IT'S A DOG'S LIFE

US, 1955, 88 minutes, Colour.
Jeff Richards, Jarma Lewis, Edmund Gwenn, Dean Jagger.
Directed by Herman Hoffman.

It's A Dog's 'Life is a kind of shaggy dog cinema story. Based on a novel, 'The Bar Sinister'. The film was adapted by John Michael Hayes (writer of a number of Hitchcock thrillers as To Catch a Thief, The Trouble With Harry). The distinctive thing about the film is that it is told from the dog's point of view. It is one of those humorous fables where dogs are given human qualities and they make their estimates of the humans. The film is enjoyable and has an engaging performance by Edmund Gwenn as well as the dog, Wildfire.

1. An offbeat entertainment? Comedy? Dog story?

2. Cinemascope photography, colour? Action sequences? The techniques to highlight the dog's point of view? The voice-over and commentary of the dog?

3. The title and its irony? The original title: The Bar Sinister?

4. Wildfire and his storytelling? The tones of the voice-over? The visuals to indicate the character of the dog - close-ups, expressions, actions? Wildfire's background? His adventures with Patch Mc Gill, a lighting dog in the Bowery? The transition to Jeremiah Nolan? Mr. Wyndham and his dog-breeding? The clashes with Mr Wyndham? The successful training by Jeremiah? Wildfire's success? The more familiar story - Wildfire and his search for his lost mother, his finding a life? The dog story with the human touch?

5. Patch Mc Gill, tough, the Bowery, the fights, the backing of the fighting dog?

6. Jeremiah Nolan and his adopting Wildfire, his caring for him, training him? Wyndham? The dog show?

7. Wyndham and his breeding dogs, suspicions of Wildfire, the success of the dog show, their becoming friends?

8. The human characters as background: Mabel Maycroft and romance, Tattle, Dorothy Wyndham, George Oakley? A gallery of minor characters as background to Wildfire's story?

9. An engaging offbeat comedy? The perspective on human beings and human nature?