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Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood

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Wikipedia article




'Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood' is a 1976 American comedy film directed by Michael Winner and starring Bruce Dern, Madeline Kahn, Teri Garr and Art Carney. Spoofing the craze surrounding Rin Tin Tin, the film is notable for the large number of cameo appearances by actors and actresses from Hollywood's golden age[https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D02E0DB173EE334BC4F51DFB366838D669EDE The New York Times][https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/books/review/rin-tin-tin-by-susan-orlean-book-review.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 The New York Times] many of whom had been employees of Paramount Pictures, the film's distributor.

Plot



After escaping from a dog pound, a German Shepherd links up with a budding actress and a wannabe film scriptwriter and becomes a Hollywood star.

Cast



'Starring'

*Bruce Dern as Grayson Potchuck

*Madeline Kahn as Estie Del Ruth

*Art Carney as J.J. Fromberg

*Phil Silvers as Murray Fromberg

*Ron Leibman as Rudy Montague

*Teri Garr as Fluffy Peters

*Ronny Graham as Mark Bennett

*Toni Basil as Guest at Awards Ceremony

'Larger cameos'

*Dorothy Lamour as Visiting Film Star

*Joan Blondell as Landlady

*Virginia Mayo as Miss Battley

*Henny Youngman as Manny Farber

*Rory Calhoun as Phillip Hart

*Aldo Ray as Stubby Stebbins

*Ethel Merman as Hedda Parsons

*Nancy Walker as Mrs. Fromberg

*Rhonda Fleming as Rhoda Flaming

*Dean Stockwell as Paul Lavell

*Dick Haymes as James Crawford

*Tab Hunter as David Hamilton

*Robert Alda as Richard Entwhistle

*Victor Mature as Nick

*Edgar Bergen as Professor Quicksand

*Henry Wilcoxon as Silent Film Director

*Alice Faye as Secretary at Gate

*Yvonne De Carlo as Cleaning Woman

'Brief Cameo appearances'

*Dennis Morgan as Tour Guide

*Shecky Greene as Tourist

*William Demarest as Studio Gatekeeper

*Billy Barty as Assistant Director

*Ricardo Montalban as Silent Film Star

*Jackie Coogan as Stagehand #1

*Andy Devine as Priest in Dog Pound

*Broderick Crawford as Special Effects Man

*Richard Arlen as Silent Film Star #2

*Jack La Rue as Silent Film Villain

*Gloria DeHaven as President's Girl #1

*Louis Nye as Radio Interviewer

*Johnny Weissmuller as Stagehand #2 (final film role)

*Stepin Fetchit as Dancing Butler

*Ken Murray as Souvenir Salesman

*Rudy Vallee as Autograph Hound

*George Jessel as Awards Announcer

*Ann Miller as President's Girl #2

*Eli Mintz as Tailor

*Fritz Feld as Rudy's Butler

*Edward Ashley as Second Butler

*Jane Connell as Waitress

*Janet Blair as President's Girl #3

*Dennis Day as Singing Telegraph Man

*Mike Mazurki as Studio Guard

*Harry Ritz and Jimmy Ritz as Cleaning Women

*Jesse White as Rudy's Agent

*Carmel Myers as Woman Journalist

*Jack Carter as Male Journalist

*Barbara Nichols as Nick's Girl

*Army Archerd as Premiere MC

*Fernando Lamas as Premiere Male Star

*Zsa Zsa Gabor as Premiere Female Star

*Cyd Charisse as President's Girl #4

*Huntz Hall as Moving Man

*Doodles Weaver as Man in Mexican Film

*Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez as Mexican Projectionist

*Morey Amsterdam as Custard Pie Star #1

*Eddie Foy Jr. as Custard Pie Star #2

*Peter Lawford as Custard Pie Star #3

*Patricia Morison as Star at Screening

*Guy Madison as Star at Screening

*Regis Toomey as Burlesque Stagehand

*Ann Rutherford as Grayson's Studio Secretary

*Milton Berle as Blind Man

*John Carradine as Drunk

*Keye Luke as Cook in Kitchen

*Walter Pidgeon as Grayson's Butler

*Phil Leeds as Dog Catcher #1

*Cliff Norton as Dog Catcher #2

*Sterling Holloway as Old Man on Bus

*William Benedict as Man on Bus

*Dorothy Gulliver as Old Woman on Bus

*Eddie LeVeque as Prostitute's Customer

Production



The film was originally called 'A Bark is Born' and was based on the career of Rin Tin Tin. The story was written by Cy Howard in 1971. He hired Arnold Schulmann to write the script. It was developed by David Picker at Warner Bros who requested the title be changed so as to not clash with their upcoming version of 'A Star is Born'. Picker changed it to 'Won Ton Ton the Dog that Saved Warner Bros'.

