It's a Dog's Life

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!!

I first saw this movie many years ago, one weekend on television back when I was a child. It caused me to be eternally fascinated by bull terriers.

The movie itself, on finally seeing it again as an adult, is not nearly as bad as some reviewers would have you think. From my point of view, it doesn't condone dog-fighting, nor even abuse of women. Sure, it shows some fairly unacceptable behaviour, but I didn't get the impression that this was being shown as an example of the behaviour on which our own should be modelled. When I think how many times in my viewing history I've seen people (not necessarily women) punched, kicked, shot, tortured, and murdered in cold blood, then this movie is pretty darn tame.

Since buying the DVD, and then buying the book on which this movie was based (yes, this movie made a huge impression on the child who saw it years ago), I still think it's a good movie. Clunky, sure. A little strange sometimes - absolutely. Displays outmoded behaviours - no argument. But still, for Wildfire alone, worth a view or two.

Okay, I saw this first when I was a kid and loved it. It's a rare talking animal film from an era that didn't indulge in these kinds of things. There's really nothing cutesy about it and it's tough around the edges, possibly too much so. This is Charles Dickens territory, not Benji. But it has charms (although the brutal treatment of animals and women can rightfully discredit this film, so I offer a caveat to any sensitive viewer). There is enough things right in this film to make up for the wrong in my book. Honestly, the ugly stuff this dog character goes through without losing his innate decency is very appealing (yeah, I know, it's a talking dog--although he narrates so there is no animated mouth movements making it cartoonish). I was surprised to learn that Vic Morrow did the dog voice-over. Nice job, perhaps better than many of his on-screen performances. And always reliable Edmund Gwenn and Dean Jagger provide solid support. This is a weird one, but I find it memorable.

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.

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.