Police Dog

If you were the chap at Scotland Yard trying to convince the Commissioner to enlarge the dog department; you could do worse than show him this rather lightweight, but enjoyable, drama about a police officer "Frank" (Tim Turner) who uses a police dog to try and track down the murderer of one of his colleagues. That's about the height of it - it's an uncomplicated manhunt, only the hunter has a much more sentive nose for the task. Joan Rice provides the glamour - though I wasn't quite sure what purpose her role served (as she is his sister!) and John le Mesurier and Christopher Lee make a few appearances to help the whole thing glide along seamlessly. Not a film you will remember, I suspect, but still worth a watch.

Two British foot patrolmen pursue a burglary suspect and one ends up shot to death by the suspect. Patrolman Frank vows to catch the killer. His superior suggests that foot patrolman be accompanied by dogs to provide them with protection and aid them in the pursuit of suspects. So constable Frank takes in a stray dog and trains him to be a police dog. The new dog proves to be an great asset and aids Frank in the capture of the cop killer and save Franks life. I suppose if I wanted to sound clever, I would call this a "dog of a movie." In fairness, POLICE DOG is a harmless "B" family film. The film has some plot contrivances such as having officer Frank's girlfriend jealous because Frank is spending to much time with his new dog instead of her. Also the killer is pretty stupid. He returns to the same neighborhood where he committed the murder to rob again only to recognized by officer Frank. You would think he would pick another part of town to rob.

Christopher Lee has a small part as a police officer who does not like dogs. The dog of the title is billed as "Rex III." I suppose that means the "Rex" in this film is grandson of "Rex-The Wonder Dog" who starred in western movies and serials in the 1930's.

When his partner is gunned down, police constable Tim Turner thinks about quitting the Force. His fiancee, Joan Rice, suggests that he become a dog handler for the Metropolitan Police. However, when taking care of his new partner, Rex III, becomes an all-consuming job, she says it's either her or the dog.

It's a minor tale, sustained by director Derek Twist's ability to tell a cogent story efficiently. Like many an editor graduated to director, he knew how to 'cut in the camera', especially when he also wrote the story. He had joined British Gaumont in the early 1930s, and by the middle of the decade was editing THE 39 STEPS; Michael Powell credited him with saving THE END OF THE WORLD He directed only five movies. but a lot of television in the middle of the 1950s. He died at the age of 74 in 1979.

Rex III was an ex-police dog. He got an "introducing" credit for this movie and was never noted again.

I'm an animal lover at heart so watching and enjoying this film was a given. It's certainly miles better than those incessantly awful Disney movies that have to make animals talk in order to appeal to the kids - I saw a clip of the superhero dog comedy UNDERDOG the other day and, by the gods, it's awful.

POLICE DOG is much more sedate and realistic, although the plotting isn't up to much. Your average copper loses his partner to a violent criminal and is paired up with an Alsatian, much to the chagrin of his girlfriend who feels that he loves the dog more than her.

This is much like the 1950s version of the James Belushi comedy K-9, albeit without the laughs. If you're a dog lover then you'll be in for a treat as Alsatians play a large role in the proceedings and have plenty of screen time. They're exceedingly well trained and get up to all kinds of escapades. The human cast don't really get much of a look in - after all, they're there merely to act as support for the dogs - although there are minor parts for John Le Mesurier and Christopher Lee, the latter with an amusing working class accent.

It might be bad but it's still a watchable enough British B-movie of the period - and at least less unintentionally funny than 'K-9' (which was MEANT to be funny).

Proficient enough as an unvarnished crime thriller filler, with the dog being trained in an effort to assist a fresh-faced copper hunt down a cop-killing burglar fiend, the film strays too far into anthropomorphic territory when the PC's girlfriend becomes jealous of the pooch. Otherwise it's heavy handed business as usual, right down to the patronising depiction of the struggling-but-otherwise-rosy working-class household.

Director Twist had a steady career as a competent editor of many distinguished British films throughout the 30s, which seemed to come to an abrupt end at the end of the decade. Quite why he abandoned it for a sporadic and ineffectual career in direction is a mystery - it can't have been the war as he had a significant hand in a number of films during the early 40s.