A BOY, A GIRL AND A DOG (Film Classics, 1946), directed by Herbert Kline, is a cute, little known and seldom revived motion picture that deals, as the title indicates, "a boy, a girl and a dog." Cast heading goes to Sharon Moffett, best known for her little dramas for RKO Radio from 1944 to 1947, supported by a dog credited as Hobo Renfro, and boy actor by the name of Jerry Hunter. As much as these names don't represent top-marque names, this is very much an independent film that gets by on the natural performances by these little actors and dog as well.
The story introduces Gwendolyn Hamilton (Sharyn Moffett) who has her parents (John Vospen and Nancy Evans) stop their car to give a returning home soldier, Corporal Jim Allen (Lionel Stander), a lift. With plot development revealing the background of the characters, namely Jim as an orphaned farmer from Iowa, and Gwendolyn a kind-hearted child with her love for dogs. While returning to their home at the Largham Apartments, on the other side of the city is Kip Adams (Jerry Hunter), age 7, returning home from school having acquired a lost dog in a crowded street who follows him home to the Largham Apartments where no dogs are allowed. Kip lives with his grandfather (Harry Davenport), working at the apartment building as both doorman and janitor, and living in the basement. Gwendolyn, who sees Kip sneaking in the dog, soon befriends the boy (who nicknames her "Buttons") and the dog he calls "Lucky." Problems arise when the dog is discovered and Kip being forced to get rid of him or face eviction by building manager, Mr. Stone (Charles Williams). The children hide the dog in a vacant apartment belonging to the vacationing Mrs. Foster (Charlotte Treadway), later ransacked by burglars. Not wanting the dog to be blamed for the damages left behind. Buttons and Kip first hide the dog on the roof before asking their now good friend, Jim, to enlist Lucky in the Dogs for Defense K-9 Corps. At first, Lucky does not respond well to training under Chuck Stephens (Howard Johnson), but Jim, who has grown fond of Lucky, puts him to the test in the battleground of war to see if he will succeed or fail.
Reportedly produced in 1944, but released two years later, A BOY, A GIRL AND A DOG, may have seemed simply out of date upon its release, especially with its mix of family entertainment and wartime action scenes during World War II. Although length times reportedly vary, clocking from 51 to 104 minutes, DVD Alpha Home Video availability runs at 88 minutes, along with a couple of jump-cuts that may indicate film in question was initially longer. While no masterpiece, and not something distributed from larger movie studios as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the comedy/drama, being a reflection of the times, is quite satisfactory. Along with some limited television broadcasts, including New York City's WPIX, Channel 11 in the late 1970s, and public broadcasting channels in the 1980s, to date, there has been no cable TV showings. At least DVD availability indicates rediscovery of nice movie set during a kinder, innocent/bygone era. (**)
