This is kind of sweet and cute. Die hard Temple fans need to see it certainly. Got a few minutes and want a chuckle? This'll do. The qualities that latter made Shirley Temple the little cinematic doll that she was are all evident here. There is a certain amount of fun and games slap stick, and there is that one sight gag that you see coming but don't mind that the punch was telegraphed. The various players all do well for the type of film it is. The sets are natural, and the continuity is what it was for that era of movie making. All in all this is both watchable and enjoyable family style fun. This is what you watch with the three year old between rounds of Old Maid.
12 Reviews
Sonny's birthday present is a dog - he wanted a motorcycle
tinman1960200318 October 2005
Pardon My Pups was produced at Educational Films and runs 19 minutes. It's raining and the roof leaks waking up little Mary Lou (Temple). It's big brother Sonny's (Junior Coughlin) birthday and he wants a motorcycle their Pa wants to give him a dog. But Sonny hates dogs until he runs away from home. Sonny and Mary Lou are the same characters from Managed Money and Merrily Yours. This film was based on the story "Mild Oats" by Florence Ryerson and Colin Clements. Charles Lamont also directed : Comin' Round the Mountain, Francis in the Haunted House, Hit the Ice, Salome and Where She Danced. Has mild humor and Lamont used a very light touch. No one could be offended by this offering, young Temple doesn't have a big part, but as always, steals the scene. Worth a look anyway.
Cute little movie short!
srmccarthy6 December 2003
I won't say that it is going to blow you over, but it is a very nice little short story about a boy who is afraid of dogs, but is challenged to overcome his fear when he is presented with the opportunity to help one who is hurt. There is quite a bit of slap stick comedy toward the end, and it is all in good fun!
{This if one of the movie shorts from the "Shirley Temple Festival"}
{This if one of the movie shorts from the "Shirley Temple Festival"}
Cute Story about Puppies!
Sylviastel13 August 2011
Really Shirley Temple blossomed in front of the film audience's eyes in these film shorts. In this story, she is Mary Lou Rodgers. Her brother is celebrating is birthday. The father is insisting that he gets a puppy but he's afraid of dogs in general. He must have had a traumatic experience at some time. They never really dwell into serious situations in these shorts anyway. Well, he decides to run away from home but manages somehow to overcome his fear of dogs. When the father has already bought a purebred pedigree canine puppy, the son refuses it for something else maybe beneath the standards. It's a cute story in about ten minutes. It's not the greatest sound or film quality since this short was done in the early 1930s. Shirley's adorable and precocious as the little sister who steals the film away.
Dog Or Motorcycle, is that a no-brainer.
bkoganbing6 July 2011
I could truly identify with Pardon My Pups since when I was a kid I had a fear of dogs that Junior Coghlan had. Of course I'm not the type that would have wanted a motorcycle.
But that poor frightened animal who was about to have pups gets to you every time. There is no way you can make a bad movie about kids and dogs.
Shirley Temple is in this one as well and it's not her short subject per se. But with her cuteness there was no doubt the young lady was definitely going places. Shortly she would be the biggest shining box office star and in Fox's firmament.
That last sight gag here is a pip. Shirley's still loyal legion of fans will love Pardon My Pups.
But that poor frightened animal who was about to have pups gets to you every time. There is no way you can make a bad movie about kids and dogs.
Shirley Temple is in this one as well and it's not her short subject per se. But with her cuteness there was no doubt the young lady was definitely going places. Shortly she would be the biggest shining box office star and in Fox's firmament.
That last sight gag here is a pip. Shirley's still loyal legion of fans will love Pardon My Pups.
