Pardon My Pups

I could truly identify with Pardon My Pups since when I was a kid I had a fear of dogs that Junior Coghlan had. Of course I'm not the type that would have wanted a motorcycle.

But that poor frightened animal who was about to have pups gets to you every time. There is no way you can make a bad movie about kids and dogs.

Shirley Temple is in this one as well and it's not her short subject per se. But with her cuteness there was no doubt the young lady was definitely going places. Shortly she would be the biggest shining box office star and in Fox's firmament.

That last sight gag here is a pip. Shirley's still loyal legion of fans will love Pardon My Pups.

Pardon My Pups was produced at Educational Films and runs 19 minutes. It's raining and the roof leaks waking up little Mary Lou (Temple). It's big brother Sonny's (Junior Coughlin) birthday and he wants a motorcycle – their Pa wants to give him a dog. But Sonny hates dogs – until he runs away from home. Sonny and Mary Lou are the same characters from Managed Money and Merrily Yours. This film was based on the story "Mild Oats" by Florence Ryerson and Colin Clements. Charles Lamont also directed : Comin' Round the Mountain, Francis in the Haunted House, Hit the Ice, Salome and Where She Danced. Has mild humor and Lamont used a very light touch. No one could be offended by this offering, young Temple doesn't have a big part, but as always, steals the scene. Worth a look anyway.

Really Shirley Temple blossomed in front of the film audience's eyes in these film shorts. In this story, she is Mary Lou Rodgers. Her brother is celebrating is birthday. The father is insisting that he gets a puppy but he's afraid of dogs in general. He must have had a traumatic experience at some time. They never really dwell into serious situations in these shorts anyway. Well, he decides to run away from home but manages somehow to overcome his fear of dogs. When the father has already bought a purebred pedigree canine puppy, the son refuses it for something else maybe beneath the standards. It's a cute story in about ten minutes. It's not the greatest sound or film quality since this short was done in the early 1930s. Shirley's adorable and precocious as the little sister who steals the film away.

Sonny wants a motorcycle for his birthday, and is disappointed when he learns that he is getting a dog instead.

Maybe hard-core fans of Shirley Temple enjoy this film. I mean, she does what she does with the cute faces and all that... even some strange butt-scratching. But for a film, it has little merit. No comedy, no plot... it just sort of exists for some reason. The best attempt at a joke is something about a "champion clarinet".

I really have nothing more to say on this and just have to fill another line. Even as something to show before a feature film ,this would be a great disappointment to anyone other than a child with no taste.

A FROLICS OF YOUTH Short Subject.

A teenager, embarrassed by his fear of dogs, runs away from home. The abandoned spaniel he finds helps to change his mind.

PARDON MY PUPS is an enjoyable little film, with Shirley Temple stealing all her scenes as the hero's lively kid sister. The opening gag - dealing with bedwetting - is in poor taste, but is quickly forgotten. Highlight: the climactic fisticuffs, which look impressively realistic.

Often overlooked or neglected today, the one and two-reel short subjects were useful to the Studios as important training grounds for new or burgeoning talents, both in front & behind the camera. The dynamics for creating a successful short subject was completely different from that of a feature length film, something akin to writing a topnotch short story rather than a novel. Economical to produce in terms of both budget & schedule and capable of portraying a wide range of material, short subjects were the perfect complement to the Studios' feature films.