HOUND DOG MAN

US, 1959, 87 minutes, Black and white.
Fabian, Stuart Whitman, Carol Lynley, Arthur O'Connell, Betty Field, Royal Dano, Jane Darwell, Edgar Buchanan, Claude Akins.
Directed by Don Siegel.

Hound Dog Man is pleasing relaxed matinee material for the family. It was a vehicle to set singer Fabian on a film career - with mixed success e.g. North To Alaska, Mr. Hobbs Takes A Vacation. The title role is played by Stuart Whitman with the relaxed style that he showed in many films of the '60s. There is quite a gallery of character actors who seem to enjoy themselves in this folksy story: Arthur O'Connell, Betty Field, Jane Darwell. Direction is by Don Siegel who had made Riot In Cell Block 11 and The Invasion of the Body Snatchers during the '50s. He made Flaming Star with Elvis Presley at this time. He was to become a cult director in the '70s, especially with his series of films with Clint Eastwood.

This is pleasant undemanding Americana - full of good nature and optimism, emphasising sentiment but avoiding sentimentality.

1. An entertaining piece of Americana? The American way of life in the countryside? Family values? The footloose hero settling down? The adolescent boy growing up? The view of life from childhood? How well did the film combine these themes?

2. The widescreen colour photography? Location atmosphere? Farms, forests, towns? The musical score? The title and other songs and their insertion into the plot? Fabian and his singing? The pleasant country and western overtones of the score?

3. The conventions of this kind of film and how well used? The wandering hero, his leading the growing up young man and boy, his skills, his avoiding commitment, falling in love, temptations and fights, good resolutions at the end? The sturdy-minded heroine wanted marriage? The young man growing up and wanting to move away from family dependence? The young boy enthusiastic about hunting, fishing? The folksy families? The clashes in the small town? The optimism of the film?

4. The atmosphere of authenticity about the story - the kind of plot that could happen anywhere? Credible characters? Situations? Audience identification with characters and plot? Enjoying the optimism and hope implied in the film?

5. Blackie as hero: Stuart Whitman's strong lazy and easy-going style? Blackie and his reputation, his skills in hunting and fishing, taking Clint and Spud out hunting? The encounter with the heroine and the mutual antagonism - culminating in the wildcat sequence during the meal? The importance of her saving Blackie's reputation during the dance? His being mistrusted by the Kinneys? The outback American hero - strengths and weaknesses?

6. The heroine - her strong-mindedness, growing up, setting her sights on Blackie, the encounters at the farm, her taunting him at the meal, her dissatisfaction with him at the dance, saving his reputation? Her admiration for her father - looking after him? Discussions with her mother? The prospect of a happy marriage?

7. Fabian as Clint? The popular singer in a pleasant dramatic role? How well handled? The growing up son and his wanting to move away from father and mother? Enjoying the hunting adventure with Clint? With Spud? His adolescent behaviour with his girlfriend and his jealousy? Riding for the doctor and the humour of the pulling of the tooth? His place at the dance, singing, moodiness? Drinking and fight? His decision to go back home? Relationship with his parents?

8. Spud as his younger brother, the exuberance of the hunting experience, the love for the hound dog, persuading his mother to let him keep it? The Kinneys as nice folksy parents? The wisdom of the mother and her hard attitudes - relenting? The father and his kindness, his strong stance to the angry man with the gun and the dance? Clint's admiration for him? The heroine's parents - the eccentric and artistic father playing his violin and understanding his daughter? Her hard-working mother with her doubts?

9. The action sequences - scenes of hunting, fishing, the open air life? The dangers with trespassers, angry men shooting, accidents and the need to set a leg?

10. The family sequences - especially meals? The build-up to the dance and its atmosphere of jollity? The range of characters from the town? Their being introduced during the leg-setting - with the humorous touch? The more dramatic touch at the dance? Blackie and the angry man's wife and her flirting?

11. The final resolution of the issues in a quiet and gentle way? A glimpse into the ordinary way of life of a small farming town and community?