One for the dog lovers
Horst_In_Translation17 November 2017
Warning: Spoilers
"Pardon My Pups" is a black-and-white sound film from 1934, so this one will have its 85th anniversary soon. The director is Charles Lamont, who has worked with Shirley Temple on many occasions. The script is by Ewart Adamson from Scotland and this is among his more known works, even if his career today is mostly defined by his collaborations with the Three Stooges. And yes child actress phenomenon Shirley Temple is in here too, even if not really in the center of it, but luckily she is playing a girl her age actually and her popularity definitely helped in promoting this movie. It is more of a father-son story with the son wanting a motorbike for his birthday, but he gets a dog from his daddy and while initially not happy with that gift at all, we see him more and more appreciate the idea as the film goes on. It runs for 19 minutes overall and admittedly could have been 5 minutes shorter given the depth and material. And the film also struggles with over-the-top moments on really many occasions, especially when it comes to the script (for example the comedy at the very end), but also the actor who plays the father goes full ham at times. He should be more experienced and know better than that. Anyway, this was a common problem back then, so I'll forgive him for that. Overall, the story was sweet enough for me to still give this little film a thumbs-up and a positive recommendation. So feel free to check it out if you like Temple and/or really old films. Chances are high you won't know anybody else who worked on this project. But still keep one thing in mind that no matter how sweet pups and pets in general seem: They are no appropriate birthday presents.
Disposable
gavin69427 April 2017
Sonny wants a motorcycle for his birthday, and is disappointed when he learns that he is getting a dog instead.
Maybe hard-core fans of Shirley Temple enjoy this film. I mean, she does what she does with the cute faces and all that... even some strange butt-scratching. But for a film, it has little merit. No comedy, no plot... it just sort of exists for some reason. The best attempt at a joke is something about a "champion clarinet".
I really have nothing more to say on this and just have to fill another line. Even as something to show before a feature film ,this would be a great disappointment to anyone other than a child with no taste.
Maybe hard-core fans of Shirley Temple enjoy this film. I mean, she does what she does with the cute faces and all that... even some strange butt-scratching. But for a film, it has little merit. No comedy, no plot... it just sort of exists for some reason. The best attempt at a joke is something about a "champion clarinet".
I really have nothing more to say on this and just have to fill another line. Even as something to show before a feature film ,this would be a great disappointment to anyone other than a child with no taste.
Dark and dreadful...
planktonrules6 March 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Dad insists that his son MUST have a dog--even though the kid (Frank Coghlan, Jr.) insists that he's afraid of them. The kid was attacked and bitten as a little boy and the father is simply an insensitive jerk. And, it turns out that Dad just wants to buy himself a hunting dog and 'give' it to the boy for his birthday!!! Not surprisingly, the boy runs away--but happens upon a pathetic looking dog and brings it home. Dad doesn't know anything about animals (as it's clearly a spaniel--a good hunting dog) and wants to have it put to sleep!! Later, the actual owner shows up and announces his attention to beat the dog for running away!! Isn't this heart-warming?! At this point, Coghlan attacks the guy and saves the pooch.
Before Shirley Temple gained HUGE international fame with full-length films, she appeared in quite a few shorts--most of which were pretty poor. While "Pardon My Pups" is not among the worst, it certainly is a pretty dreadful little film. Why? Well, although the film is a comedy, it has a father who says that his son should "drown the pups" after a dog has her babies and wants to put the mother to sleep! It also features a dog owner who tries to beat his dog with a stick--a very big one at that!! This is just dark and dreadful! And, not the least bit enjoyable. Perhaps my score of 3 is a bit generous!
Before Shirley Temple gained HUGE international fame with full-length films, she appeared in quite a few shorts--most of which were pretty poor. While "Pardon My Pups" is not among the worst, it certainly is a pretty dreadful little film. Why? Well, although the film is a comedy, it has a father who says that his son should "drown the pups" after a dog has her babies and wants to put the mother to sleep! It also features a dog owner who tries to beat his dog with a stick--a very big one at that!! This is just dark and dreadful! And, not the least bit enjoyable. Perhaps my score of 3 is a bit generous!
Pull string to see the stars!
Anonymous_Maxine6 January 2005
In the 1930s studios would use short films like this one sort of as testing grounds for new actors, given their relative ease of production in comparison with full length feature films, so it's interesting that this one should star Shirley Temple, who had long since established herself as The Most Famous Child Star of All Time. Then again, she probably wasn't the one being tested, I would imagine that would have been Frank Coghlan Jr., who played Shirley's brother Sonny in the movie and delivered a comparatively less impressive performance. Then again, a 9-year-old Shirley Temple was probably not an easy act to accompany.
