Almost everyone knows the name Lassie. A good portion of those people are also familiar with Benji. And there is still a significant chunk of people who know Rin-Tin-Tin. But guess what? None of those famous dog stars are worthy of the title of Best Movie Dog Ever.
The movie with the greatest dog is a person of all ages completely unknown to most people. In fact, the movies themselves are hardly known to most people. Long before Linda Hunt won an Oscar for playing a man, Spooks won a canine Oscar for playing the dog Daisy in a series of Blondie films made in the 40s.
The Blondie film series was as perfectly cast as any film from recognizable characters could ever hope for. it’s hard to imagine anyone other than Penny Singleton playing Blondie and Arthur Lake, well it’s like Dagwood Bumsteed channeling . In addition, Larry Simms as Baby Dumpling, later grown up to Alexander’s age, is probably the youngest too tough and annoying child actor a> of this time, maybe of all time. And then there is Daisy.
Daisy, the Bumsteads’ dog appeared in all of the films and was a vital element in all of them. This dog was truly amazing, more than Keanu Reeves and Bruce Willis could express. Well, well, that’s not all that wonderful. Primula was able to express excitement, fear, and joy more expressively than Prefect, Willis, and all the actors who are even remotely related to the Brat Pack. Then even the friends throw in the shot. What I’m saying is that Daisy rings around not just any other dog movie, but 95% of today’s movie actors.
Primula was, bar one, the funniest dog in film history. He stood up against some real characters in this series of movies and more than held his own. Whether it was giving the appearance of guilt to stand in the corner of punishment, or saving Dagwood from disaster, he was more than stealing something in which he appeared.
Perhaps his greatest work was his entry into the haunted house, Blonde Servant Has Trouble. Have you ever seen a dog really shake? Daisy gives a tour of the forces here that make Lassie look like a cast member of Friends and make Rin-Tin-Tin look like Dead Men every time Bruce Willis plays. The slow motion scene is particularly hysterical.
Is it a coincidence that the big dog movie star of the 70s, Benji, looks more than a little like Daisy? I do not think. I think that the Benji movie makers were trying to undertone the memory of Daisy that the parents and grandparents to Benji until the kids they were bound to be seen.
Don’t be fooled by Lassie’s reputation and all the other wannabes. Daisy Bumstede has regularly turned into the kind of shows that most humane actors wish they could replicate.
