College Hounds

An MGM ALL BARKIE Short Subject.

A couple of COLLEGE HOUNDS find that gamblers, bookies & a wanton woman cause complications the day of the big game between Airedale College and Spitz University.

This zany little film in the Dogville Series, with its look at varsity dorm life, a pool hall and a football game, is great fun...if one overlooks the sometimes obviously distressed canines being manipulated by guide wires.

*****************************

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.

Cousins Jules White and Zion Meyers went to work for MGM producing sound shorts. Their idea was to burlesque popular film genres, using dogs stuffed into costumes and wired into uncomfortable positions.

Apparently the brass so loved these movies that they wound up giving these two control of fading star Buster Keaton's movies, which put an end to his stardom.

Like all of Jules White's comedy, this one is based on making dumb animals uncomfortable or injured. The Three Stooges and other human actors who worked for Mr. White when he wound up as head of Columbia's comedy shorts division could at least consent to their own torture-for-hire. The small dogs, stuffed into uncomfortable costumes and wired into unnatural positions in this and other Dogville comedies could not.

As a short, it was a fun entertaining film to watch with our family. Characters include The Scartail (instead of Scarface) gangster dog, the girl dog who seduces the football star so the football team loses.

Yes you can see wires occasionally, but the creative farce is a fun, family friendly dog story. The dogs voiceovers reminded me of radio shows with the sound effects and the voice inflection.

It's also fun to see football in 1929 and how it has changed. There's still touchdowns, quarterback sacks, and extra points kicked in between games he goal posts, but it's fun to watch how they get dogs to "play" the game too.

If you're wanting a short, creative "barkie" just for pure entertainment, these adorable dogs will do the trick.