The film opens with an unimpressive sight gag involving a leaky ceiling, which I suppose was designed to have Shirley Temple give a scornful look at the ceiling, illustrate the working class status of the family in the movie, and provide a clean transition into the next scene, which features Shirley gleefully stomping in the rain.
It's Sonny'y birthday, and his father makes occasional and horrendously botched efforts to hide the fact that he wants to give Sonny a dog that he really wants for himself, but Sonny is afraid of dogs because he was bitten by one once and has been creeped out ever since. It's curious that, when his father insists on getting a dog, Sonny decides to run away from home rather than have a dog in the house, and as he is running away with no destination in sight, it's also curious that the movie illustrates what seems to be an indifference to homeless people that surpasses even the astounding indifference that exists today.
Sonny passes a man cooking bacon in an iron skillet at the side of the train tracks (right after a train flew by which, given how close to the tracks he was, you would think would have blown the guy right off the tracks, but no matter). After Sonny gives up on sharing breakfast due to the sour stare that his gleeful smile receives from the guy, he continues on and the homeless guy disappears from the movie. It's interesting to consider what a longer film would have done, because this one leaves this poor guy as a loose end.
Not that that matters, Sonny soon hears a dog whining underneath a trestle as he passes over it, and jumps down to find a dog covered in burrs. It might seem trite that he immediately takes the dog up and adopts it since he just left home because of his fear of dogs, but it seemed to me that he just needed to be reminded not of his power over dogs, but of their lack of power over him. As soon as he saw a dog in need he overcame his fear.
Hey, if that's all it takes, all I have to do is find a helpless spider and I'm set!
It's a very convenient movie in which everything works out exactly as it is supposed to, but it's cute enough and enjoyable enough (and short enough, as it were) to still be a fun movie. We already don't expect an epic plot in a 19-minute film, but Pardon My Pups still packs in a substantial amount of story and character development in its short running time. And it also features a fight scene at the end of the movie that must have made Charlie Chaplin proud. I am hardly an expert of Shirley Temple's films, but it's not hard to see how she became The Most Famous Child Star of All Time.
The film opens with an unimpressive sight gag involving a leaky ceiling, which I suppose was designed to have Shirley Temple give a scornful look at the ceiling, illustrate the working class status of the family in the movie, and provide a clean transition into the next scene, which features Shirley gleefully stomping in the rain.
It's Sonny'y birthday, and his father makes occasional and horrendously botched efforts to hide the fact that he wants to give Sonny a dog that he really wants for himself, but Sonny is afraid of dogs because he was bitten by one once and has been creeped out ever since. It's curious that, when his father insists on getting a dog, Sonny decides to run away from home rather than have a dog in the house, and as he is running away with no destination in sight, it's also curious that the movie illustrates what seems to be an indifference to homeless people that surpasses even the astounding indifference that exists today.
Sonny passes a man cooking bacon in an iron skillet at the side of the train tracks (right after a train flew by which, given how close to the tracks he was, you would think would have blown the guy right off the tracks, but no matter). After Sonny gives up on sharing breakfast due to the sour stare that his gleeful smile receives from the guy, he continues on and the homeless guy disappears from the movie. It's interesting to consider what a longer film would have done, because this one leaves this poor guy as a loose end.
Not that that matters, Sonny soon hears a dog whining underneath a trestle as he passes over it, and jumps down to find a dog covered in burrs. It might seem trite that he immediately takes the dog up and adopts it since he just left home because of his fear of dogs, but it seemed to me that he just needed to be reminded not of his power over dogs, but of their lack of power over him. As soon as he saw a dog in need he overcame his fear.
Hey, if that's all it takes, all I have to do is find a helpless spider and I'm set!
