The Lucky Dog
About The Lucky Dog
A broke young man, played by Stan Laurel, is thrown out for unpaid rent and picks up a stray dog that has hidden in his suitcase. On the street he walks into a hold-up. The bandit, Oliver Hardy, stuffs the victim's money into Laurel's pocket by mistake, then robs him of it. The dog makes friends with a poodle. The poodle's owner gets Laurel to enter his dog in a show; he is thrown out, offers his dog in place of hers, and is invited home. Her boyfriend and the bandit, now posing as a Swiss count, plot against him. A gun misfires. The dog carries a stick of dynamite into the garden and drops it. The bandit and the boyfriend are left with the blast.
Cast & crew
More about The Lucky Dog
Gilbert M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson produced it for Sun-Lite Pictures as a pilot for a proposed series of Stan Laurel comedies. Jess Robbins directed and wrote. Irving G. Ries photographed it. Lord Heath dates the shooting from 18 December 1920 to 4 February 1921, including Eastlake Park at 3501 Valley Boulevard in Los Angeles. A 1920 license plate is visible in the complete print. Reelcraft, through Metro Pictures, released it in the United States on 1 December 1921. It runs two reels, 24 minutes complete, with a 17-minute cut that stops when Hardy robs Laurel.
Themes
Making
Anderson wanted a sample Laurel comedy he could show to backers. Hardy was hired as the heavy, not as a partner.
Look
Irving G. Ries shot the two reels on Los Angeles streets, including Eastlake Park.
Music
Silent, with English intertitles.
Preservation
A complete two-reel version runs 24 minutes. Shorter copies stop at the end of the first reel. A Wikimedia file preserves a print.
Notes
- It is the first film in which Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy appear together. They are not yet a team. Laurel is the lead and Hardy is the bandit.
- Florence Gilbert plays the poodle's owner. Jack Lloyd plays the boyfriend and, in the opening, the landlady in disguise.
- Some circulating copies end after the first reel, at the robbery.
- The film is in the public domain in the United States.
- The Lost Films Collection, Volume 3, includes a long DVD version.
Scenes
- Hardy, mid-hold-up, puts the victim's cash into Laurel's back pocket and then takes it back.
- The dog fetches the lit dynamite and leaves Hardy and the boyfriend in the garden when it goes off.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (The Lucky Dog (Jess Robbins, 1921).webm)
- The Lost Films Collection, Volume 3 (DVD)
