's assistant director
Fred C. Newmeyer	...	Director of 'Why Worry?'
Monty O'Grady
Jobyna Ralston	...	Herself
Andy Samuel
Lincoln Stedman	...	Casting director
Charles Stevenson	...	Actor, 'Dan' (as Charles E. Stevenson)
Leo White	...	Actor around the lot
Charley Young	...	Film's photographer

Runtime:

24 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Hal Roach Studios - 8822 Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Hal Roach Studios

Trivia:

Filmed alongside Harold Lloyd's Why Worry? (1923), using the South American town set built for that film, and featuring Lloyd and Jobyna Ralston as themselves.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "American Masters: Harold Lloyd: The Third Genius" (1989)

Dogs of War was a most excellent "Our Gang" comedy that gives us a glimpse of the Hal Roach Studios

This Hal Roach comedy short, Dogs of War, is the fourteenth in the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" series of films produced in the studio named after Mr. Roach, a.k.a. "The Lot of Fun". In this one, the kids reenact a war scene with Mary a nurse that smitten Jack and Mickey fake injuries for fake treatment by her. During many of these proceedings, many members of the gang throw tomatoes as weapons and Farina wanders around and finds a skunk that gets everyone, including the toddler, putting on gas masks! Then Mary's mother comes and takes her daughter away to put her in a picture that pays her five bucks. The gang decide to follow along but they get thrown out. Farina, however, has disappeared so the others crash the West Coast Studios (actually Hal Roach Studios) to find "her". That's when the fun really starts...Hilarious from beginning to end, director Robert McGowan really hits his peak as the series' filmmaker during this silent movie era. Allen Hoskins as Farina has many of the short's scene stealing moments like the time he accidentally makes a treadmill on an empty set move while some workers are standing on it causing them to run in the same place for awhile. This happens to the gang later on. Also very funny is when they see Mary "strangled" by the "villian" and they attempt to kick his butt as a result and their later reenactment of that scene with Jackie ending his with (via inter-title) "Kiss me my boob!" Then there's the later double-exposure scene that must have had the audience of the time in stitches and, finally, there's the other big Hal Roach star at the time, Harold Lloyd at the time of filming "Why Worry?", helping the gang, one of whom happening to be his brother-in-law Jack Davis, escaping the studio guard with the cute way he playfully spanks Farina being the topper of his cameo. Since I don't want to spoil anything else here I'll just say I highly recommend Dogs of War for any fan of comedy, period. P.S. Erine "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison's father, also named Ernie, appears as an assistant director.