Underplayed Gems

So Quiet on the Canine Front (1931)

So Quiet on the Canine Front poster
Directed by
Jules White
Genre
comedy film
Country
United States
Runtime
16 min
Rating
6.7 of 10 from 3 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

This is a parody of the serious anti-war film All Quiet on the Western Front but with dogs. The dogs appear to talk through overdubbed dialogue as they act out comedy scenes.

sillyabsurdplayfullightheartedcampycomedicfast-pacedgimmicky

What happens

So Quiet on the Canine Front is a 1931 American comedy short film, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, structured as a parody of Universal Pictures' All Quiet on the Western Front, a highly praised anti-war tragedy of a young student in the German army during World War I, which won, at the 3rd Academy Awards on November 5, 1930, the top prize — Award for Outstanding Production. The cast consists of performing dogs whose chewing or barking jaw movements are overdubbed with dialogue. The fifth of nine black-and-white two-reel Dogville Comedies directed for MGM between 1929 and 1931 by Zion Myers and Jules White, both of whom also wrote, produced and provided voices, the film has been intermittently broadcast on Turner Classic Movies and is available on DVD as part of the Dogville Shorts Collection. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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