Last of the Rusty movies, this one follows the continuing adventures of dog Rusty and his owner, teenager Danny (Ted Donaldson) who has just bought a new collar for Rusty's upcoming birthday - but doesn't want to give the gift before the day, so Rusty goes outside without his license on. Well, a man is seen rummaging around their garage, Rusty gives chase, Rusty rescues a woman's purse for her - and the bad man pretends Rusty is his dog and, well, sells him to the woman who decides to name her new-found hero dog "Jackpot". Okey dokey. But Rusty "escapes" and ends up having to make a multi-mile trek home the hard way, through a wooded area where he gets caught in some barbed wire and gets rescued by a sort of strange little fellow who goes around with his "pretend dog" - a stuffed toy dog on a rope he calls "Gladly". Well - first glimpse of the dad makes you know why this poor little boy is so weird - the dad says he's gonna "wallop" the kid because of this pretend dog. This out-of-work dad and his two sons get caught with the dog - and Danny's parents befriend them, especially the little boy (who mom seems to have maternal feelings for) who is given a room to sleep in their house and Danny's old pajamas to sleep in (bringing out the green-eyed monster, jealous Danny decides he will attend a military school next term and leave home).
Mild, light fare - entertaining enough for it's hour length, plus you get to see Rusty the dog (played by Flame the dog) do a series of tricks - lay down, look right, etc., and fetch the mail from the mailbox and deliver it to Danny's dad via his mouth (by the way, everyone gets their name on the mailbox, even Rusty - everyone except Mom, what's up with that?!). The interaction between Danny and his parents comes across as very similar to the sort of wise TV dad's and their sons to come - like seen in "Father Knows Best" or "Leave it to Beaver". Danny makes mistakes sometimes, but mom and dad are always there to teach him a well needed lesson. Worth seeing.
Mild, light fare - entertaining enough for it's hour length, plus you get to see Rusty the dog (played by Flame the dog) do a series of tricks - lay down, look right, etc., and fetch the mail from the mailbox and deliver it to Danny's dad via his mouth (by the way, everyone gets their name on the mailbox, even Rusty - everyone except Mom, what's up with that?!). The interaction between Danny and his parents comes across as very similar to the sort of wise TV dad's and their sons to come - like seen in "Father Knows Best" or "Leave it to Beaver". Danny makes mistakes sometimes, but mom and dad are always there to teach him a well needed lesson. Worth seeing.