Rusty, The Dog

[jdb1]

Not really a "drama," but we don't have a category for this family film.
I forgot to to ask the weekend before last if anyone had seen "The Adventures of Rusty," since we had discussed it briefly at the Other Place a while back.

Well, I enjoyed it, and I found it a very nostalgic experience. What really made it nostalgic for me was the style of the film, which had the look and dialog of a 1950s TV show. The look of the sets and the exterior shots reminded me very much of the first Lassie series, the one syndicated as "Jeff's Collie."

Here are some interesting points:

Rusty the Dog was a refugee Army dog, like Rin Tin Tin, only Rusty faught on the German side and only spoke German. His German name was mentioned, but I didn't catch what the actor said.

The boy's father was played by silent screen idol Conrad Nagel, who wore his jacket in the house, didn't lift a finger to do anything around the house, and was always sucking on a pipe and looking thoughtful.

The stepmother was played by Margaret Lindsay, who sat around the house all dressed up, with nylons and high heels, to darn socks, and who spent a lot of time in front of a stove but never got warm or dirty or had a hair out of place.

The stepmother's friend was played by an actress named Gloria Holden, the original, seductive "Dracula's Daughter." She played the sympathetic neighbor/friend as though they were all having fun at a nightclub, or perhaps she was auditioning for a remake of "The Women."

The hero/boy was Ted Donaldson, from "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn." Even though they lived in some rural, California-looking locale, you could cut his New Yawk accent with a regulation Boy Scout knife.

Oh yes, there were Nazi spies, who kidnapped the formerly German Rusty to help them in their evil plans. When one of the spies was ambushed by a group of boys in the woods, the other, hearing the fracas, straightened his tie and put on his jacket and hat before running over to see what was the matter.

Yes, those were different times.

Now, having gotten all that out of my system, I reiterate that I liked this movie - very well done of its kind, very good for family fare, and instructive as to what things were like in the mid-40s. There is a whole series of "Rusty" movies, and I'd love to see more of them.

[jdb1]

This morning "For the Love of Rusty" was shown on TCM. What a disappointment. The credits listed John Sturges as director and I thought well, this should be pretty good, but it was not; it was a strictly dull and by the numbers kids' movie. I suppose young kids might like it, but it had nothing interesting for the rest of the family. And there was a different dog playing Rusty ("Flame") who looked rather confused throughout the film.

Too bad.

[jdb1]

I'm back with another Rusty report, this one for this morning's TCM showing of Son of Rusty (1947).

This movie was much better than the last one I saw (For Love of Rusty). Nicely directed, and well-paced by Lew Landers, a highly prolific movie and TV director (he did several of the Boston Blackie series). There was also much better dialog than in the last one, and some nice, gentle banter between Danny's parents (Danny being Rusty's "boy").

In this one, Danny and his pals (including our friend Dwayne Hickman) have a neato clubhouse, which they are renting from a wealthy retired lawyer, played by Thurston Hall. Hall gives a very subtle and kind of twinkly performance - he is clearly amused and delighted by these young men, and is given to lecturing them on various life lessons, but in a kindly and supportive way which audience kids would probably accept. At one point, he cautions them against prying and whisper campaigns, telling them that if they do that, they are no better than the Gestapo.

A mysterious stranger comes to town and is rude to everyone, causing the boys to belive he must be a criminal. It turns out he has served time in a military prison, but it's more that he's just a disillusioned cynic who wants to be left alone. However --- he has a beautiful German shepherd named Barb, and of course when Barb and Rusty see each other for the first time, it's love. Clever Rusty finds ways to sneak out of the house, go to Barb's place, unhook her collar and tether, and off they go gambolling in the forest. We all know what comes next, don't we?

There's a disgruntled vet who is jealous of the ex-con vet, an accident that injures Rusty, a trial at which the Thurston Hall character defends the ex-con (it was all a misunderstanding) and brings everyone in the town to their senses, and when Danny can't pay Hall's fee for defending the ex-con (Danny's the one who asked him to come out of retirement), he offers Hall one of Barb and Rusty's - you guessed it - puppies. Well, for some reason, very few of the pups from this litter look anything like German shepherds; maybe they were foster children. However, Hall gratefully accepts one of them, and we all live happily ever after.

So aside from this movie's title being somewhat misleading (it wasn't anything like Son of Trigger, or even Son of Kong for that matter), it was very entertaining and would be good for the family from an educational as well as an entertainment viewpoint. So far all of the Rusty movies shown have depicted post-war family life, and the kinds of things kids did for fun in the late 40s. Ted Donaldson continues to be a very good little actor, although in this movie he was looking up at the adults for help and guidance with such big, greeting card eyes (as I like to call them), and I can't help but think of his portrayal of Neely Nolan in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - in that one he's tougher and more cynical. In the Rusty movies he's one of those sweet, non-threatening kids Hollywood loved so much.

