A Boy, a Girl and a Dog
Cast & Crew
Herbert Kline
Sharyn Moffett
Hobo Renfro
Jerry Hunter
Harry Davenport
Lionel Stander
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Outside a train station, the Hamilton family gives a lift to returning soldier Jim Allen. In the car, their young daughter tells Jim that because of the war, she was forced to give away her dog. Elsewhere, when a puppy almost gets run over, a traffic cop asks "Kip" Adams, who happens to be passing, to take the dog away. Kip, an orphan who lives with his grandfather, the doorman, janitor and handyman at an elegant apartment building, is not allowed to have a dog and does his best to leave the puppy behind. Despite his efforts, however, the puppy follows him. The Hamiltons, meanwhile, arrive at their destination, the same building where Kip lives, and invite Jim to stay with them during his leave. Kip, who has hidden the puppy in a box, tries to smuggle it into the building past the sharp eyes of the Hamilton girl. After he sneaks in through the back door, he hides the dog. Soon, Gwendolyn, the Hamilton girl, comes looking for the dog. Kip immediately dubs her "Button" because she is a "butt-in-ski." Button quickly discovers the hidden puppy but promises to keep its presence a secret if Kip will share the animal with her. When Kip's grandfather "Gramps" discovers the dog, he initially orders Kip to get rid of it, but then allows it to remain until the morning. In the morning, Kip, who has named the dog Lucky, takes it to the park, where he is soon joined by Button. Together, they try to contrive a plan to keep the dog without rousing the suspicions of Mr. Stone, the fussy owner of the building. With Jim's help, they smuggle Lucky to the roof. Later that day, wealthy Mrs. Foster leaves on a trip, and Button suggests that they keep Lucky in the empty apartment. Time passes and Lucky grows into a big dog. One day, Jim, who has become a corporal in the K-9 Corps, returns for a visit. That night, two burglars break into the Foster apartment. Lucky scares the burglars away but, in the process, causes a great deal of damage to the furnishings. Although Button and Kip do their best to clean up, they realize that Lucky can no longer stay there. Button then suggests that Lucky join the K-9 Corps. Lucky passes his physical, but is so homesick that he does not respond well to training. Because he does not want to disappoint Kip and Button, Jim becomes a trainer and takes Lucky as his charge. In the meantime, Lucky runs away from the Army. Kip and Button "camouflage" him with paint, and with a vague plan to deliver him to a war zone, sneak onto a freight train. A police officer discovers them, however, and brings them home. Kip then gives Jim his lucky charm, and Lucky's attitude begins to improve. Finally, Jim and Lucky are shipped to the Pacific. There, Lucky heroically carries a vital message through enemy lines and returns with much needed plasma. After Lucky comes home to a hero's welcome, Mrs. Foster, who has returned from her trip, brags about how he saved her silver from thieves. Now Jim, who has always wanted to be a farmer, announces that he will live on his farm with Lucky. He then invites Gramps, who had been a farmer years earlier, and Kip to join them. Although Button is sad because she will no longer be close to Kip and Lucky, she is cheered up by an invitation to visit whenever she wants and promises to stay lifelong friends with Kip.
Director
Herbert Kline
Cast
Sharyn Moffett
Hobo Renfro
Jerry Hunter
Harry Davenport
Lionel Stander
Charles Williams
Charlotte Treadway
Howard Johnson
John Vosper
Nancy Evans
W. R. Frank
William Frank Jr.
Robert Woemtner
Crew
Leopold Atlas
Bartlett Carré
Maurice Clark
Irving Fineman
Marguerite Francisco
W. R. Frank
Jack Gorton
Victor V. Jones
Fred W. Kane
Herbert Kline
Edward Kull
Ted Larsen
Roy Meadows
Bert Offord
Eugene Shuftan
Willy Stahl
Glenn P. Thompson
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The film begins with the following written foreword: "The Producers wish to express their appreciation to the War Department in general and the Personnel of Ft. MacArthur in particular for their cooperation and assistance in the filming of this production." The film's titles are scrawled on the pickets of a fence in what is supposed to be a child's handwriting. Several of the credits are accompanied by stick-figure drawings, and Charles Williams' credit is followed by the phrase "We don't like him." Producer W. R. Frank played a small part in the film as did his thirteen-year-old son, William, Jr., and the sixteen-year-old son of Oscar Woemtner, Frank's partner in a Minnesota theater circuit. Portions of the film were shot at the War Department's Canine Training Center in San Carlos, CA in October 1944. According to a January 5, 1945 Hollywood Reporter news item, Frank planned to connect the film to a national anti-vivisection campaign that was being waged by the Tailwaggers of America against a planned vivisection lab at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Bethesda, MD. Although the film was completed in 1944, it was not released until 1946.
