Customer Reviews

Won Ton Ton the Dog Who Saved Hollywood

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Won Ton Ton:

This is a fun movie - especially for adults who remember the old time Hollywood stars. It's not a tear-jerker, it's not deeply intellectual, it's not a slasher type, it's just fun. If you love the movie stars from the past you almost have to look at it twice to recognize them all. Cameos, cameos, cameos! Buy it!

I had seen it when it came out but when I rediscovered it on DVD, it was
so Laugh out Loud funny. A brilliant hymn to movies and the script is just a delight. Such a treat to see so many old gems in one film. A real treasure to own...

The dog deserves an Academy award, and the satirical skits on Hollywood are great.It certainly was thrilling for me to see the stars of the 1930's & 1940's in the 1970's. Favorite gag- a pitchman says to a studio executive- "How about this idea for a movie, a tornado takes a girl from Kansas to a fantasy land where she meets a man made from tin, a lion, and a strawman." Executive- " Will you get out of here!"

WON TON TON, THE DOG THAT SAVED HOLLYWOOD (1976) is a story set in silent-era Hollywood of a starlet, a hack screenwriter and a German Shepherd. The script is slight, but the cast memorable:

Bruce Dern/Madeline Kahn/Art Carney/Phil Silvers/Teri Garr/Ron Leibman

With cameos by (listed alphabetically):
Robert Alda/Morey Amsterdam/Army Archerd/Richard Arlen/Billy Barty/Edgar Bergen/Milton Berle/Janet Blair/Joan Blondell/Rory Calhoun/John Carradine/Jack Carter/Cyd Charisse/Jackie Coogan/Broderick Crawford/Dennis Day/Yvonne De Carlo/Gloria DeHaven/William Demarest/Andy Devine/Alice Faye/Stepin Fetchit/Rhonda Fleming/Eddie Foy Jr./Zsa Zsa Gabor/Shecky Greene/Huntz Hall/Dick Haymes/Sterling Holloway/Tab Hunter/George Jessel/Fernando Lamas/Dorothy Lamour/Jack La Rue/Peter Lawford/Phil Leeds/Keye Luke/Guy Madison/Victor Mature/Virginia Mayo/Mike Mazurki/Ethel Merman/Ann Miller/Ricardo Montalban/Dennis Morgan/Ken Murray/Louis Nye/Walter Pidgeon/Aldo Ray/Ann Rutherford/Dean Stockwell/Regis Toomey/Rudy Vallee/Nancy Walker/Doodles Weaver/Johnny Weissmuller/Jesse White/Henry Wilcoxon/Henny Youngman

Richard Arlen, Jackie Coogan, Jack LaRue and Henry Wilcoxon were all silent screen stars. Doodles Weaver was a member of Spike Jones & his City Slickers; he narrated their horse race record "Feitelbaum." Billy Barty's stage career began in vaudeville when he was a young child. Also here are two of the (then) surviving Ritz Bros. and Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez, whose surprisingly funny guest appearance on Groucho's YOU BET YOUR LIFE TV quiz show led to a film career!

There's too many other names here to go into each performer's resume; it's sufficient to observe that all of these folks had their heydays.


Pet lovers will also enjoy RHUBARB (1951), a screwball comedy about a cat that inherits a fortune and a baseball team.

Trying to catch all dog movies for my dog-loving five-year old. He was fine watching it, but I was bored to tears. Slow-moving. Waste of time.

I've been waiting 30+ years for this movie to come out in video and it was worth the wait.....my 13 year old daughter who had no clue who anybody in it was loved it.....Jenifer Aniston could pick up a few acting tips from Won Ton Ton !!!!

OK, it was funnier when I was in college. Or maybe old age is getting me and I just thought it was. This could have been such a great movie...great story but no plot after 20 minutes. Glad they used so many Silent screen stars...but the movie lost steam as they tried to be clever. It never works but the studios keep trying...Might be good for the kids or if you want to see Buster Keaton and peers, some for the last time...