It's a Dog's Life

I TiVo'd this movie because I have an absurd sentimentality for animals. A friend actually snickered when she saw this on my TiVo "to do" list. No matter. I watched it on a night when I needed to just veg out - no challenging foreign films that night, thank you.

Boy, was I glad I did! As other posters have stated, this is a weird movie. No children star in this movie, but it has a talking dog narrator! And he's actually trained as a fighting dog -- something you probably wouldn't see in a "talking dog" movie made today.

Vic Morrow's voiceover was a bit distant -- joking a bit too much when you knew the dog was in sheer terror, for instance. But I liked the New York accent. It worked for the little street tough that the dog (his name was Wildfire) was supposed to be.

Human cast was terrific, especially Edmund Gwenn. Dean Jagger also good.

If you have a tolerance for G-rated talking animal movies, this one is different and worth checking out. It's not exactly a kids' movie -- children may be bored, in fact, since the action, though fast, isn't exactly at the breakneck cartoony pace that kids today are accustomed to. And there is some implied violence and "adult situations." But it's a brisk story that moves along nicely, and with some genuinely funny moments. And a sweet ending.

It's A Dog's Life graced the bottom of many double bills during the Fifties for MGM stars. A film like this one even five years later would have been a made for television product.

The original story was based on something that famed nineteenth century newspaper correspondent Richard Harding Davis wrote. When he was not covering things like the Spanish American War, Davis took his hand at fiction. He wrote the Gallegher stories that Walt Disney filmed during the Sixties with Roger Mobley.

This is the rags to riches story of a stray dog who managed to get from fighting dog of the Bowery to pampered show dog on Long Island. As Vic Morrow who supplies the dog's voice and does the narration, Horatio Alger would have loved this story. He certainly would have because Horatio was writing his stuff during this same time.

Of the human actors we have to single out Edmund Gwenn and Dean Jagger, two of the most accomplished character actors around. Gwenn as the groom and stableman on Jagger's estate and Jagger as the wealthy dog breeder who has a lot of issues in a lot of areas both are just fine in the roles. And they don't let the appealing little canine steal the scenes either.

I wish I could rate this film better, but sad to say I know all too well that dogs who are bred as killers are not likely to change their ways and become show dogs. Maybe Davis could sell that as fiction in his time and maybe MGM could see it in 1955, but it doesn't go over today.

Still some may find this a cute film.

This is an odd one. Films from a dog's point of view with human narration have been done before, but usually from the standpoint of either a dog in a troubled family situation or from the standpoint of a dog trying to get back to a beloved master after they are separated. This one dares to be different. Wildfire is a dog of the Bowery, alone in the world except for his mother, not having or seeking a master. Not only does the dog's voice sound like Frank Sinatra, the dog uses Rat Pack terminology, and plays the cool sensitive loner like Sinatra as well. As one reviewer put it, this film is quite Runyonesque. Another odd device of the film is that you don't hear the other dogs saying anything - Wildfire is the only dog that communicates with the audience in human language. This makes the film less like a cartoon and keeps the focus on Wildfire.

The film starts out with Wildfire sensing that his mother is unhappy. He goes to the elder dog of the wharf and asks him what the problem is. It turns out that Wildfire's father was a Grand Champion who has a love them and leave them attitude with the ladies, that Wildfire's mom was one of those ladies, and the result was Wildfire. Wildfire then sets out on a quest to find and kill his father for what he did to his mother. Pretty odd stuff for a talking dog movie.

Along the way he encounters two groups of people. The first group consists of the fellows who hang out in the local pub and run a dog fighting ring - Wildfire at first thinks his father's name of "Grand Champion" came from being a champion fighting dog. He gets into the business himself for awhile, but never finds his father. In the second half of the film he is taken in by a kindly old long-time servant of the wealthy Wyndham family, Jeremiah Emmett Augustus Nolan (Edmund Gwynn). The Wyndhams have problems of their own, and Wildfire and the Wyndhams manage to help each other with their respective demons.

Although the themes of dog-fighting and violence to women are part of the film, let me assure you there is nothing shown or said that would be inappropriate for a ten year old. No violence is actually shown. Highly recommended as a feel good family film.

I fell in love with this movie when I first saw it on late night TV back in the 70s. It's a charmer, with a wry sense of humor and a little tough around the edges. There's plenty of sentiment but it's definitely Runyonesque, as some here have so accurately described it, and NOT the cheap, mawkishly manipulative sentimentality of Disney. Anyone who thinks this movie condones violence - toward animals OR women - wasn't paying attention. The dogs are NOT violent but like the horses in Black Beauty, they're victims of cruel, greedy, selfish human beings.

My children grew up on this film, via a grainy, over-the-air VHS cassette. We all love it and someday, when it finally comes out on DVD, we'll throw a family party and watch it all together again.

I first saw It's A Dog's Life a long, long time ago on TV and immediately fell in love with Bull Terriers - I have since owned two and plan to get another. It depicts the breed pretty accurately, some can be scrappers but most are playful and friendly to all, and they have loads of personality. Yes, part of the plot is organized dog-fighting and there is violence towards a woman, both of which are repugnant to any decent person, but that knowledge shouldn't put anyone off watching - those scenes aren't nice, even though they do not show the actual violence, but all-in-all there's lots to love about this story. Wildfire the dog is a charmer and, best of all, the good guys win! I just hope this delightful film will be released on DVD sometime soon, so I can replace my old copied-from-TV VHS tape!!