Rusty's Birthday

Don't get me wrong. I like family movies, and love kids movies, especially the ones with dogs. Today, kids movies tend to be full of foolish gags (Cruella DeVil falls in a giant muffin maker, etc.) But yesteryear's kid's movies seem to consist of almost sickeningly sweet people. They're not perfect, but in the end, they do the right thing (to the dot), and EVERYTHING works out, everyone is best friends, and everyone is better for this adventure. I think the movie makers were working very hard to teach every little boy and girl good morals and manners. Not that this is bad but I think they could do it a little less obviously, and make the people a little bit more. . . human.

Yes, it gets a little sickeningly sweet. Danny Mitchell's (the main character) family is perfect in every respect. Watching them interact makes it so obvious that this is only a movie. Who would really talk like that?!? His parents always know what's best to do and are always perfect. They help those less fortunate themselves, and give Danny good advice (being careful to discreetly say "I told you so" afterward he doesn't follow it).

It's not realistic. But nonetheless, I do appreciate the values that it has, despite the fact that the people are a little too perfect. There are too many movies nowadays with broken homes and disturbed families. It's a nice picture of small town life, even if it's not quite accurate.

Flame the Wonder Dog plays Rusty. He is a very good actor and has several fun tricks in his repertoire. Rusty, too, is perhaps a little too perfect as a dog, but not too much. I think perhaps it's a fairly accurate portrayal of a boy's dog who was constantly by his master's side, and was able to learn a lot through several years of his master's training. Besides, very few dog movies DON'T have a dog that is at least a little extraordinary.

Not the best of the "Rusty" series, but it is not bad as a kid's movie. Good values, clean fun.

This final entry in the Rusty series seems to know what the first Rusty film did not - that it is part of a series, and as such it tries to tie up any loose ends appropriately.

First off, this entry gives you a big dose of Rusty as he is sold by a burglar to an unknowing couple passing through town and only manages to get away and head back home after he is a couple of hundred miles from Lawtonville. On the way back he meets up with the Neeley family, two sons and their widower father who is trying to eke out a living doing day labor traveling from town to town. As chance would have it the Neeley family is headed back to Lawtonville, now with Rusty in tow, thinking he is a stray since he has no collar. In the meantime, Danny and his friends are out literally beating the bushes looking for Rusty who is missing, in part, because Danny did not follow the law and his dad's advice and keep Rusty's collar on him along with his registration. When Danny and his friends find Rusty with the Neeleys Danny immediately yells "theif!" not believing their claims that Rusty had been found so far away. Getting the attention of a nearby policeman with his ruckus, Danny causes temporary legal problems for the Neeleys who, due to their unstable financial status and state to state existence, don't have their automobile tags and registration in order.

Things turn around quickly for the Neeleys though as Hugh Mitchell offers Mr. Neeley a chance to sharecrop some land he has. When Danny sees the youngest Neeley being babied by his mother and Rusty seemingly taking up with the boy, at first he decides to go to military school and give Rusty to the youngest Neeley. However he soon learns you can't give away what you think you've already lost and call it generosity - the affection of his mom and of Rusty.

This last entry in the series really comes full circle with the Neeley family being in the same place emotionally that Danny and Hugh Mitchell were in the first film, although they are certainly living a much more financially modest life than the Mitchells were. The youngest boy needs a mother, a home, and a dog to call his own. The oldest son at first resents the woman who takes an interest in his father. Most of all the film makes the point that although Danny is grown, he'll never outgrow some things - like Rusty and the love and interest of his parents.

The last scene is rather strange as the Neeleys and the Mitchells celebrate Rusty's birthday since, if you remember the first film, there would be no way to know that date since Rusty was originally a German war dog. But then heart, not consistency, has been the trademark of this series anyways.

I don't think Sony/Columbia will ever release all of the Rusty films together in a set because there is just too much inconsistency between entries as I have already mentioned. In the first film, Mrs. Mitchell is Danny's stepmom and Lawtonville must be on the coast because German spies land via sub near the town. By the last entry Lawtonville is clearly mentioned as being in Illinois - making a submarine landing impossible - and Danny's stepmom has been transformed into his actual mother.

If you like the other Rusty films I'm sure you'll like this one too.

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.

Lawtonville, Illinois high school junior Ted Donaldson (as Daniel "Danny" Mitchell) and his city attorney father John Litel (as Hugh) are unable to figure out how to cook food. Luckily, wife and mother Ann Doran (as Ethel) returns from a trip to Chicago. She brings her son a new collar for his dog "Rusty" but Donaldson wants to save it for a birthday present. Later, Rusty is mistaken for a stray and abducted after helping a lady with a purse snatcher. Rusty is 140 miles from home, cuts his paw looking for canned food and ends up caught in some wire mesh. He is rescued and adopted by little Jimmy Hunt (as Jefferson "Jeff" Neeley)...

The pre-teen Hunt returns to his poor father Ray Teal (as Virgil) and teenage brother Mark Dennis (as Bill), then decides to name his new dog "Gladly" after the stuffed animal he inexplicably drags around in the dirt; shabby treatment for a beloved pet who cleans up well, although we can assume the scene was accomplished in few takes...

Rusty's new family decides to settle in Lawtonville, leading to jealous clashes. This eighth and last "Rusty" film seems to be setting up all kinds of new situation possibilities for the series, probably thinking Donaldson was getting too old. However, the story nicely redirects attention to Donaldson and guest teen Dennis. They have a good fight, but make up and become friends. Also watch lonely Lillian Bronson (as Carrie Simmons) slowly maneuver herself into the needy new family. She's sweet. So is the ending of "Rusty's Birthday". When television became dominant, the "Lassie" TV series carried on for the boy and his dog tales.

****** Rusty's Birthday (11/3/49) Seymour Friedman ~ Ted Donaldson, Jimmy Hunt, Mark Dennis, John Litel

Rusty's Birthday (1949)

** (out of 4)

The eighth and final film in Columbia's Rusty series features the dog playing a much bigger part than in previous films. This time out Danny (Ted Donaldson) buys his dog a collar for his birthday but he doesn't want to put it on him until the special day. When Rusty goes chasing a bad guy he ends up with a friendly couple who thinks he's a stray and takes him with them and soon Rusty must find his way back home. His adventure back leads to a poor family who are struggling to make a living but soon the dog brings the family closer to Danny and his parents (John Litel, Ann Doran). RUSTY'S BIRTHDAY runs just 60-minutes but there's quite a bit of story in such a little film. Or, I should say, there's a lot of small stuff going on in this film that never really adds up in the end and this final episode, while decent, really doesn't accomplish much. I think fans of the series should at least get a little entertainment out of this thing but there's still no doubt that it's one of the weakest. The biggest problem is that the story never really can focus on anything because it's constantly jumping back and forth between Danny's story and the story of the poor family. It doesn't help that Danny is once again being a jerk and after a while his attitude does begin to anger the viewer. As with previous entries, the performances by the three leads are all good and we even get a strong performance by Ray Teal as the poor father trying to give his sons a better life. RUSTY'S BIRTHDAY might not be a complete winner but at just 60-minutes it's worth watching for fans.