[cmvgor]

Yo, jbd1;

Does the title Rusty Saves A Life ring a bell? For some reason my
whole grammer school was marched four blocks to the theater to see that
one. I figure I was in either second or third grade. I remember the boys
and the dog being in some sort of clubhouse -- maybe the same one you've seen. They reach passage of some important decision. They write it up and all sign it. Then someone presses Rusty's paw onto an
ink pad and then on to the document. Guess he approved it too. I think
the "saves a life" part involved jumping into a body of water and towing
an unconsious person to shore. It's my impression that I saw at least
one other "Rusty" flick, but I remember no details. Quite good fare, I
believe, for very young children in the late 40's, early 50's.

[moira finnie]

Jdb1,
Thanks so much for the report about this morning's Son of Rusty(1947) movie on TCM. I thought that Thurston Hall looked as though was having a wonderful time playing the avuncular part of a famous lawyer assisting the lads and the disgruntled veteran.

My only quibble is that despite the fact that Ted Donaldson did have 'greeting card eyes' as you described it so amusingly, I thought that he showed enough real boy anger & impatience in a couple of scenes to mark his performance as quite worthwhile.

I also liked Stephen Dunne's troubled veteran character as well and thought that Ann Doran and Tom Powers as Danny Mitchell's parents were much better than Conrad Nagel & Margaret Lindsay in the last Rusty movie I caught. They seemed more comfortable in the paternal roles somehow.

I guess it helps to be hopelessly immature like me to enjoy these flicks as much as I am. Wish they'd been around when I was a kid in the '60s & '70s.

[jdb1]

Jdb1,
Thanks so much for the report about this morning's Son of Rusty(1947) movie on TCM. I thought that Thurston Hall looked as though was having a wonderful time playing the avuncular part of a famous lawyer assisting the lads and the disgruntled veteran.

My only quibble is that despite the fact that Ted Donaldson did have 'greeting card eyes' as you described it so amusingly, I thought that he showed enough real boy anger & impatience in a couple of scenes to mark his performance as quite worthwhile.

I also liked Stephen Dunne's troubled veteran character as well and thought that Ann Doran and Tom Powers as Danny Mitchell's parents were much better than Conrad Nagel & Margaret Lindsay in the last Rusty movie I caught. They seemed more comfortable in the paternal roles somehow.

I guess it helps to be hopelessly immature like me to enjoy these flicks as much as I am. Wish they'd been around when I was a kid in the '60s & '70s.

Oh piffle - nobody thinks of you as immature, only eternally youthful.

You've shown by your comment what I've been thinking about these Rusty movies, to wit: they are excellent family fare, with enough points of interest for both adults and children.

I agree with you that Ted Donaldson gives a very good example of a real boy in these movies, even if he is required to do a few groan-inducing scenes now and then. I see on IMBd that many of the adult actors in the series either reprise their roles in subsequent films or appear as different characters. Stephen Dunne was quite good as the mysterious stranger; gruff and a bit scary, but not so scary as to put off the younger viewers. Yes, really, Nagle and Lindsay were so stiff and artificial compared with Powers and Doran. I thought their interplay was quite realistic and comfortable.

cmvgor, I don't remember any other Rusty movies, and I can't really remember if I'd ever seen any of them before, although it's likely I have at some time in the distant past. Those were the kinds of movies they ran for us at those kiddie matinees I used to frequent - films from 10 or so years before, rarely anything current. Can't wait for the next Rusty & Danny installment on TCM.

[jdb1]

Another episode of Danny and Rusty on TCM this morning, called Rusty Leads the Way.

I'm glad to say that this was another very good one. Danny Mitchell is now 13 years old, and here actor Ted Donaldson's voice is beginning to change and he is getting rather tall and rangy looking. Ann Doran is once again his mother, Ethel Mitchell, and a new actor, John Litel, plays Hugh Mitchell, the city attorney. Litel looked to me like a combination of the two previous actors who played the part, Conrad Nagel and Tom Powers.

As in the other movies, Rusty doesn't really do all that much, and in this one, the story focuses on Danny and his new young friend Penny. Penny is blind as the result of an accident, and is reluctant to take part in everyday life. Danny, who had been complaining to everyone who would listen about how his parents were bossing him around and trying to give him unwanted advice, finds himself in the position of advice giver with Penny, and realizes in the end that the giving and taking of advice doesn't mean you are being bossed around, but that someone cares about you and wants to help.

