Vida de Cachorro

With all the fine canine actors in Hollywood of the time (1946), why bother with humans at all. Besides, humans cost a lot more and complain a lot. Here Rodney the Doberman gives a fine performance, even if he does rob a saloon, sneeze at the wrong time, and sleep on the job. Still, he does help catch the crooks, get officer Pirelli promoted out of Flatbush, and bring lovebirds Julia and Barton together. Pretty good for an actor with no dialog, except an occasional woof-woof.

On the whole, the movie's an entertaining little crime comedy, with Joslyn in good addled form as a reporter, and Landis in good curvaceous form as a lady cop. I never could figure out exactly the plot, but who cares since that's not what drives an amusing trifle like this. It's also a good chance to catch up with future TV stars like Henry Morgan (MASH) and Reed Hadley (Racket Squad). Actually, what caught my eye among the usual hijinks were our heroes running amidst what looks like a real downtown traffic scene. Watch for it. Usually such setups are filmed on the lot, as are other street scenes in the movie. But not this particular one, and it's kind of scary.

All in all, the screenplay meanders too much to concentrate its humor, but still manages a share of chuckles.

... at least for the next twenty years or so. Henry Barton (Allyn Joslyn) has returned from service in WWII with a better job than he left, at least that's what his boss tells him. Henry was a crime beat reporter on a New York paper before the war, and now he's an editor. Unfortunately he's the science editor and he barely got out of high school with science and math not being his best subjects. He badly wants his old job back, but a woman took over his job while he was overseas and she doesn't want to give it back. It turns out she likes the crime beat too.

Thus he hatches a plan to crack a local racketeering case figuring his boss will have to give him the crime beat job back if he does. In the process Henry runs afoul of a beautiful cop (Carol Landis), her trained Doberman is stolen, and to make matters worse the dog is going around assisting in bar robberies along with a man wearing Henry's very unique tie, thus making it look like Henry is in on the robberies. And from there things just get stranger and goofier.

This film is for sure a valentine to the immediate post war period when women were still filling so-called "mens' jobs" and the men were none too happy about it, the nuclear age had just begun, and gangsters seemed just a little out of place in this brave new world. Note that the biggest stars in this film have the smallest roles - John Ireland just starting out as a one of the racketeers and Frank Morgan as a bad guy as well.

Highly recommended as a moment frozen in time and for the goofiness of it all as well. Thanks to Fox Movie Channel for showing this rare little gem. This is a particularly rare event considering Fox Movie Channel has recently been taken over by teenagers who presume their viewers prefer "Horton Hears a Who" to "The Hustler".

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.

The movie was well made and still contemporary. These types of movies are timeless! It's a great comedy.!!! I enjoyed the pacing of the movie and the simple storytelling with a clever plot. I recommend watching this movie for easy viewing and a nice night on the couch. I think I'm going to look for a movie similar to this one made during the same timeframe.

"It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog" is a silly film...not exactly genius but enjoyable as well as one of Carole Landis' last pictures.

When the film begins, Henry Barton (Allyn Joslyn) is upset because he's been demoted at the newspaper where he works. He no longer is covering the police beat and desperately wants to. So, when he mistakenly think that a pretty lady (Landis) with a Doberman robbed a bar, he calls in the story to the paper...only to soon learn it was a hoax. However, the dog COULD help him earn his way back...if only he can catch up with this missing Dobie and his pretty owner.

This film is inconsequential fun. Plus, I liked seeing some familiar character actors as the hoods (Reed Hadley, John Ireland and, oddly, Harry Morgan). It's definitely in the 'turn off your brain and just enjoy' category!

By the way, Joslyn is RARELY a leading man and almost always plays supporting roles. It's nice to see him in the lead for once.