For the Love of Rusty

... In the first Rusty film, "Adventures of Rusty", Mrs. Mitchell's first name is Ann. The second Rusty film, "Return of Rusty", is very rare, thus I haven't seen it, and just has Mrs. Mitchell billed as Mrs. Mitchell. Here her first name changes to Ethel. No wonder Danny Mitchell is so troubled, with Mom changing names so frequently. But I digress.

Besides Mrs. Mitchell, Danny's stepmom, the film is also misnamed. After being a central character in the first film, Rusty, Danny Mitchell's trusty German Shepherd dog, is barely a prop here. Instead the film focuses on Danny's dissatisfaction with his relationship with his father. He finds that satisfaction in a new friendship with Dr. Francis Xavier Fay (Aubrey Mather), a distinguished older fellow in the tradition of Edmund Gwenn. Dr. Fay is a veterinarian and for some reason is traveling with a local carnival. He is knowledgeable in many things, and his warmth and insight and exciting vagabond lifestyle have Danny treating him more like a dad than his own father, setting up jealousy and conflict between Danny and his actual dad.

This is where the casting and characterization hurt the film. Here Tom Powers plays Danny's father. At the time this film was made Mr. Powers was 57, looked more like Edgar Kennedy playing an irascible cop than anything else, and just didn't come across like the erudite lawyer as Conrad Nagel did in the first Rusty film as Hugh Mitchell. Maybe this casting was done on purpose though, because Hugh Mitchell pulls a bunch of bone headed stunts worthy of Edgar Kennedy in his RKO comedy shorts before the film ends. Ann Doran, however, is lovely and easy going as Danny's stepmom, first name faux pas aside. Ted Donaldson was 14 by the time this film was made and was getting a little too old to play the cute little kid that needs a gentle nudge to get back on track.

Overall, this is an OK family film of the 40's that actually foreshadows the format of TV family dramas of the 50's. Just don't expect a very big dose of Rusty in this one or you will be disappointed.

No need to recap the plot. Dog and horse stories were especially popular following WWII, perhaps because of MGM's highly successful Lassie series. This installment of the Rusty series is on a tight budget. The one outdoor set is more dream-like than natural, but fits the mood surrounding the ethereal F.X. Fay (Mather) who camps in the hollow. When Danny (Donaldson) comes over the hill, it's as if he's entering a different world. Fay's an interesting character, unfailingly polite, understanding and wise. In short, he serves as the answer to the Mitchell family's problems. And if I picked up correctly, there are hints that he may not be mortal, but sort of a diplomatic angel serving as an animal doctor.

Be that as it may, the cast is an interesting one. Just count the number of smiles from Ted Donaldson, who's unusually dour as the boy. We don't have to imagine his Danny Mitchell is unhappy—he really appears to be. Add to that actor Tom Powers, best known as the cranky fall-guy in the noir classic Double Indemnity (1944), who seems to have specialized in cold, unfriendly characters. The result is a distance between father and son that appears unusually real for a movie of any type. We have no difficulty believing there's a gap here to be overcome. Then there's a very pretty young Ann Doran as Danny's mom. I'm used to seeing her in one of her many later character roles. Here, her understanding nature knows how to deal with both son and husband (note how cleverly she influences Dad), but can't overcome the gap between them. What a fine, fine actress she was.

Note too, the volunteer fire department bringing together diverse elements of the community into a harmonious weekly poker night. It may be idealized, but comes at a time when small town values were still celebrated. Anyway, the movie's a slender little exercise that manages not to get too sentimental, the pitfall for films for this type. But, more importantly, it's the kind of gentle family drama that has largely disappeared from both big screen and little. And we're all the poorer for that.

**SPOILERS** Plesent little movie that has to do with the alienation of a young boy Danny Mitchell, Ted Donaldson,from one's parents but mostly his dad Hugh, Tom Powers, at a time when he need them most. Just before he reaches his teens and needs a father figure to guide him along and through the hard knocks in life.

With only his dog Rusty, who's more attentive to Danny that his father is, to talk to about his problems Danny becomes even more withdrawn from society, his friends in school as well as his school work and music lessons, then he already is. It's not until almost by accident Danny meets, through his stray in injured pooch Fuller, this whack-a-doodle kind of guy who's a combination veterinarian physician astronomer and all around country, as well as city, gentleman Dr. Francis Xavier Fay, Aubrey Mather. After that nothing will ever be the same again not just for Danny & Rusty but his mom Ethel, Ann Doran, and his stuffed up and always busy, for everything and everyone but Danny, dad Hugh as well.

Dr. Fay's gentle demeanor and kindness and understanding toward both Danny and his dog Rusty has him win the young boy over by getting him to do his homework not by punishing him like his father Hugh in having Danny stay in his room after classes and even threatens to take Rusty down to the pound if he doesn't behave himself. Rusty later cause Hugh a king size headache in having him pay for damages that he causes at the local fair by attacking this kitchen appliance and snake-oil salesman Moe Hatch, Sid Tomack. Who during a demonstration of his "world famous" potato peeler piled a batch of potato peals on top of, an angry and sneering, Rusty's head.

It turns out that Dr. Fays attention and understanding of Danny, which at first angered his father Hugh, did in effect draw Hugh close to his son with him showing Danny, like Dr. Fay, that he's not ignorant in the finer things in life. Like the wind sea and stars and what they have to do with whats the entire scheme of things in the boundless and unending universe of both space and the human mind. Thats really heavy stuff for a twelve year-old boy but nevertheless a lot more interesting then staying at home and trying to figure out a slew of algebra equations. Or the use of English verbs and adjectives as builders in the proper constructing of English sentences.

