Rescued by Rover

The story of "Rescued By Rover" is simple, but it's told quite well for its time. There is good action, good continuity from one scene to the next, and most of the shots are carried off well. It takes a somewhat predictable (and perhaps implausible) story and gives it energy, using occasional cross-cutting and mixing some indoor and outdoor scenes.

The story is the kind of melodrama that was very common in the earliest years of narrative films, but it also features some imaginative touches in the details. Most of the characters are rather plain, so the dog is the liveliest member of the cast. It was probably rather an achievement to get "Rover" to behave so well, and his actions come across as quite believable.

While the story is of a now-familiar kind, it was probably more novel at the time, and in any case this remains a worthwhile example of rather good early story-telling technique.

A young woman is out for a walk in the park when a young man distracts her and allows another woman to nip in and kidnap the baby without being seen. The mother is distraught when she learns of this crime but it appears the baby is lost forever. However faithful family dog Rover sets out to see if he can't locate the tot.

Not great as a story, this film is mostly of interest because of its age and the techniques that must still have been in their infancy at this time. Rather than a static shot of an event, this film tells a dramatic story (albeit in a very simple fashion) and features multiple shots running together over time and space to do it. Yes, of course this is now such a familiar thing that to point it out seems stupid but there we have it – it is relevant. The also quite impressed me in the acting of the dog (who was actually called Blair, I don't care what the IMDb credits say). The DVD gave me the impression that this was merely the Hepworth family pet (they are also in the film themselves) but it does very well with the action and moves on cue but not in a mechanical way that over-trained dogs sometimes do. The reason for this is that the crew set out sausages for him and, where he breaks down one door after another it is because he hasn't found any so moves on! Interesting then for the technique, the manner of story telling and the way the Hepworth family dog is very effective in a key role.

Probably influenced more by Edwin Porter than D W Griffith this early chase movie shows how far film had come since the one shot actualities of the first few years of the century. Interesting studio sets, especially the arclit attic, and remarkable smooth editing. Also makes use of planting, in this case a seemingly innocuous boat, that will play an important role in the latter part of the film. Notable also for an outstanding performance by Blair, the dog, who hits every mark on cue and whose understated performance puts the hammy humans to shame.

I'd like to correct the first user comment saying that DW Griffith's influences are easily seen in Rescued by Rover. DW Griffith's first film was in 1908, 4 years after Rescued by Rover. Rescued by Rover shows how directors showed spatial continuity to audiences who were used to seeing overlapping shots. Audiences were very simple during that time and this film helped shape the way an audience watches a film.

Rescued by Rover is really only worth watching for its influence on film. The story is extremely basic and certainly not as suspenseful as it would have been in the early 1900s

That was quite an amazing dog. He is smarter than any of the humans in this little film. When some really weird woman kidnaps a baby while the nursemaid is making whoopee with a police officer, Rover listens, then goes in search of the little girl. He also has the ability to communicate with humans. Obviously, this is pure poppycock when it comes to reality.