Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood * (1976, Madeline Kahn, Art Carney, Bruce Dern, Phil Silvers, Teri Garr, Ron Leibman) – Classic Movie Review 9115

Michael Winner’s 1976 comedy Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood stars the adorable comedienne Madeline Kahn as struggling Twenties actress Estie Del Ruth and Bruce Dern as director Grayson Potchuk, who adopt a Rin-Tin-Tin-style stray dog and studio head J J Fromberg (Art Carney) spots the doggie Won Ton Ton for stardom.

But the public gets bored with the pooch’s films, the trio are fired, they get a travelling show, and Kahn’s Estie Del Ruth is spotted as a star instead.

Unfortunately, this proves to be a silly satirical comedy with a carelessly fashioned, farcical script by Arnold Schulman and Cy Howard, just when it needed a tight rein and a witty screwball style. Most of the players are chucked away, including dozens of veterans who mainly are not from the film’s silent movie era, but are very welcome anyway.

The entertaining Kahn has the best of what’s going and it is just about worth a look by old-time-movie star-spotters, and that may be enough for many people. But, otherwise, sorry, Winner directs a loser here and finds himself in the doghouse.

Also in the astonishing cast are Phil Silvers, Teri Garr, Ron Leibman, Robert Alda, Morey Amsterdam, Army Archerd, Richard Arlen, Edgar Bergen, Milton Berle, Janet Blair, Joan Blondell, Rory Calhoun, John Carradine, Jack Carter, Cyd Charisse, Jackie Coogan, Broderick Crawford, Yvonne De Carlo, Gloria DeHaven, Andy Devine, Alice Faye, Stepin Fetchit, Rhonda Fleming, Eddie Foy Jr, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Shecky Greene, Huntz Hall, Dick Haymes, George Jessel, Dorothy Lamour, Jack La Rue, Peter Lawford, Phil Leeds, Keye Luke, Patricia Morrison, Ken Murray, Guy Madison, Victor Mature, Ethel Merman, Ann Miller, Ricardo Montalban, Carmel Myers, Barbara Nichols, Cliff Norton, Louis Nye, Walter Pidgeon, Aldo Ray, Harry Ritz, James Ritz, Ann Rutherford, Dean Stockwell, Regis Toomey, Rudy Vallee, Romo Vincent, Nancy Walker, Doodles Weaver, Jesse White, Henny Youngman, Billy Benedict, Dorothy Guliver, Eli Mintz, Edward Ashley, Kres Mersky, Jane Connell, Jack Bernardi, Dennis Morgan, Tab Hunter, Johnny Weissmuller, Billy Barty, Dennis Day, Sterling Holloway, William Demarest, Virginia Mayo, Fritz Feld, Mike Mazurki, Fernando Lamas, Pedro Gonzales-Gonzales, Ronny Graham and Edward Le Veque.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 9115

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