It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog

In a good way, I mean. Somebody at Fox had an understated sense of humor, and put it on the screen in "It Shouldn't Happen To A Dog", a 70 minute comedy which gets funnier as it goes along, with tongue firmly implanted in cheek. It almost plays like a British comedy as it eschews slapstick for subtlety. Modern audiences have little or no frame of reference for subtle humor.

Allan Joslyn, who was a supporting actor in lots of forgettable movies, is better here than in most of the others. Maybe finally getting the lead in a film energized him and he puts everything he's got into his role as a reporter back from WWII who finds his old job occupied - by a woman. Determined to get it back he fabricates a story about a robbery in a bar - accidentally - and things go from bad to funnier.

Guys, I have to tell you this picture gets a huge shot in the arm from Carole Landis... need I say more? Not only an eyeful, she's very good as the owner of a dog who's the prime suspect in the robbery. If it sounds like a wacky plot, you're right. See it if you get a chance. There are lots of familiar faces you'll recognize in this shaggy dog tale.

It's one of those "the craziest things happen in Brooklyn" movies. Allyn Joslyn is a reporter who has fouled up so often he's been demoted to science editor, picking up information from children's books. He thinks he has a lead on a real story, so he heads over to Margo Woods' rooming house. No dice, so he tries a local bar with her picture. There, Carole Landis walks in with a trained Doberman Pinscher for some bones. Some money goes missing, and he phones in the story. It soon turns out it was a gag by one of the barflies. Soon enough, crook Harry Morgan, Miss Landis and the dog are involved in the story.

It's one of those brittle post-war comedies which smacks of some subtextual meaning, but mostly it's a decent, if dry little comedy in which everyone acts in an over-the-top manner. There are some good comedy situations directed at a good clip by B director Herbert Leeds.

Leeds started in the movie business illustrating title cards. By the early 1930s he was an editor, and he became a director in 1938. Over the next twelve years he headed a couple of movies each year, then into television. He killed himself in 1954, age 54.

Carole Landis was one of the 1940s most beautiful and talented stars. Sadly she committed suicide just two years after she made this film. It Shouldn't Happen To A Dog is not the greatest movie she ever made but it's a fun comedy and Carole gives a wonderful performance. She plays a female police detective (unusual for 1946) whose partner is a very smart and well trained Doberman. William Gargan plays a reporter trying to solve a crime - he becomes her love interest. The plot is a little silly - there is a mix-up over a robbery and Rodney runs away only to be found by a mobster. Rodney of course steals every scene he is in! The supporting cast includes the lovely Jean Wallace and Harry Morgan. This was Carole's last film at Fox and if you are a fan you should watch it.

I'm so happy that the Fox Archives has released this movie on DVD. It' available to order at Amazon now.

Watching It Shouldn't Happen To A Dog I had to wonder whether 20th Century Fox had purchased this story from Paramount. It seems so much like a Bob Hope vehicle.

If it had been a Hope vehicle Hope as the main character would have received top billing instead of Carole Landis. Clearly the action centers around the main male character played by character actor Allyn Joslyn. Fresh back from the army Joslyn can't get his old job back as the crime reporter. He's now the science reporter and is busy trying to figure out atomic energy while Jean Wallace is learning the nuances of crime reporting.

But when there's a story about a missing witness Whit Bissell who was ready to testify against racketeer Reed Hadley, Joslyn goes right to work. The problem is that he's running up against undercover policewoman Carole Landis and her partner, a large former military Doberman pincher answering to the name Rodney.

Rodney for a trained dog is quite an independent sort. Still he's the real hero as he's the one really responsible for seeing justice done.

Joslyn was funny, but I could never see him getting the girl. This is an amusing film, but it should have had Bob Hope in the lead.

Allyn Joslyn, Carole Landis, and Rodney the Dog star in "It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog," a 1946 film. Joslyn plays Henry Barton, a returning WW II vet who returns to his newspaper job, only to find out he's no longer assigned to crime, but science, and a woman has his job. Disgusted, he's determined to solve a crime so he can get his job back.

He goes to work on a local racketeering case, and meets a beautiful woman, Julia (Landis) and her dog (Rodney), a Doberman who is also a war vet. When the bar they are all in is robbed, Henry mistakenly thinks that Julia and Rodney robbed the place, calls it in to his paper, and Rodney ends up on the front page. It turns out that Julia is a policewoman, and she's not happy.

The plot gets crazier, with Rodney taking off and winding up for a time with a mobster's henchman (Harry Morgan) who commits some robberies wearing not only Henry's distinctive tie but has Rodney with him.

Joslyn, a character actor who played few leads, is quite funny here, and the story is amusing. Landis, who committed suicide two years later, is quite beautiful and does a good job. Unfortunately, true stardom would elude her. Rodney is fabulous. Jean Wallace gives a nice performance as the woman who took Henry's job.

When the men got back from the war, the women had gone to work, and this film is a reflection of that adjustment. Everyone is shocked to meet a "lady cop" and Henry bemoans the fact that a woman took his job.

Nice film, interesting time in history.