It's a very convenient movie in which everything works out exactly as it is supposed to, but it's cute enough and enjoyable enough (and short enough, as it were) to still be a fun movie. We already don't expect an epic plot in a 19-minute film, but Pardon My Pups still packs in a substantial amount of story and character development in its short running time. And it also features a fight scene at the end of the movie that must have made Charlie Chaplin proud. I am hardly an expert of Shirley Temple's films, but it's not hard to see how she became The Most Famous Child Star of All Time.
Shirley Shines In Short Subject
Ron Oliver3 May 2002
A FROLICS OF YOUTH Short Subject.
A teenager, embarrassed by his fear of dogs, runs away from home. The abandoned spaniel he finds helps to change his mind.
PARDON MY PUPS is an enjoyable little film, with Shirley Temple stealing all her scenes as the hero's lively kid sister. The opening gag - dealing with bedwetting - is in poor taste, but is quickly forgotten. Highlight: the climactic fisticuffs, which look impressively realistic.
Often overlooked or neglected today, the one and two-reel short subjects were useful to the Studios as important training grounds for new or burgeoning talents, both in front & behind the camera. The dynamics for creating a successful short subject was completely different from that of a feature length film, something akin to writing a topnotch short story rather than a novel. Economical to produce in terms of both budget & schedule and capable of portraying a wide range of material, short subjects were the perfect complement to the Studios' feature films.
A teenager, embarrassed by his fear of dogs, runs away from home. The abandoned spaniel he finds helps to change his mind.
PARDON MY PUPS is an enjoyable little film, with Shirley Temple stealing all her scenes as the hero's lively kid sister. The opening gag - dealing with bedwetting - is in poor taste, but is quickly forgotten. Highlight: the climactic fisticuffs, which look impressively realistic.
Often overlooked or neglected today, the one and two-reel short subjects were useful to the Studios as important training grounds for new or burgeoning talents, both in front & behind the camera. The dynamics for creating a successful short subject was completely different from that of a feature length film, something akin to writing a topnotch short story rather than a novel. Economical to produce in terms of both budget & schedule and capable of portraying a wide range of material, short subjects were the perfect complement to the Studios' feature films.
One Of the Better Features In the Series
Snow Leopard17 January 2006
This is one of the better features in the series of short family comedies that starred Junior Coghlan and Shirley Temple as brother and sister. It is 'cute' in a generally positive sense, while usually managing to avoid becoming cloying. The story, while contrived at some points, has something of a purpose to it, and the movie also adds in a couple of the less innocent gags that turn up surprisingly often in Temple's short features.
The setup has Coghlan's character Sonny celebrating a birthday, and hoping for a motorcycle, but knowing that his father prefers to give him a dog. With the help of his girlfriend and loyal little sister Mary Lou (Temple), Sonny has to contend with his father's stubbornness and with a pretentious rival. The story that follows is fairly predictable, but it has some good moments.
Most of it is enjoyable, and the plainer stretches do not last very long. Coghlan, who is nominally the star, has a rather bland acting style, but he does have a decent screen presence. Temple's energy and charisma, so unusual for her age, are readily apparent, and she stands out in constant contrast to the less interesting older characters.
The setup has Coghlan's character Sonny celebrating a birthday, and hoping for a motorcycle, but knowing that his father prefers to give him a dog. With the help of his girlfriend and loyal little sister Mary Lou (Temple), Sonny has to contend with his father's stubbornness and with a pretentious rival. The story that follows is fairly predictable, but it has some good moments.
Most of it is enjoyable, and the plainer stretches do not last very long. Coghlan, who is nominally the star, has a rather bland acting style, but he does have a decent screen presence. Temple's energy and charisma, so unusual for her age, are readily apparent, and she stands out in constant contrast to the less interesting older characters.
That was a pick me up short.
PatrynXX4 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
And only one on a blu-ray site that also has dvds. Why a single dvd for 19 min don't know but this was a laugh riot. I needed that. That was quite a switch at the end. What a dumb ***** lol ... Even Shirley got a bit wet.
Quality: 8/10 Entertainment : 10/10 Re-Playable: 10/10
Quality: 8/10 Entertainment : 10/10 Re-Playable: 10/10
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