Warner Bros decided not to make the movie. Picker took the script with him when he moved to Paramount, causing the title to be changed."To Rinny With Love and G Rating" Haber, Joyce. 'Los Angeles Times' 27 Aug 1975: e10. The owners of Rin Tin Tin sued the producers, causing Picker to insist his dog was completely fictional."Hollywood's hydrants will never be the same" Kerwin, Robert. 'Chicago Tribune' 25 Jan 1976: g12.

Lily Tomlin was offered the female lead but wanted her partner Jane Wagner to rewrite the script. Director Michael Winner said Tomlin "felt we mustn't go for the laugh. Well, in a comedy laughs don't hurt." Tomlin left the project. Picker says Bette Midler wanted to make the film "but we couldn't come to an arrangement." Eventually Madeline Kahn was cast.

Bruce Dern said he accepted the lead "because I've never been in a hit. This is a very funny movie."

Filming started in August 1975. Karl Miller was in charge of the dog."Won Ton Ton: Hot dog, handle with care" Gorner, Peter. 'Chicago Tribune' 23 May 1976: e12.

Arnold Schulman, credited as a writer and producer, later said:

Not only did David Picker, the producer, have every word of the script rewritten, but he hired Michael Winner, the director of all the Charles Bronson Death Wish pictures, to "realize" the film, as the post-Cahiers du Cinma directors like to put it. It was written by me as a satire, written by God-knows-who as a slapstick farce, and directed with all the charm and wit of a chain-saw massacre. I had nothing to do with the final picture, and on that one, I was not only listed as cowriter but also as executive producer, and I couldn't get my name off! (Laughs.)


Reception



The film, which has a score of 14% on Rotten Tomatoes from 14 critics, opened to negative reviews when it opened in the late spring of 1976.

Richard Eder of 'The New York Times' declared, "What saves the movie, a jumble of good jokes and bad, sloppiness, chaos and apparently any old thing that came to hand, is Madeline Kahn ... What she has as W. C. Fields and Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin had is a kind of unwavering purpose at right angles to reality, a concentration that she bears, Magoolike, through all kinds of unreasonable events."Eder, Richard (May 27, 1976). [https://www.nytimes.com/1976/05/27/archives/miss-kahn-lifts-won-ton-ton.html "Miss Kahn Lifts 'Won Ton Ton'".] 'The New York Times'. 30. Arthur D. Murphy of 'Variety' reported that "this project might have worked to a degree of whimsy. But the alchemy in the direction has turned potential cotton candy into reinforced concrete; Winner's 'Death Wish' is funnier in comparison."Murphy, Arthur D. (May 5, 1976). "Film Reviews: Won Ton Ton, The Dog Who Saved Hollywood". 'Variety'. 18. Kevin Thomas of the 'Los Angeles Times' wrote, "Sixty guest stars can't save 'Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood' ... from its unrelentingly crass tone and steady stream of unfunny jokes. Unquestionably, the best performance is given by an appealing German shepherd named Augustus Von Schumacher, who plays Won Ton Ton."Thomas, Kevin (May 26, 1976). "Hollywood in 'Won' Dimension". 'Los Angeles Times'. Part IV, p. 1. Gene Siskel of the 'Chicago Tribune' gave the film two stars out of four and called it "a scattershot comedy that can't make up its mind whether to be 'wholesome family entertainment' or a smutty film industry in-joke. It goes both ways."Siskel, Gene (May 31, 1976). "[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/48070539/gene-siskel-movie-reviewswon-ton/ 'Won Ton Ton' can't save bad script]". 'Chicago Tribune'. Section 2, p. 9.

John Pym of 'The Monthly Film Bulletin' wrote, "Michael Winner does not have Mel Brooks' frenzied gift for marshaling this sort of material; and, to make matters worse, the script attains a level of parody no higher than Ron Leibman's mincing caricature of Valentino, embellished with little more than the standard mannerisms of the familiar theatrical queen." Gary Arnold of 'The Washington Post' stated, "This tacky exercise in mock nostalgia may be added to that recent, weirdly miscalculated genre that includes 'W. C. Fields and Me', 'Gable and Lombard' and 'The Day of the Locust' ... They may be presented as uninhibited, madcap spoofs of Old Hollywood, but they tend to end up illustrating the New Hollywood at its most crass, insecure and condescending."Arnold, Gary (May 28, 1976). "'Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood'". 'The Washington Post'. B9.

The film was one of five reviewed in the July 16, 1976 edition of 'The Times' of London, where David Robinson had some particularly biting criticisms of it:

References




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