Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)

Director:

Michael Winner

Writers:

Arnold Schulman (written by) and
Cy Howard (written by)

Release Date:

26 May 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Introducing The Dog Who Launched 1000 Stars.

Plot:

In 1924 Estie comes to Hollywood to become an actress, but the dog, that followed her becomes the star. But Hollywood has its own rules of success.

Plot Keywords:

Dog | Film Making | Dog Actor | Film In Film | Character Name In Title

Cast

Dennis Morgan	...	Tour Guide
Shecky Greene	...	Tourist
Phil Leeds	...	Dog Catcher
Cliff Norton	...	Dog Catcher
Madeline Kahn	...	Estie Del Ruth
Teri Garr	...	Fluffy Peters
Romo Vincent	...	Short Order Cook
Bruce Dern	...	Grayson Potchuck
Sterling Holloway	...	Old Man on Bus
William 'Billy' Benedict	...	Man on Bus (as William Benedict)
Dorothy Gulliver	...	Old Woman on Bus
William Demarest	...	Studio Gatekeeper
Art Carney	...	J.J. Fromberg
Virginia Mayo	...	Miss Battley
Henny Youngman	...	Manny Farber
Rory Calhoun	...	Philip Hart
Billy Barty	...	Assistant Director
Henry Wilcoxon	...	Silent Film Director
Ricardo Montalban	...	Silent Film Star
Jackie Coogan	...	Stagehand 1
Aldo Ray	...	Stubby Stebbins
Ethel Merman	...	Hedda Parsons
Yvonne De Carlo	...	Cleaning Woman
Joan Blondell	...	Landlady
Andy Devine	...	Priest in Dog Pound
Broderick Crawford	...	Special Effects Man
Richard Arlen	...	Silent Film Star 2
Jack La Rue	...	Silent Film Villain
Dorothy Lamour	...	Visiting Film Star
Phil Silvers	...	Murray Fromberg
Nancy Walker	...	Mrs. Fromberg
Gloria DeHaven	...	President's Girl 1 (as Gloria De Haven)
Louis Nye	...	Radio Interviewer
Johnny Weissmuller	...	Stagehand 2
Stepin Fetchit	...	Dancing Butler
Ken Murray	...	Souvenir Salesman
Rudy Vallee	...	Autograph Hound
George Jessel	...	Awards Announcer
Rhonda Fleming	...	Rhoda Flaming
Ann Miller	...	President's Girl 2
Dean Stockwell	...	Paul Lavell
Dick Haymes	...	James Crawford
Tab Hunter	...	David Hamilton
Robert Alda	...	Richard Entwhistle
Eli Mintz	...	Tailor
Ron Leibman	...	Rudy Montague
Fritz Feld	...	Rudy's Butler
Edward Ashley	...	Second Butler
Kres Mersky	...	Girl in Arab Film
Jane Connell	...	Waitress
Janet Blair	...	President's Girl 3
Dennis Day	...	Singing Telegraph Man
Mike Mazurki	...	Studio Guard
The Ritz Brothers	...	Cleaning Women
Jesse White	...	Rudy's Agent
Carmel Myers	...	Woman Journalist
Jack Carter	...	Male Journalist
Jack Bernardi	...	Fluffy's Escort
Victor Mature	...	Nick
Barbara Nichols	...	Nick's Girl
Army Archerd	...	Premiere MC
Fernando Lamas	...	Premiere Male Star
Zsa Zsa Gabor	...	Premiere Female Star
Cyd Charisse	...	President's Girl 4
Huntz Hall	...	Moving Man
Doodles Weaver	...	Man in Mexican Film
Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez	...	Mexican Projectionist (as Pedro Gonzales-Gonzales)
Edward Le Veque	...	Prostitute Customer (as Eddie Le Veque)
Edgar Bergen	...	Professor Quicksand
Ronny Graham	...	Mark Bennett
Morey Amsterdam	...	Custard Pie Star
Eddie Foy Jr.	...	Custard Pie Star
Peter Lawford	...	Slapstick Star
Patricia Morison	...	Star at Screening
Guy Madison	...	Star at Screening
Regis Toomey	...	Burlesque Stagehand
Alice Faye	...	Secretary at Gate
Ann Rutherford	...	Grayson's Studio Secretary
Milton Berle	...	Blind Man
James Brodhead	...	Priest (as James E. Brodhead)
John Carradine	...	Drunk
Keye Luke	...	Cook in Kitchen
Walter Pidgeon	...	Grayson's Butler
Augustus von Schumacher	...	Won Ton Ton
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gary Bankel	...	Cop Outside Theater (uncredited)
Toni Basil	...	Awards Ceremony Guest (uncredited)
Brian Gusse	...	Cop Outside Theater (uncredited)
Harry Ritz	...	Cleaning Woman (uncredited)
Jimmy Ritz	...	Cleaning Woman (uncredited)
Marty Thomas	...	Troublemaker Outside Theater (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Winner

