...And They Call It Puppy Love

A few days ago, I went to the movie theater and saw “Marley and Me”. Being the dog lover that I am, I knew I would become attached to Marley, the world’s worst dog. I was right. The moment I got home from the theater, I immediately gave my 14 year-old miniature schnauzer Sammy a great big hug. I think I would’ve lost my mind if she was as crazy as Marley. I rather love my lazy butterball dog.

My dog, Sammy

Seeing “Marley and Me” got me thinking about other movie dogs that had captured my heart. There are the more recent ones like Beethoven, Air Bud, and that crazy little pug in the Men in Black movies: movie dogs that I grew up loving. However, this is a classic film blog, so I thought I would look back at some of my favorite classic film dogs.

Skippy “Asta”
Wirehaired Fox Terrier
One of the most famous movie dogs of the 1930’s, Skippy (later known as Asta), held his own as a comedian in some of the greatest screwball comedies. His best known characters include Asta in “The Thin Man” and “After the Thin Man”, Mr. Smith in “The Awful Truth”, and George in “Bringing Up Baby”. Although his most famous character, Asta, exists in all of the Thin Man movies, he himself did not star in all of them.

Terry “Toto”
Cairn Terrier
After playing Dorothy Gale’s canine companion in “The Wizard of Oz”, Terry was renamed “Toto”. She went on to make other movies, but she was never able to outdo her signature role. Some of her other films include “The Women”, “Fury”, and “George Washington Slept Here”.

Get Off the Rug and You Too
Great Danes
They only have a small role in the 1938 comedy “Merrily We Live”. I had to include these two just because I love their names, which also serve as commands. Maybe I should have learned from the movie and named my dog “Don’t Eat That”.

For an almost comprehensive list of films with dogs in them visit Moviedogs.