Flike and Other Film Dogs

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Scharphedin2 · #26 Post by **Scharphedin2** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 5:03 am

Flike is one of the greatest screen heros of all filmdom. How great with a thread dedicated to him and his furry peers.

I do not think that anyone mentioned Kiki -- the little terrier (actually a mongrel, if I am not mistaken) that sets the story of Le Quai des Brumes in motion, and then plays the central part in one of the most glorious closing scenes of any film.

#27 Post by **zedz** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 8:50 pm

I completely forgot about this thread, and I've seen lots of great film dogs recently.

One of the very greatest is the labrador in Eugene Green's enchanting Le monde vivant, giving a great deadpan performance as a lion. The logic is impeccable: the man he follows around is called 'The Lion Knight', so this animal at his heels must be a lion.

ellipsis7 · #28 Post by **ellipsis7** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 10:11 pm

In LA VIE EST A NOUS Renoir has Hitler delivering a speech but overdubbed by a dog's barks... Woof woof!

Quot · #29 Post by **Quot** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 4:04 am

Two British films that feature canine co-stars as the butt of cruel jokes/site gags: A Fish Called Wanda (we only knew them from a distance, probably for the best) and Theatre of Blood with Vincent Price administering the Shakespearean just desserts to a game Robert Morley (I still avoid this film for that very effective scene).

devlinnn · #30 Post by **devlinnn** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 11:58 am

In my best Julie Andrews, "These are a few of my favourite things...."

All Through the Night (hadn't seen this flick in years - Bogie's just about upstaged by every character actor in the business!)

devlinnn · #31 Post by **devlinnn** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 2:39 am

If I can be corrected, please help, as it's been over 20 years since I've seen it, but didn't the Stewart Granger/Liz Taylor pic Beau Brummel feature a couple of white fluffy poodles in major roles? Thinking back, they may have been played as 'code' for Granger/Ustinov.

MichaelB · #32 Post by **MichaelB** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 2:50 pm

Very surprised that no-one's brought up Aki KaurismÃ¤ki, probably the greatest director of canine performances in modern cinema.

The best known is probably Hannibal from The Man Without A Past, richly deserving winner of the Palme d'Og at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, but most of his other films have terrific dogs too. KaurismÃ¤ki says he prefers them to humans because they're a lot cheaper and they don't argue.

#33 Post by **Matt** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 4:01 pm

The corgis from The Queen are now the "award-winning" corgis from The Queen.

tryavna · #34 Post by **tryavna** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 4:09 pm

MichaelB wrote:The best known is probably Hannibal from The Man Without A Past, richly deserving winner of the Palme d'Og at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival

Clever! But you'd think that they'd continue the pun and present it at the Canines Film Festival....

NABOB OF NOWHERE · Thu Nov 01, 2007 4:29 pm

MichaelB wrote:Very surprised that no-one's brought up Aki KaurismÃ¤ki, probably the greatest director of canine performances in modern cinema.

The best known is probably Hannibal from The Man Without A Past, richly deserving winner of the Palme d'Og at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, but most of his other films have terrific dogs too. KaurismÃ¤ki says he prefers them to humans because they're a lot cheaper and they don't argue.

What are you doing at home writing about dogs for???? Get out there and get the skinny on Marketa so you can put all of us whinnying carping naysayers in our place!!!

colinr0380 · #36 Post by **colinr0380** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 6:11 pm

Here is the list of Palm Dog winners!

Joe Buck · #37 Post by **Joe Buck** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 7:22 pm

In a word: intense.

MichaelB · #38 Post by **MichaelB** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 7:30 pm

NABOB OF NOWHERE wrote:What are you doing at home writing about dogs for???? Get out there and get the skinny on Marketa so you can put all of us whinnying carping naysayers in our place!!!

Actually, when I wrote that I was at work waiting for the Marketa checkdisc to be delivered.

I now have it...

...but you'll have to wait until I get a chance to watch it properly.

(heh heh heh)

GoldenPilgrim · #39 Post by **GoldenPilgrim** » Fri Nov 02, 2007 8:15 am

Firehouse dog?

ogygia avenue · #40 Post by **ogygia avenue** » Fri Nov 02, 2007 12:17 pm

Chaplin adopted a mutt in one of his earliest shorts.

foggy eyes · #41 Post by **foggy eyes** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 9:58 pm

Mr. Smith from The Awful Truth has been mentioned, right? If I remember rightly, he's also in Bringing Up Baby and The Thin Man.

David, how is Boris getting along!?

geoffcowgill · #42 Post by **geoffcowgill** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:28 pm

foggy eyes wrote:Mr. Smith from The Awful Truth has been mentioned, right? The hide and seek sequences kill me. If I remember rightly, he's also in Bringing Up Baby and The Thin Man.

Oh, Asta was the masta, that's for sure. What other dog could do that guilty hide-and-seek, sing so well, and wrestle with a leopard? The license plates on our car, sadly just retired a couple of months ago, were ASTA 38 (for Bringing Up Baby), and we don't even really like dogs. There's a wonderful shot in The Thin Man where Nick, Nora and some other guy are walking down the sidewalk spewing exposition and the camera gratuitously tilts down to Asta, simply walking along with them. It quickly tilts back up to continue the shot. I can only imagine Asta was improvising brilliantly and they didn't catch him quickly enough.

Another great canine performance, not mentioned yet, is Bill Sikes' dog in Lean's Oliver Twist. That mutt scrambling to claw his way under the door after Bill's murdered Nancy is more intense, disturbing and heart-pounding than anything else in the film.

#43 Post by **domino harvey** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:34 pm

I'm pretty sure Asta's the only movie dog to be married, though I guess they got divorced after the second Thin Man film

#44 Post by **zedz** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 2:30 am

This might have already been mentioned, but this thread would in no way be complete without mention of 'Buttons', the dog with whom Eleanor Powell dances an amazing duet in Lady Be Good.

This has to be seen to be believed.

AtlantaFella · #45 Post by **AtlantaFella** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 3:19 am

Wow, how did I ever miss this thread? I suppose my avatar clues everyone into that fact that Flike is one my greatest cinematic heroes. I particularly love the scene in which he begs for change much to the bewilderment of passers-by.

I am also a fan of Giulietta Masina's furry pal in "Nights of Cabiria", although he/she was severely shortchanged on screen time.

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