The issue of a disabled youngster are dealt with -- the school board wants to send her to an "Institution" (she is new in town), but her mother wants her to attend the local school. It is suggested that she learn to use a Guide Dog in order to attend the local school, and she goes to a Guide Dog center for training. However, Penny is very insecure and frightened, although she doesn't want to admit it. She gets a nice dog, a little boxer named Tubby, but she convinces herself that Tubby doesn't like her and won't obey her. Although she gives Tubby up and agrees to go to the "Institution," Tubby runs away from the Guide Dog handlers and finds her, demonstrating his devotion, and we all, once again, live happily ever after.

This film is very well done, with the clever dialogue we saw in the last Rusty film TCM showed. In addition, it is instructive, given that many of today's attitudes towards the disabled have changed a great deal since 1948. Even in my day, growing up in the 1950s, it was common to have the attitude that any person who was physically disabled must be mentally disabled as well. When Penny walks in town with Tubby (and other blind people learning to handle their dogs) she is met with pitying glances, or else people try to avoid looking at her altogether. A scene where she is taking her "final exam" with Tubby by walking in the middle of town unescorted is quite well done: the loud noises and the bustle of the crowds are terrifying to the insecure girl, who doesn't even realize what a great help her dog is being to her.

There are a few very cute and funny scenes: in one, Rusty has accompanied Danny's family and Penny's mother to visit Penny at the Guide Dog School. Tubby the Guide Dog is laying at Penny's feet, as he should, and Rusty is trying to get his attention by jumping, doing back flips, and at one point running out of the room and coming back with a shoe in his mouth, bowing, as dogs do, to ask for play. Where he got that shoe I couldn't say.

In another scene at the beginning of the movie, Danny is being scolded by his father for "forgetting" to pick up his father's suit at the cleaners, and Danny is bridling at being "bossed around," and threatens to leave home. So his parents get out his suitcase and pack it for him. "Oh, it's starting to get cold so he'll need his rubbers," his mother says, tossing his galoshes into the suitcase. His father gives him a dollar and they hustle him to the front door. "Too bad you can't stay for supper," his mother tells him, "we're having goulash." And out the door they push him. The expression of horrified consternation on Danny's face as he watches his parents pack his bag is priceless. After a few seconds standing outside the door, he exclaims "Goulash!" and walks back inside. "I'm glad you can join us for supper," his mother says. "Well, I'll eat it," says Danny, "but I won't enjoy it!" And so an adolescent saves face.

One other very nice touch in this one was the inclusion of actress Ida Moore, who was one of those feisty old ladies in so many movies, and on early TV. She plays a member of the school board, the one who wants Penny to lead as normal a life as possible, and constantly and very wittily needles the rest of the board. At one late night emergency meeting of the board, the board president complains "Don't you ever sleep?" "I'm an old lady, and I have no time for sleep," she answers, "I might miss something!"

I give this entry in the Rusty series two thumbs up, although both of those thumbs are my own.

[Dewey1960]

Judith, regrettably I've missed all the RUSTY movies, but thanks to your incisive overviews, I now look forward to their return to TCM. Thanks!
-Dewey

[jdb1]

It's especially nice to see that Hollywood produced many worthwhile, if minor, gems, and it's appreciated that TCM has turned up so many of them for us to enjoy.

[cmvgor]

To: jbd1;

A memoir/comment, then a question.

I googled the title I mentioned earler -- Rusty Saves A Life (1949), and found it at a couple of sites. The site at TVGUIDE.com mentioned that it will be aired on TCM at 10:AM on Saturday, June 23. I remember seeing that one and at least one more Rusty movie while in
grammer school, as school activities. Then a couple of years later there was this show on television about another German Shepherd living at a
frontier cavalry outpost in the American West. The boy who was his friend
was the one named "Rusty" and the dog was named Rin-Tin-Tin. Confusing.

Anyway, starting with that title, and scrolling to the "recommended" list
at the bottom of the IMDb page, I was exposed to at least seven "Rusty"
titles with release dates ranging from 1945-1949. I took a look at some
of those sites. Now my question.

Are you, by any chance, the "sol from Brooklyn, NY, USA" who has filed
commentaries, some quite voluminous, reviewing these movies? If so, it
is a good thing. If not, you are in a position to add your own comments
and opinions to some sites that could use them. You would be reaching a
wider audience than is found here among the Exiles, and it could include
parents who are looking for suitable family viewing fare.

Just a suggestion.

[jdb1]

Thanks, cmvgor, but I'm not "Sol" and I gave up posting on IMDb over a year ago because there are far too many insane people on that message board. I decided to leave for good when a group of anti-Semites joined en masse and began flooding the board with tasteless jokes about the prevalence of Jews in Hollywood and what should have been done to them. Eccch. After last year's debacle on the TCM board, I'm sort of turned off to posting there as well, although I do look in on things once in a while.

