Pardon My Pups

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.

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.

I won't say that it is going to blow you over, but it is a very nice little short story about a boy who is afraid of dogs, but is challenged to overcome his fear when he is presented with the opportunity to help one who is hurt. There is quite a bit of slap stick comedy toward the end, and it is all in good fun!

{This if one of the movie shorts from the "Shirley Temple Festival"}

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.

This is one of the better features in the series of short family comedies that starred Junior Coghlan and Shirley Temple as brother and sister. It is 'cute' in a generally positive sense, while usually managing to avoid becoming cloying. The story, while contrived at some points, has something of a purpose to it, and the movie also adds in a couple of the less innocent gags that turn up surprisingly often in Temple's short features.

The setup has Coghlan's character Sonny celebrating a birthday, and hoping for a motorcycle, but knowing that his father prefers to give him a dog. With the help of his girlfriend and loyal little sister Mary Lou (Temple), Sonny has to contend with his father's stubbornness and with a pretentious rival. The story that follows is fairly predictable, but it has some good moments.

Most of it is enjoyable, and the plainer stretches do not last very long. Coghlan, who is nominally the star, has a rather bland acting style, but he does have a decent screen presence. Temple's energy and charisma, so unusual for her age, are readily apparent, and she stands out in constant contrast to the less interesting older characters.