It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog (1946) User Reviews

Rosie the riveter's final bow ...

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 9 July 2012]

... at least for the next twenty years or so. Henry Barton (Allyn Joslyn) has returned from service in WWII with a better job than he left, at least that's what his boss tells him. Henry was a crime beat reporter on a New York paper before the war, and now he's an editor. Unfortunately he's the science editor and he barely got out of high school with science and math not being his best subjects. He badly wants his old job back, but a woman took over his job while he was overseas and she doesn't want to give it back. It turns out she likes the crime beat too.

Thus he hatches a plan to crack a local racketeering case figuring his boss will have to give him the crime beat job back if he does. In the process Henry runs afoul of a beautiful cop (Carol Landis), her trained Doberman is stolen, and to make matters worse the dog is going around assisting in bar robberies along with a man wearing Henry's very unique tie, thus making it look like Henry is in on the robberies. And from there things just get stranger and goofier.

This film is for sure a valentine to the immediate post war period when women were still filling so-called "mens' jobs" and the men were none too happy about it, the nuclear age had just begun, and gangsters seemed just a little out of place in this brave new world. Note that the biggest stars in this film have the smallest roles - John Ireland just starting out as a one of the racketeers and Frank Morgan as a bad guy as well.

Highly recommended as a moment frozen in time and for the goofiness of it all as well. Thanks to Fox Movie Channel for showing this rare little gem. This is a particularly rare event considering Fox Movie Channel has recently been taken over by teenagers who presume their viewers prefer "Horton Hears a Who" to "The Hustler".

women in mens jobs

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 6 October 2012]

Allyn Joslyn, Carole Landis, and Rodney the Dog star in "It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog," a 1946 film. Joslyn plays Henry Barton, a returning WW II vet who returns to his newspaper job, only to find out he's no longer assigned to crime, but science, and a woman has his job. Disgusted, he's determined to solve a crime so he can get his job back.

He goes to work on a local racketeering case, and meets a beautiful woman, Julia (Landis) and her dog (Rodney), a Doberman who is also a war vet. When the bar they are all in is robbed, Henry mistakenly thinks that Julia and Rodney robbed the place, calls it in to his paper, and Rodney ends up on the front page. It turns out that Julia is a policewoman, and she's not happy.

The plot gets crazier, with Rodney taking off and winding up for a time with a mobster's henchman (Harry Morgan) who commits some robberies wearing not only Henry's distinctive tie but has Rodney with him.

Joslyn, a character actor who played few leads, is quite funny here, and the story is amusing. Landis, who committed suicide two years later, is quite beautiful and does a good job. Unfortunately, true stardom would elude her. Rodney is fabulous. Jean Wallace gives a nice performance as the woman who took Henry's job.

When the men got back from the war, the women had gone to work, and this film is a reflection of that adjustment. Everyone is shocked to meet a "lady cop" and Henry bemoans the fact that a woman took his job.

Nice film, interesting time in history.

Silly but enjoyable

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 26 January 2016]

"It Shouldn't Happen to a Dog" is a silly film...not exactly genius but enjoyable as well as one of Carole Landis' last pictures.

When the film begins, Henry Barton (Allyn Joslyn) is upset because he's been demoted at the newspaper where he works. He no longer is covering the police beat and desperately wants to. So, when he mistakenly think that a pretty lady (Landis) with a Doberman robbed a bar, he calls in the story to the paper...only to soon learn it was a hoax. However, the dog COULD help him earn his way back...if only he can catch up with this missing Dobie and his pretty owner.

This film is inconsequential fun. Plus, I liked seeing some familiar character actors as the hoods (Reed Hadley, John Ireland and, oddly, Harry Morgan). It's definitely in the 'turn off your brain and just enjoy' category!

By the way, Joslyn is RARELY a leading man and almost always plays supporting roles. It's nice to see him in the lead for once.