I hope our fellow movie lovers here have seen my Rusty raves, and will spread the word. I've already told some of my friends who have young children that the Rusty movies are excellent for family viewing. As a matter of fact, I've watched the TCM showings with my dog, who perks up her ears whenever Rusty barks, but is otherwise uninterested, and my cat, too, who is drawn to the TV screen whenever there is any running, canine or boy, shown. My daughter considers herself far too adult and sophisticated for such things, and she sleeps late on the weekends, anyway. Well, that's her loss, devotee of history as she claims to be.

I well remember "The Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin" and his boy Rusty. In fact, I saw them at a rodeo show at Madison Square Garden when I was very small. What a thrill to see the "real thing." I remember virtually nothing about it save that Lee Aaker, the boy who played Rusty, asked why Madison Square Garden wasn't a garden, wasn't square, and wasn't on Madison Street. (Hilarious laughter ensued from the knowing NYC audience.)

[jdb1]

Well, Rusty took another step backward in My Dog, Rusty, shown on TCM yesterday morning.

The increasingly adolescent-looking Ted Donaldson is once again Danny Mitchell, now a budding amateur veterinarian with his own practice in the garage. The plot revolves around contaminated water, sick children and a dirty-tricks political campaign in which Danny's father is running for mayor.

The moral thread of this concerns lying and rumor-mongering. Danny has been sneaking out of the house at night to put up campaign posters for his father, and for some reason keeps it a secret. Father knows Danny is up to something, and is concerned that Danny is consistently lying about it. One night he catches Danny and Rusty sneaking into the house at a quarter to midnight, and Danny gets a beating for lying about it. Father gives Danny a harsh scolding; with the door to Danny's room open, we see Father cross the hall to the bathroom to get his razor strop; Father walks purposefully back to Danny's room, strop in hand; Danny looks frightened; door closes . . . .

The entire movie is rather sour in tone, the plot is very complicated, and Danny behaves pretty stupidly throughout. He gets a job assisting a replacement doctor, an old friend of the family, who is concerned about the rash of illness among the boys of the town and suspects a contaminated water supply. Since, as the doctor says, she prefers to to her own labwork, she takes water samples and shows Danny how she is going to make the tests (all very seat of the pants and unsanitary, if you ask me). Danny accidentally breaks the jars with the water samples, replaces said samples with samples of his own from a dirty duck pond, and the doctor is convinced that the town's water supply is tainted.

An upstanding citizen of the town, a blind knife sharpener who just won the citizen of the year award, feels he must tell everyone on his route about the possibility of dirty water, and a mini-panic ensues. It turns out that the water purification plant is owned by the incumbent mayor, who is running for re-election. The mayor belives Danny's father, his opponent, must be the one spreading rumors to discredit him-- all the while Danny keeps mum about what's he's done . . . it goes on and on.

Does this plot sound complicated? It is, and I think it would be much too much for young children to figure out. In addition, a small dog is accidentally killed by a heavy falling flowerpot, Rusty is bitten by a rattlesnake, and Danny's father behaves rather sternly and scarily. All of this in one hour.

Once again Flame, as Rusty, spends more time looking off into the distance (at his trainer, no doubt) than he does paying attention to Danny. The dog seems distracted and uncertain what to do, and the scene where he battles a rattlesnake -- pretty silly and pretty poorly done - you see Rusty with an obviously rubber snake in his mouth, with which he appears to be playing, not vanquishing.

My Dog, Rusty is not one of Rusty's better efforts.

[jdb1]

This past Saturday I started to watch Rusty Saves a Life and couldn't get past the first half, and even that was an effort considering it's only a hour-long move.

This movie had a lame and cumbersome romance having nothing to do with our fearless German shepherd, and there wasn't nearly enough of Rusty, Danny, his boy, or Danny's friends. I didn't even bother to record the remainder of the movie.

Poor Rusty -- I wonder why he's being so ill-served?

[cmvgor]

I've mentioned before that I saw this one while my years were still single-digit. Yesterday I taped it while I was on a junket that involved a short
trip out-of-state. I haven't yet rewound. Would it be your advice not to
bother?

[jdb1]

I've mentioned before that I saw this one while my years were still single-digit. Yesterday I taped it while I was on a junket that involved a short
trip out-of-state. I haven't yet rewound. Would it be your advice not to
bother?

Well, this is the one where the boys sign a pact (to harrass someone out of town!), and they ink Rusty's paw so he can sign too, as you remembered. However, my opinion is that this was the worst one yet, even worse than last week's which I didn't like at all. It's only an hour, so you might want to look at it to remind yourself of the characters, but it's so inferior to some of the others that have been shown, it's hardly representative of what the Rusty franchise was capable of.