My Dog Rusty (1948)

Director:

Lew Landers

Writers:

Al Martin (characters)
William Sackheim (story)

Release Date:

8 April 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Dog | Dog Actor | Based On Children's Book | Character Name In Title

Cast

Ted Donaldson	...	Danny Mitchell
John Litel	...	Hugh Mitchell
Ann Doran	...	Mrs. Ethel Mitchell
Mona Barrie	...	Dr. Antonia 'Toni' Cordell
Whitford Kane	...	Mr. Joshua Michael Tucker
Jimmy Lloyd	...	Rodney Pyle
Lewis L. Russell	...	Mayor Fulderwilder
Flame	...	Rusty, Danny's Dog

Runtime:

67 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Goofs:

Continuity: In the opening scene, Hugh Mitchell states that it would be nice to surprise his wife by getting home as early as 7:15 and excuses himself from the card game at the fire department. The next moment he's catching his son climb up a ladder to his bedroom with Rusty at a quarter to midnight.

Movie Connections:

Follows Adventures of Rusty (1945)

Another in the "Rusty" series with an obvious message...

From the outset, the viewer has to be aware that this is a story about the boy who cried Wolf once too often, so that no one believed him when the wolf actually attacked.

It's a message wrapped up tidily in a harmless little programmer from Columbia, MY DOG RUSTY, again starring TED DONALDSON as the boy who seems incapable of staying out of trouble until the happy ending.

This time he's a meddler in the affairs of a woman doctor (MONA BARRIE) and her experiments on bacteria-laden water and, even more importantly, in the affairs of his father (JOHN LITEL) who has a hard time running for mayor when his son is accused of being a liar.

The dog "Rusty" does a commendable job of looking interested in whatever is going on, although there are times when he seems to be acting strictly on cue from a man on the sidelines who gets a full share of glances when the camera is turning. He's not, in my opinion, in the same league with MGM's famous collie, Lassie.

The kids all sound like kids reading their lines for the first time and only Donaldson delivers a fairly natural performance as the boy who learns all of his lessons the hard way.

It passes the time quickly and obviously was designed to fill the second half of a double bill back in the good old days of double features. ANN DORAN is again the boy's protective mother, but JOHN LITEL has the biggest part as the boy's occasionally stern parent baffled by his son's growing up years.