The Ugly Dachshund Movie Review (1966)

Today’s movie has gone to the dogs, literally. Okay, only sort of. With Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette leading the human cast and an ensemble of animal cast, this movie was a new one to me. For this project, I’m focusing on the story itself, including dialogue, character development, any subplots, how a story presents itself, the speed at which it moves, if it slows down unnecessarily, etc.

A Brief Summary

(Taken from D23)

When a Great Dane puppy is put into a litter of dachshunds, the puppy grows up thinking he’s a dachshund, too, thereafter causing no end of humorous complications in the lives of Mark Garrison, a magazine illustrator, and his lovely wife, Fran. The Great Dane finally proves his worth, realizing just what kind of an animal he is, and peace once more descends on the Garrison household.

What works

• The movie starts off with a pregnancy gag where they hide that it’s the dog giving birth not Fran, and Sgt. Carmody tries to give them a police escort, only to realize he had been tricked and gave a record-breaking amount of tickets in a single sitting (according to the movie).
• Thought: post 1st viewing
  • light-hearted
  • medium-high stakes
  • happy ending (deserved)
• Scene w/cop is good, helps establish Mark/Fran’s differing personalities and ties in his appearances later in the movie
• I like that Mark wanted at least one boy puppy and they were all girls (until adopting Brutus)
• Doc Pruitt is adorable. He’s supportive of both Mark and Fran so he becomes a reliable character to help keep the story moving forward
• I really like Mark and Fran together. As characters, they are shown to have strengths and weaknesses (makes them more complex)
• Watching the utter destruction of the art studio was a thing of beauty.
• Pacing is good, keeps moving forward in the story
  • dog accidents make sense, not cartoony
• The dog show was the right amount of time and Brutus was such a delight to watch.
• Ending tied up nicely. satisfied.

What may or may not work

• Okay, so let’s talk about our lovely Ms. Fran Garrison played by the wonderful Suzanne Pleshette. Now I love Suzanne, but there were some issues with this particular character. Her love (dare I say obsession?) for her dachshunds, and her pursuit of them being prize-winning show dogs, does fit with the plot and helps keep the plot moving forward. What irritated me, though, was that even though I fully believe that there are dog moms who act in a similar fashion to Fran, her behavior still felt forced. Actually, maybe not so much forced, but pushed, a very strong push by Fran onto the audience. Her dachshunds could do NO WRONG and despite the Garrisons seemingly never having puppies before the dachshunds and Brutus, that she would just place all blame on Brutus and not even spare a second of thought that maybe it was a combination OR her own dachshund puppies that were the masterminds. And unfortunately, since it was that strong display of Fran’s character/behavior in regards to her dogs that allowed for the ending to feel more deserved, I’ll allow her character being written/directed the way it was, but I think it could have been toned back a hair and the plot would still have had the desired outcome.
• So for the party that the Garrisons host, they chose to go with an Asian theme, hiring caterers with I think decorations as well as food. Enforcing negative stereotypes with the two Asian characters certainly hasn’t aged the movie well. The scenes with the Asian characters, especially how they were treated at the party, did NOTHING to add to the story. In fact, it just made it harder to watch. Now, while I do understand that it was filmed during a different time with different standards (whether those standards were good or not is not the point), but if they’re going to treat characters in such a low manner, at least justify it within the story. As the point of the party (from a plot view) was so that Fran could get close to one of the judges for the upcoming dog show, and then have the dogs completely ruin said party, then the stereotyped behavior/treatment of the Asian characters was unnecessary. It still could have been accomplished without the stereotypes.

Honorable Mentions

• Okay, so I enjoyed the dialogue from this movie so much. It satisfied and matched my sense of humor to a T, and because of that, most of the below mentions are quotes.
• “Look, it’s my birthday, right?” -Mark
  • “right -Fran
  • that means I’m king for the day right?
  • right
  • means i can do whatever I want to do, right?
  • right
  • Alright I don’t wanna do anything with the dachsies.
• “I have had it with those walking wieners.” -Mark
• “Keep them out of my way or they’re really gonna wind up sausages.” -Mark
• Both of the following quotes are between Sgt. Carmody and mark
  • Hey you know something?
    • what?
    • So far nobody in the department yet has written that many violations in one day.
    • is that a fact?
    • I hold a record
    • I’m certainly happy I could help you out there
  • “we call him ‘the cat burglar’ -Sgt. Carmody
    • Mark says nothing
    • “You’re supposed to say ‘who in the world’d want to steal a cat?”
    • “I am?”
    • “well, everybody does.”
    • “Oh! Oh, well I guess my sense of humor’s not what it should be.”
      • It’s funny because Fran does ask that very question minutes later when Mark says there’s a cat burglar
• “Oh Dr. Pruitt, you don’t think that I arranged this whole party just to get on his good side, do you?”
  • “Oh no no no, never entered my mind.”
  • “well I did. Its wicked of me, huh?”
• “Brutus is a kind, loving, intelligent animal.” -Mark
  • Brutus barks
  • “Oh shut up, you idiot.”
• “What about that blue ribbon you’ve been talking about?”
  • No, no, no it’s impossible, impossible.
  • “Then you’ll do it?”
  • “Of course I will.

Side Questions

• If this were set in modern times, the dachshunds wouldn’t have gotten away with so much because Mark and Fran absolutely would have had security cameras installed. That being said…
  • How did Fran not notice the paint on the dachshunds?
  • (not too long after) Okay but the dogs are clean now, so really, nothing about the dachsies having paint?
• What about the other neighbors?
  • never mind, I forgot they called the cops – who notified Carmody who was in the tree all night to avoid Brutus
    • but for that matter, wouldn’t the police have sent another patrol car to check? Poor Sgt. Carmody

Would I watch this movie again?

• It really wasn’t that bad (I say with a grain of racist salt). I liked the pairing of Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette, and I do like watching the dogs. The scenes with the Asian characters (even though I LOVE one of the actors they cast) were terrible, but despite what I said above about those scenes, I wouldn’t take them out. They already exist, so instead of taking them out, they provide a good example of “what NOT to do” and allow the audience to discuss why such stereotypes shouldn’t be used in stories (or in reality) anymore. So yeah, I wouldn’t mind watching this movie again. It just wouldn’t be often.

If you’ve seen The Ugly Dachshund, what are some of your thoughts? Share in the comments below!

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