Oh Heavenly Dog (1980)

A murdered detective must avenge his murder after he is reincarnated as a dog.

Director:

Joe Camp

Writer:

Rod Browning

Stars:

Chevy Chase, Jane Seymour, Benji

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chevy Chase	...	Browning
Benji	...	Benji a.k.a Browning (as Benjean)
Jane Seymour	...	Jackie
Omar Sharif	...	Bart
Robert Morley	...	Bernie
Stuart Germain	...	Higgins / Deaf Postie
Alan Sues	...	Freddie
John Stride	...	Alistair Becket
Donnelly Rhodes	...	Montanero
Barbara Leigh-Hunt	...	Margaret
Margaret Courtenay	...	Lady Chalmers
Richard Vernon	...	Quimby Charles
Frank Williams	...	Mr. Easton
Albin Pahernik	...	Pelican Man
Susan Kellermann	...	German Clerk

Storyline

Browning is a PI with a bad cold, who's sent to investigate a case by a mysterious client.He stumbles across the body of a young woman and is stabbed to death, and when he wakes up in heaven, they tell him he's "marginal material," and they can only decide on his final destination through one last assignment: to go back and solve his own murder. As a dog. A cute fluffy little dog (Benji). Undaunted, Browning begins to investigate the case as best he can around his canine disabilities (dialing the phone presents a special challenge) to solve the murders, save the girl, and see justice done.

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Plot Keywords:

detective | murder | london england | talking dog | private detective | 

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Taglines:

Chevy Chase and Benji team up for big laughs in this tail of murder, mystery and puppy love.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Fantasy | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for language and some mild scenes of violence and sensuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 July 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Beniamino agente segreto

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Box Office

Gross USA:

$6,216,067

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mulberry Square Productions, Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The female dog Benji was apparently the only actress to ever refuse to do a scene with Omar Sharif, according to the official "Benji" website. It states: "Omar's acting style is so intense, Director (Joe) Camp reports, that Benji could feel his intensity, and freaked out every time Omar touched him. This broke Omar's heart, and he was afraid the dog hated him, which was, of course, not true. In the end, to get the scenes, Camp wound up putting on Omar's coat, and being his hands in the scene(s)."

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Goofs

After it's established that Alister Becket's birthday is March third, Benji remarks that it is six months passed (or six months away). Earlier, however, when scouting the scene of the crime, he looks at the desk calendar and sees that it's mid-October, so really Becket's birthday was less than five months ago or away.

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Quotes

Pelican Man: [takes a fish out of his mouth] I used to be a pelican, what were you?
Browning: [disgruntled] Jesus Christ!
Pelican Man: [in awe] Really?

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Crazy Credits

After nearly all of the end titles have passed, "WOOF!" appears on the screen as the final title.

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Bill Murray/Delbert McClinton (1981)

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Soundtracks

Arrow Through Me
written by Paul McCartney
Performed by Wings

User Reviews

Poor Jane Seymour and Omar Sharif, having a dog billed ahead of them.

This movie was a favorite of mine as a child, however looking back on it you can see certain flaws in it. The murder mystery is not much of a mystery and the jokes just are not quite as funny in some areas for me as an adult as they were when I was a kid. Though the one where the dog leaps into the bathtub is still rather funny. The movie has a private eye (at least I think he was a private eye) murdered. During a trip to heaven he is given the opportunity to come back to Earth and try to find the person responsible for his death. Of coarse, he comes back as Benji one of those dogs from the old days on the same page as Lassie and other famous canines. Funny thing is that Benji in this one is supposed to be a male dog, but is actually a female, while Lassie is always supposed to be a female, but is always a male dog. Well the dog soon ends up in the care of an attractive woman who takes the dog in, but may be another target for the killer. Like I said it worked for me as a kid and some of the stuff probably would still be somewhat humorous today. However, the film is most certainly dated as it looks older than a lot of other movies from this era of film and the murder scene is a tad gruesome for a PG rated film that is a bit marketed for families.