Fala: The President's Dog

This comical short is about Fala, the dog owned by Franklin D. Roosevelt. It's told entirely from the perspective of the dog. In it, we follow him on his daily routine around the White House. We also see him meet dignitaries such as Sir Winston Churchill.

Clocking in at about ten minutes, this one is pretty slight stuff and is not really anything much more than a historical curiosity piece now. It was obviously originally intended as a short humorous feature that would make up part of a cinematic programme back in the days when going to the flicks meant much more than just seeing the latest feature film. Newsreels, cartoons, travelogues, B movies and main features all had to be fitted in. And comic short's like Fala: The President's Dog were also common fare. There's not too much to it and from nowadays perspective it's pretty limited but it has a definite charm nevertheless.

Fala was the famous Scotch Terrier owned by Franklin Delano Roosevelt during his last two presidential terms,, the cause of a bit of a controversy and a stern lesson to the Republicans that you can attack a man, but best leave his dog alone -- a lesson that Nixon learned well enough to use to advantage in his Checkers Speech.

Just so there's no misunderstanding, let me state I like dogs: big dogs, anything from an Irish wolfhound down to a corgi. I have no patience with small dogs, even though my sister likes terriers and her current dog is a Westy.

In any case, this short subject, giving the 'home front' story from the viewpoint of Fala is an amusing conceit, and it's given the usual MGM polish, even though everyone is a stand in. But the idea does not travel well past World War Two and dog lovers.... so it come out a little too precious for my taste.