Hollywood's Top Dogs: The Dog Hero in Film
Deborah Painter s insistent focus on her carefully circumscribed and defined viewpoint on the movie dog hero will hold the reader s attention. The result is an attractive narrative account of over 100 years of canine hero movies. This is no mean achievement, given the extent of the original, scattered resources. Simply dropping a few names of your friends and mine helps to suggest her coverage: Strongheart, Jean (a very early star), Rin-Tin-Tin, Peter the Great, Asta, Flash, Lad a Dog, Lassie (a dog), and Benji. The mere listing of early and late actors reveals the long-range coverage of the text. This fascinating roster of leading males and females (and one cross-over), whose admirers are legion, argue prima facie for a rich story and the reader will not be disappointed. Allan Shields, author, The Spirit of Rin-Tin-Tin; Emeritus Professor of Philosophy --Allan Shields