Police Dog

Frank is a policeman in London. Shortly after the story begins, Frank and his fellow foot patrolman partner give chase to a suspicious character. Frank is well behind when his partner catches up to the suspect. Surprisingly, the suspect pulls out a gun and shoots the policeman...and is able to escape. Frank is naturally upset and looks into integrating a police dog into his job. So, he takes a dog other cops thinks is too fierce and he soon turns Rex into a first class police doggy. But this helps to bring out hidden problems with Frank's relationship with Pat, as she's quite jealous of the dog and demands he give up either the dog or her. How does all this work out by the end of the movie?

In general, I avoid doggy movies. It isn't because I dislike dogs...heck, I've got one myself. But too many dog films are very schmaltzy...and, fortunately, "Police Dog" isn't schmaltzy nor poorly made. In fact, it's worth seeing. And, I do agree with the review that calls it "harmless British 'B' family film viewed by dog lovers and friend of Chris Lee".

By the way, if you do see this film note that Christopher Lee plays a cop...albeit a rather dim one! This is quite a departure for Lee as he often played clever, evil sorts in movies.

Two British foot patrolmen pursue a burglary suspect and one ends up shot to death by the suspect. Patrolman Frank vows to catch the killer. His superior suggests that foot patrolman be accompanied by dogs to provide them with protection and aid them in the pursuit of suspects. So constable Frank takes in a stray dog and trains him to be a police dog. The new dog proves to be an great asset and aids Frank in the capture of the cop killer and save Franks life. I suppose if I wanted to sound clever, I would call this a "dog of a movie." In fairness, POLICE DOG is a harmless "B" family film. The film has some plot contrivances such as having officer Frank's girlfriend jealous because Frank is spending to much time with his new dog instead of her. Also the killer is pretty stupid. He returns to the same neighborhood where he committed the murder to rob again only to recognized by officer Frank. You would think he would pick another part of town to rob.

Christopher Lee has a small part as a police officer who does not like dogs. The dog of the title is billed as "Rex III." I suppose that means the "Rex" in this film is grandson of "Rex-The Wonder Dog" who starred in western movies and serials in the 1930's.

I'm an animal lover at heart so watching and enjoying this film was a given. It's certainly miles better than those incessantly awful Disney movies that have to make animals talk in order to appeal to the kids - I saw a clip of the superhero dog comedy UNDERDOG the other day and, by the gods, it's awful.

POLICE DOG is much more sedate and realistic, although the plotting isn't up to much. Your average copper loses his partner to a violent criminal and is paired up with an Alsatian, much to the chagrin of his girlfriend who feels that he loves the dog more than her.

This is much like the 1950s version of the James Belushi comedy K-9, albeit without the laughs. If you're a dog lover then you'll be in for a treat as Alsatians play a large role in the proceedings and have plenty of screen time. They're exceedingly well trained and get up to all kinds of escapades. The human cast don't really get much of a look in - after all, they're there merely to act as support for the dogs - although there are minor parts for John Le Mesurier and Christopher Lee, the latter with an amusing working class accent.

I've just enjoyed this film courtesy of Talking Pictures o n Freeview, I much enjoyed the almost drama-documentary style I was also most interested in the filming locations...not much detail is given o n the website except for information on the Boreham Wood Studios. During the film I suddenly realised that the police dog training school was filmed within a BBC transmitter station. You can clearly see the transmitter building (white building in the background...looking almost like an airfield control tower) and the lines of short telegraph poles that normally carry the feeder wires from the transmitter to the radiating antennas. These wires aren't visible, which makes me think that they had not been installed as the station hadn't been commissioned. As I'm a former broadcasting Engineer (yes, a real retired 'anorak' perhaps) I would be most interested to know where the site was....I'd be grateful for any help. RB Mannion

If you were the chap at Scotland Yard trying to convince the Commissioner to enlarge the dog department; you could do worse than show him this rather lightweight, but enjoyable, drama about a police officer "Frank" (Tim Turner) who uses a police dog to try and track down the murderer of one of his colleagues. That's about the height of it - it's an uncomplicated manhunt, only the hunter has a much more sentive nose for the task. Joan Rice provides the glamour - though I wasn't quite sure what purpose her role served (as she is his sister!) and John le Mesurier and Christopher Lee make a few appearances to help the whole thing glide along seamlessly. Not a film you will remember, I suspect, but still worth a watch.