Doberman Patrol

An early entry in the glory days of TV movies that stands well alongside other TV movies on the era. Well acted, very well edited and scored and most importantly written and directed by Frank De Felitta. It ages pretty well and of course has real dog attacks rather than CGI junk animals. For some reason this quality of TV production died out almost entirely in the 1980's when all the elements of craft that this film has vanished really until X Files and other shows brought back film type story telling to TV.

The story unfolds very well and is believable and involving, this should be on DVD and certainly is among the handful of memorable TV movies of any era, it's like a very good episode of the Hitchcock series or Thriller--the Boris Karloff series. Someone at Univeral get this out on DVD like it deserves. This movie will having you making sure you're home before any store closes. James Brolin sweats and suffers with the best of them.

The set-up for this early 70's made-for-TV thriller is simplistic but efficient and much more frightening than any horror movie revolving on zombies, vampires or immoral ax-wielding psychopaths could ever be. The situation where the male protagonist finds himself trapped in may not be likely to happen any time soon, but it's definitely not unthinkable. Being the victim of a robbery, Chuck Banner is left behind in the restroom of a big shopping complex. When he regains consciousness, the store is closed down for the weekend and severely trained guard dogs stand between him and the exit doors. His only hope for rescue is his ex-wife and daughter, with whom he was supposed to meet at the airport, but by the time they figure out where Chuck is stuck, it might be too late. Movie scripts don't get any more rudimentary than this, but "Doberman Patrol" nevertheless guarantees a mere 90 minutes of suspense and thrills, largely thanks to James Brolin's strong performance as the man in peril as well as to the impressively trained dogs. The beautiful and athletic animals are very menacing and definitely fulfill their "guarding" duties. The search for Chuck on the outside is interesting to follow as well, with his ex-wife and her new husband being surprisingly likable and identifiable characters. The subject matter and the limited cast of characters don't exactly lend themselves to gory situations, but in this case the tense and claustrophobic atmosphere and stellar performances suffice. Recommended!

Forget "Marcus Welby"! When I think of James Brolin, I instantly recall a host of movies he made consecutively between 1972-1973: "Skyjacked", "Westworld", the TV-film "Short Walk To Daylight", and this compact thriller, another movie-of-the-week. After being mugged and knocked unconscious by teenagers in a department store men's room, Brolin wakes to find he's locked in alone after closing time. This might sound like a shop-a-holic's dream come true, but Brolin has to fight off vicious guard dogs all night, sometimes in clever ways. James Brolin was the perfect TV substitute for Charlton Heston: stalwart and determined, with a firm jaw and a survivor's instinct. The film doesn't amount to much--the viewer and Brolin are in much the same spot, biding time until the store reopens--but the general scenario is a good one.

I remember this made-for-tv film as a kid. I was 7 when this came out, and in 2nd grade. Doberman's scared me then. But as a dog owner I can't help but wonder if the writers thought this one through. What high end department store chain used dogs to guard their merchandise? Was this even a real scenario? I'm curious because even my well-trained service dogs are not left alone running around in our house all night unsupervised. They get into things and sometimes make messes. I can't imagine a high end store using such a service, when most stores lose merchandise to shoplifting regularly (it's called "shrinkage") and take that into account when setting their prices. And that is during the day when they are opened for business. So as an adult I find this scenario ridiculous.

I first would like say that I would never do anything like that as to spoil this TV movie for anyone.

I saw this TV movie, when I was a teen back in 1973; and I enjoyed this movie. I hope you put it out soon! What I would also like to say is that television and movie studio's, have a lot of old shows and films that have been locked away since I was kid. One example, would be "Sargent's Three" that had the "Rat Pack" in it. I've search high and low for this movie and not even a bite!... ya really should show it. I enjoy a good western and that was one of them, I watch TMC and AMC and I haven't seen it at anytime.