Whenever I am chatting up my favorite film oddities, my favorite go-to for a fun discussion is the infamous Dogville shorts, which are available thanks to the great folks at the Warner Archives. These pre-code shorts definitely fall under the “needs to be seen to be believed” category as far as I am concerned, since words rarely do these shorts justice, but I’ll try my best.
These pre-code oddities came at the cusp of sound in film in 1929, and thanks to their subject matter were nicknamed “Barkies.” These shorts, that ran before features, featured real dogs gambling, committing adultery, and even murdering one another in cold blood. The Dogville shorts were directed by Zion Myers and conceived and co-directed by Jules White, who later went on to work on the 3 Stooges shorts. While they were quite controversial even in their heyday, these shorts still ended up running three years in theaters from 1929–1931.
For a while these shorts were unavailable except for semi-regular airings on TCM; now the shorts are presented here in their uncut glory on a great on demand two disc set containing the full run of 9 shorts.
Watching the shorts now, much like old Tom and Jerry and Warner Brothers cartoons, is a true window into a much different time. First and foremost, for admission any bit of political correctness needs to be left at the door, as well as any thought of welfare for these poor creatures who often times look miserable dressed in their suits and wigs, suspended by wires to walk on their hind legs. L.A. humane commissioner Bill Hershfield even checked in on Dogville, due to the rumors of animal cruelty. What he found was that the pups on set were quite the pampered pooches with their air-conditioned dressing rooms (a rarity in the early 30s) and a 50-foot doggie run for some between-the-scenes exercise.
While all of the shorts feature exaggerated racial stereotypes, cartoonish violence, and some pretty offensive humor, I have to admit I find them pretty damn entertaining. There is a rare glee and absurdity at watching all this play out on screen, since these are proof of the old adage that animals can make anything funny.
Most of these run about 15 minutes, and some highlights of the set are:
Hot Dog, definitely one my favorites on the set, features lots of awkward scenes of dogs dancing and the gem of the line “the last time I had wieners I ate my grandfather.” This short is the story of Clara, who’s cheating on her husband while he’s out of town. Of course the whole town is talking and when the husband shows up, his wife kills him in cold blood and ends up on trial for murder. The end of this short has probably one of the most surreal moments on the set and shows that there was probably more going on than most folks give these shorts credit for.
Trader Hound, which is literally dog eat dog, as a group of dogs on a rescue mission into the jungle run into a group of cannibal canines. Here we see a dog ride a lion, or at least a man in a lion suit, which also fights a gorilla. This short was rumored to have been banned due to its mishandling of racial stereotypes.
So Quiet on the Canine Front places the dogs of war in World War I. This one has a group of dogs joining the army to hopefully score some “Swell French mamas” and sadly end up on enemy lines. Instead of barbed wire to ensnare the enemy they use a string of hot dogs and of course the enemy is a bunch of German Dachshunds. Expect flea grenades and this gem of a line: “We will lure the enemy out with these irresistible wieners into no man’s land and our machine gunners will do the rest.”
College Hounds has Terrier in debt to a loan shark after losing big on a horse race. In order to save his hide he gets his daughter to keep the star football player Red Mange out of the game by seducing him in order to put in a fix on the game. I just love the moral ambiguity of this short, and you get to see what is quite possibly the strangest sight on the entire disc as the dogs play football. If only the Puppy Bowl looked like this.
This gives just an idea of what is on this great set; if any of this interested you at all, you should definitely pick this set up.