Silly Movie Gets Sillier

[GManfred · 28 February 2013]

In a good way, I mean. Somebody at Fox had an understated sense of humor, and put it on the screen in "It Shouldn't Happen To A Dog", a 70 minute comedy which gets funnier as it goes along, with tongue firmly implanted in cheek. It almost plays like a British comedy as it eschews slapstick for subtlety. Modern audiences have little or no frame of reference for subtle humor.

Allan Joslyn, who was a supporting actor in lots of forgettable movies, is better here than in most of the others. Maybe finally getting the lead in a film energized him and he puts everything he's got into his role as a reporter back from WWII who finds his old job occupied - by a woman. Determined to get it back he fabricates a story about a robbery in a bar - accidentally - and things go from bad to funnier.

Guys, I have to tell you this picture gets a huge shot in the arm from Carole Landis... need I say more? Not only an eyeful, she's very good as the owner of a dog who's the prime suspect in the robbery. If it sounds like a wacky plot, you're right. See it if you get a chance. There are lots of familiar faces you'll recognize in this shaggy dog tale.

A Reporter, A Cop And A Dog

[boblipton · 6/10 · 10 April 2020]

It's one of those "the craziest things happen in Brooklyn" movies. Allyn Joslyn is a reporter who has fouled up so often he's been demoted to science editor, picking up information from children's books. He thinks he has a lead on a real story, so he heads over to Margo Woods' rooming house. No dice, so he tries a local bar with her picture. There, Carole Landis walks in with a trained Doberman Pinscher for some bones. Some money goes missing, and he phones in the story. It soon turns out it was a gag by one of the barflies. Soon enough, crook Harry Morgan, Miss Landis and the dog are involved in the story.

It's one of those brittle post-war comedies which smacks of some subtextual meaning, but mostly it's a decent, if dry little comedy in which everyone acts in an over-the-top manner. There are some good comedy situations directed at a good clip by B director Herbert Leeds.

Leeds started in the movie business illustrating title cards. By the early 1930s he was an editor, and he became a director in 1938. Over the next twelve years he headed a couple of movies each year, then into television. He killed himself in 1954, age 54.

agreeable comedy

[myriamlenys · 7/10 · 21 September 2022]

A professional reporter crosses paths with a blonde stranger who owns a well-trained doberman pinscher. By mistake, he accuses her of committing a robbery in a pub, by using the dog as a weapon. This picturesque incident soon captures the imagination of the city. In fact the "crime" was nothing but an unfunny April fool joke thought up by somebody else...

"It shouldn't happen to a dog" is a breezy comedy, notable mainly for the presence of a superbly trained doberman pinscher which becomes the target for all kinds of crackpot schemes and legends. It deals with one of the classic themes in noir and crime movies, to wit the dogged, experienced reporter hot on the trail of local gangsters. But it's all played for laughs. The movie also contains a fair quota of one-liners and wisecracks, about topics as diverse as newsgathering, policing, nuclear energy and mathematics. ("I only passed first year algebra because the kid in front of me wrote big" - you and me both pal, you and me both.)

Even though the movie ends well for all the innocents involved, dog lovers will shake their head in dismay at the idea of somebody kidnapping another person's pet dog just because this was temporarily convenient.

Have you noticed how many American movies feature cab drivers willing to "Follow that car !" without a moment's hesitation ? I rather think that most real-life cab drivers would refuse to do so, out of fear of getting dragged into some quarrel or crime.

Beautful Carole In Her Last Fox Film

[HarleanHayworth · 10/10 · 27 December 2014]

Carole Landis was one of the 1940s most beautiful and talented stars. Sadly she committed suicide just two years after she made this film. It Shouldn't Happen To A Dog is not the greatest movie she ever made but it's a fun comedy and Carole gives a wonderful performance. She plays a female police detective (unusual for 1946) whose partner is a very smart and well trained Doberman. William Gargan plays a reporter trying to solve a crime - he becomes her love interest. The plot is a little silly - there is a mix-up over a robbery and Rodney runs away only to be found by a mobster. Rodney of course steals every scene he is in! The supporting cast includes the lovely Jean Wallace and Harry Morgan. This was Carole's last film at Fox and if you are a fan you should watch it.