Writing credits
Arnold Schulman		(written by) and
Cy Howard		(written by)

Produced by
David V. Picker	....	producer
Arnold Schulman	....	producer
Michael Winner	....	producer
Tim Zinnemann	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Neal Hefti

Cinematography by
Richard H. Kline		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Bernard Gribble

Art Direction by
Ward Preston

Set Decoration by
Ned Parsons

Makeup Department
Billy Laughridge	....	hair stylist (as Billie Laughridge)
Phil Rhodes	....	makeup artist (as Philip Rhodes)
Claude Díaz	....	hair stylist (uncredited)

Production Management
Tim Zinnemann	....	unit production manager
Lindsley Parsons Jr.	....	executive production manager: Paramount (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Charles Okun	....	assistant director
Arne Schmidt	....	second assistant director
John 'Bud' Cardos	....	second unit director (uncredited)

Art Department
John Alvin	....	poster artist
Bruce Wayne Mecchi	....	set dresser (uncredited)

Sound Department
Robert Post	....	sound recordist (as Bob Post)
Terry Rawlings	....	sound editor (as Terence Rawlings)
Hugh Strain	....	sound re-recording mixer

Stunts
Craig R. Baxley	....	stunt driver
Janet Brady	....	stunts
Alan Gibbs	....	stunt coordinator
James M. Halty	....	stunt driver
Rick Sawaya	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Norman Lang	....	electrician

Transportation Department
James D. Brubaker	....	transportation captain (as James Brubaker)

Other crew
Gene Levy	....	auditor
Laurence Mark	....	assistant: Mr. Picker
Karl Lewis Miller	....	dog trainer (as Karl Miller)
Lou Schumacher	....	dog furnisher
John Smallcombe	....	assistant: Mr. Winner
Charles A. Tamburro	....	helicopter pilot (uncredited)

Thanks
Marion Dougherty	....	special thanks
Elliot Shoenman	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1976) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1980) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Legend Films (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Connaught Productions  production services
• Houtsnede Maatschappij N.V.  copyright holder
• Panavision  filmed with Panavision equipment

Also Known As:

"Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood" - USA (poster title)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:PG | Canada:G (Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-12 (1978) (cut) | Finland:K-16 (1977) (uncut)

Filming Locations:

Arlington Theater, Santa Barbara, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Janet Blair's last movie role.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Date on Won Ton Ton's slab in courtyard of Grauman's Chinese Theater is dated 1923 - but theater didn't even open until 1927.

Movie Connections:

References Rooster Cogburn (1975)

Soundtrack:

Love Theme

Dog Days

I knew if I came here I would see review after review telling me this is funny and a lost gem. It's not funny. It's not a lost gem. It doesn't matter whether you were in high school when you saw it, or whether you were eighty or whether you were six - it is truly one of the unfunniest comedies ever made, perhaps the unfunniest of all time. The dog is great. Madeline Kahn and the large cast of cameos are fun. Bruce Dern - not exactly Mr. Comedy. Michael Winner - the man who made Death Wish - that's who I'd hire to direct a comedy. The script is horrible, Winner is a Loser, and I just marvel at the deluded people who come to post at the IMDb. I know there is no accounting for taste, but when a movie is this bad, this blatantly bad, then one's mind is boggled reading these ridiculous comments. I was around Paramount at the time this film was released - they were really on a roll with terrible comedies - this, The Big Bus, and not only their comedies, but all their films save for one or two. Perhaps that's what happens when an Production Designer is made the head of a studio (Dick Sylbert).

I didn't really think I could find this film worse than when I saw it on its original release, but having just watched the DVD, it is indeed worse. An all-time bomb. The critics and audience of the time were right - the delusional here are completely wrong.