Won Ton Ton - Der Hund, der Hollywood rettete

I thought it was a kick - but then I've been watching movies that date from 1917 and know a little about the pictures. This romp combined cameos and bits by folks from Hollywood's good years (which I define as when they used people instead of digital simulation) as well as familiar faces from TV and pictures from the 50's and 60's.

It's a GO for my money (but then I wasn't in high school when I bought it). Don't see it unless you love pictures!

My friend knew I was a fan of Michael Winner, as previously I lent him a copy of "SCREAM FOR HELP". So he returned the favor with the polar opposite "WON TON TON THE DOG WHO SAVED HOLLYWOOD". This was one of those films I heard of, but never went out of my way to see. Watching it was eye-boggling, as I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It's the "Where's Wally" of Hollywood filmmaking, as star after star after star of golden age cinema show up in small and at times, unimportant roles. Just looking at that cast listing, is a curiosity, but what a waste. Still all of this does become a distraction, with it simply being a hyperbolic hodgepodge of situational humor done at a frenetic pace. It's obviously trying for that charming old-school slapstick comedy of errors and mischief, yet the scatterbrain energy, comic interplay and running gags begin to wear out its welcome. When you think it can't get any more ridiculous, it does, but that's when it kind shows up the shortcomings and lack of variety. It's very shallow, but I could be possibly missing something? A social commentary of the infatuating highs and devastating lows that makes Hollywood what it is? Nah, it's just an aspiring showbiz tale of a gal (Madeline Kahn), a guy (Bruce Dern) and a dog in twenties Hollywood consisting of numerous in-jokes and animated performances. The amusingly gleeful Madeline Kahn and an exaggerated Ron Leibman do steal most of the scenes. Well that's when Won Ton Ton is not doing his thing. It might be a train wreck, but it had its moments. Or you'll be pondering what were they thinking?

It has been thirty years since I saw this movie when released for TV. The first thing that caught my attention was the movie was promoted for having a CAVALCADE OF STARS. There is a myriad of cameo appearances by stars from the past.

The story line starts out rather slowly, and I was fortunate to be patient enough until an actual plot began to develop. Similar to a good book, you almost don't make it to the point when it becomes interesting and then the fun begins and you have a hard time putting it down. It's a parody on former Hollywood Stars, their ego's and excesses. Very amusing yet silly, but there is realistic parallel to the current tribulations of today,s pop stars L.Lohnan and B. Spears.

I can't understand why it has not been shown on a Movie Channel This movie has somewhat of a cultishness to it. As a young boy Rin Tin Tin was and always will be my favorite but when looking for an unusual ethereal type movie WON TON TON is the STAR.

I saw this movie years ago, and really liked it. It got bad reviews and disappeared from view. I have not seen it on TV or video stores. Kahn was great and so were the many cameos. Give it a try if you can find it.

What can you say about a film that feels like a graduation exercise by the B-grade film students out of UCLA? "A, for effort." Now, not to get too side tracked here, but if SF State Students had done this film, it would have been all artsy and existential, but I digress.

"Won Ton Ton" is a nod to old Hollywood, and sends up the old classic system before the Golden Age of Hollywood. This was the period when visual gags and formulations that we see in today's films were forged and put on the screen for the first time for all to see. Pretty starlets in chorus lines, stage hands pretending to be big shots to take advantage of pretty young ladies, double dealing and creative bookeeping tinsel-town style, movie moguls and classic vaudeville actors are all showcased here.

One is hard pressed to malign the film, but let's face it, it's got charm but also some issues. The thing that somewhat torpedoes this film is the post production. The sound is raw. It's all scratch track (or mostly), and it gives the film a kind of amateurish family film feel, which makes it hard to accept the visual cues and other gags the movie trying to convey. There's some looped sounds, but one wonders why the post isn't a bit more refined.

For all that it's actually quite an endearing film. Certainly not the best, but definitely a charmer. A lot of classic faces from the 50s and 60s make cameos, and the lines they deliver are good, but the film is somewhat misdirected, and Bruce Dern (as good an actor as he is) seems somewhat odd for the role.

The film, as much work was put into this thing, seems a little on the low budget side. Still, after having viewing it after 30+ years later, I can still warm up to it some. It's really a film for industry insiders with as flare for their own history..

Then, there's the dog (or series of dogs used for the lead). This film and a few other shows popularized the German Shepard, and we see here the showcasing and capitalization of the Bavarian hound. Well, they say never work with children or animals, but Won Ton Ton holds its own in a low budget off-beat homage sort of way.

If you're a real Hollywood aficionado, then this film might satisfy. Otherwise maybe see it once, and then pass it off to a friend. :-)