We were babysitting the grandson and I picked this on the Disney+ channel for no other reason that it features a Saint Bernard. And I figured it couldn't be any worse than Beethoven.*
Boy was I wrong.
It's a 1969 made-for-TV Disney movie, probably for the Sunday night program, when Disney came on after Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. It stars a bunch of people that look vaguely familiar, the only one I really recognized was somebody Carmel. Roger Carmel, perhaps? I'm not Googling or IMDB-ing anything, because you want to hear my take, not just actual facts. He was the guy that played Mudd on Star Trek; Mudd's Women and I, Mudd. That trademark handlebar mustache is impossible to miss. Glad he found work after Star Trek, even if it was on a Disney train wreck.
So what happened (I didn't have the sound on, naturally) was that the dog kept stealing things. He stole a golf ball right off a green where a vaguely familiar looking golfer was making a shot. The dog stole a bunch of other stuff, I can't remember what exactly, but so much stuff that the police and all the victims came knocking at the owner's door. The dog pound guy was waiting with a coil of rope to take the dog away. which he did.
The dog escaped and ran into an airport where it hid in a helicopter. Another vaguely familiar person took off in the chopper, it turns out it was an eye in the sky traffic helicopter. The pilot befriends the dog and they have hijinks together involving his apartment landlord (I'm guessing here) Some authority lady that he had to hide the dog from. There a whole Three's Company scenario where he has to hide the dog so...let's call her Mrs. Roper. So Mrs Roper doesn't evict him or whatever. He makes a big cardboard crate to put around the dog when he goes in or out of his apartment building. So nobody will see the Saint Bernard walking along in a cardboard box. It was dumb.
There's also a hot chick (a 60's Disney standard hot chick, btw) that he's on the make for, but the dog keeps stealing stuff and causing Disney misunderstandings while the guy has to hide the dog and make excuses.
So the handlebar mustache Mudd guy and his inept partner are jewel thieves. They steal a necklace and hide it in a lunchbox thermos. At one point the dog sees the lunchbox and steals it while the thieves are changing a flat tire. They spend the next hour trying to track down the dog and .. and well it's 60's Disney. All the bad guys are caught, the good guy wins the girl, Mrs Roper gets attacked by a pack of housedogs (she's a cat person and hates dogs, apparently) and the movie was worse than That Darn Cat.
There's lots and lots of rear screen projection, the helicopter seats looks suspiciously like yard furniture. They probably used all their budget on the mustache wax that was in Carmel's work rider.
But it had a Saint Bernard in it. So it was better than Benji or C.H.O.M.P.S
THE
GIVES ME ANOTHER
EXCUSE TO DRINK
AARDVARK
*as a Saint Bernard owner I am allowed to kick every person I meet while out walking him that calls him Beethoven, or worse, says: "Look! It's a Beethoven"
here's a clip of the first two seconds of the movie, there's nothing else on YouTube, which says a lot about this movie
My Dog, The Thief
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- AArdvark
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Re: My Dog, The Thief
Not a bit. That tv would have been off if the rat showed up
- Ice Cream Jonsey
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Re: My Dog, The Thief
I enjoyed the handlebar Mudd reference.
the dark and gritty...Ice Cream Jonsey!
- AArdvark
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Re: My Dog, The Thief
Watch the movie with the sound on and see if it holds up