I'm so happy that the Fox Archives has released this movie on DVD. It' available to order at Amazon now.

Answering to the name Rodney

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 13 August 2014]

Watching It Shouldn't Happen To A Dog I had to wonder whether 20th Century Fox had purchased this story from Paramount. It seems so much like a Bob Hope vehicle.

If it had been a Hope vehicle Hope as the main character would have received top billing instead of Carole Landis. Clearly the action centers around the main male character played by character actor Allyn Joslyn. Fresh back from the army Joslyn can't get his old job back as the crime reporter. He's now the science reporter and is busy trying to figure out atomic energy while Jean Wallace is learning the nuances of crime reporting.

But when there's a story about a missing witness Whit Bissell who was ready to testify against racketeer Reed Hadley, Joslyn goes right to work. The problem is that he's running up against undercover policewoman Carole Landis and her partner, a large former military Doberman pincher answering to the name Rodney.

Rodney for a trained dog is quite an independent sort. Still he's the real hero as he's the one really responsible for seeing justice done.

Joslyn was funny, but I could never see him getting the girl. This is an amusing film, but it should have had Bob Hope in the lead.

Keep your isotopes

[AAdaSC · 5/10 · 30 April 2017]

Allyn Joslyn (Henry) has returned from WW2 to the newspaper he worked for. This time, however, he is the Science Editor instead of a Crime Reporter and he really doesn't care for this role. He wants to be a Crime Reporter again. Whilst having a drink at Ralph Sandford's bar – "Nick's Bar" – with a drunken local policeman John Alexander (Joe), Carole Landis (Julia) enters the scene with her dog. What follows is a sequence of misunderstandings and a bit of slapstick, comedy policemen and an unbelievable storyline which is meant to be funny.

No brain required for this but the cast are OK apart from the comedy policemen – we get two! The dog is pretty unspectacular and not at all cute or convincing – we even get a male voice dubbing over sneeze noises and yawns and woofs on its behalf. More of that comedy stuff. I watched it as I like Carole Landis but the film is not up to much.

The big bonus here is that we also get a film with Whit Bissell. After watching the whole series of "The Time Tunnel" from the mid 1960s, my wife and I were staggered at the poor quality acting of the General as played by Whit Bissell. We found it rather amusing and even suggested getting hold of every film he's ever done. Well, we didn't go down that route but what a pleasant surprise to find him in this offering. They make you wait for him, though, and I'm afraid to say it's a let-down as he does alright in his small role.

Meanders but has its Moments

[dougdoepke · 2 May 2013]

With all the fine canine actors in Hollywood of the time (1946), why bother with humans at all. Besides, humans cost a lot more and complain a lot. Here Rodney the Doberman gives a fine performance, even if he does rob a saloon, sneeze at the wrong time, and sleep on the job. Still, he does help catch the crooks, get officer Pirelli promoted out of Flatbush, and bring lovebirds Julia and Barton together. Pretty good for an actor with no dialog, except an occasional woof-woof.

On the whole, the movie's an entertaining little crime comedy, with Joslyn in good addled form as a reporter, and Landis in good curvaceous form as a lady cop. I never could figure out exactly the plot, but who cares since that's not what drives an amusing trifle like this. It's also a good chance to catch up with future TV stars like Henry Morgan (MASH) and Reed Hadley (Racket Squad). Actually, what caught my eye among the usual hijinks were our heroes running amidst what looks like a real downtown traffic scene. Watch for it. Usually such setups are filmed on the lot, as are other street scenes in the movie. But not this particular one, and it's kind of scary.

All in all, the screenplay meanders too much to concentrate its humor, but still manages a share of chuckles.