Touching as well as exciting ending to the movie "For the Love of Rusty" with Dr. Fay falling asleep in his trailer as he leaves the gas stove on which gets extinguished, by the boiling water in the coffee pot overflowing, with the doc together with his sweet little pooch Fuller in danger of being suffocated to death. As you would have expected in the end Rusty, even though he get's badly banged up in the process, together with Danny and his dad Hugh came to their rescue.

For the Love of Rusty (1947)

** (out of 4)

John Sturges directs this third entry in the series, which finds young Danny (Ted Donaldson) fighting with his father (Tom Powers) but growing close to an elderly man (Aubrey Mather) who has moved his camper in the woods. The elderly man tries to teach Danny and his father the importance of their relationship while the dog Rusty ends up having to come to the rescue. FOR THE LOVE OF RUSTY is pretty run of the mill stuff as there's really nothing overly good here, although the entire film at least remains mildly entertaining. It's clear that after a very strong first film that the studio just started pumping these out to make kids happy and not really to win any awards. I think the story was mildly interesting but the problem is that it's just not really told in a way that makes it entertaining. We pretty much had these same issues going on in the first film and it was done in such a better way that you can't help but have a "been there, done that" feel. I think Donaldson is once again good in his part and Ann Doran is good as his mother. I wasn't overly impressed with Powers who just never struck me as having any chemistry with the rest of the cast. Aubrey Mather easily steals the film as the wild old man. The final sequence of drama is well directed by Sturges but the rest of the film lacks any of his magic touch.

FOR THE LOVE OF RUSTY (Columbia, 1947), directed by John Sturges, the third installment in the "Rusty" theatrical series, finds some changes from the previous entries, notably Tom Powers and Ann Doran substituting for John Litel and Barbara Woodell, having already played the Mitchells in THE RETURN OF RUSTY (1946). Doran would play the mother role for the duration of the series while Tom Powers, who comes off resembling actor Joseph Sawyer at times, would be replaced by Litel, the most logical choice actually for the role of the father in the first place, while Ted Donaldson assumes his part as their son Danny in all eight installments, along with his dog Rusty, now enacted by Flame instead of Lightning.

The story starts off humorously as Hugh Mitchell (Tom Powers) returns home from his Amateur Fireman's meeting where he finds that his 12-year-old son, Danny (Ted Donaldson) has cut the bottom of the two coffee pots used for wheels for his wagon; carved up all the soap in the house to make a miniature statue of Rusty; and as he is fixing the electric lights in the cellar, Danny causes a power failure in the neighborhood, leading to a series of father and son disputes with wife Ethel (Ann Doran) acting as peacemaker. Hoping to understand his son further, Hugh arranges to take Danny to a father and son luncheon that turns out to be a disaster, thanks to Rusty, who gets into a fight with another dog. As punishment, Hugh has Danny write out 50 letters of apology. Later, Danny encounters a little dog named Fuller that leads him to Dr. Francis Xavier Fay (Aubrey Mather), a veterinarian living in a trailer outside of Lawtonville. Due to his kindness, Danny befriends him, spending more time the the elderly gentleman than at home, causing his father to show signs of jealousy. Ethel arranges for Dr. Fay to come over for dinner, with neighbor Sarah Johnson (Almira Sessions) acting as the maid. Agreeing to take Danny to a carnival, with Rusty along, all goes wrong as Rusty creates a disturbance during a demonstration to the spectators given by Moe Hatch (Sid Tomack), causing Moe to kick Rusty for being a nuisance and Hugh having to pay for the damages. Hugh punishes Danny, who now calls him "Daniel," and orders him to place a muzzle on Rusty. This dispute finds Danny leaving home with Rusty, camping outside the trailer of Dr. Fay, leading Hugh to wonder where he has failed as a father.

With so many family films focusing on father and son disputes, FOR THE LOVE OF RUSTY happens to be more of the same. The story would be recycled with few alterations in the latter entry, MY DOG RUSTY (1948), with Litel as Hugh going to extremes to understand his teenage son's way of thinking. Another thing that would be repeated later on, even in the final installment, RUSTY'S BIRTHDAY (1949) that is introduced here is Rusty obeying Danny by command showing how smart and obedient his dog is by having him roll over, play dead, walk backward and bark. Overall, typical, predictable, yet satisfying entry dealing with coping and understanding between son and parents. Character actor Aubrey Mather offers a fine performance as a good-hearted stranger with fine words of wisdom whose arrival like a guardian angel comes at a time when the Mitchell family is in need of some guidance and understanding, especially between father and son. Everything happens for a reason and this story demonstrates that.

Taking part in the supporting cast are George Meador as J. Cecil Rinehart; Mickey Magure (Gerald Hobble); Fred Sears ("Doc" Levy); Teddy Infuhr (Tommy Worde); Olin Howland (Frank Foley); Harry Hayden (Harry Bobble); George Nokes ("Squeaky") and Dwayne Hickman (Levy Jr.).

Out of circulation on the television markets since the 1960s, FOR THE LOVE OF RUSTY was brought forth again in 2007 on Turner Classic Movies cable channel. Look for it when it comes on again. The movie may not be top of the line or equivalent to the "Lassie" series over at MGM, but actually a true reminder of the sort of nice movies commonly produced during the golden age of Hollywood. Next installment THE SON OF RUSTY (1947), the fourth and many ways the best in the entire series. (** muzzles)