Behave Yourself! (1951)

Admirable film.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

SYNOPSIS: Gangster's dog escapes from his trainer and follows Farley Granger home. Wife Shelley Winters thinks dog is an anniversary present, little knowing gangsters are in hot pursuit . . .COMMENT: An amusingly off-beat farce that deftly combines comic cops and robbers with domestic squabbles. Beck's stylishly fast-paced direction helps to overcome some over-talkative passages in his script. The cast is as fine a collection of character players as you could gather together, while Miss Winters and Mr Granger do well by the lead roles. Production values are A-l, with a special commendation to photographer James Wong Howe for his polished camerawork and J. McMillan Johnson for his excellent sets.OTHER VIEWS: Joseph McMillan Johnson was a young architecture graduate when he worked as an assistant to William Cameron Menzies on Gone With The Wind. By 1951, he had become a leading architect. Beck deserves the credit of luring him back to films with the challenging assignment of creating a "Honeymoon House" for this amusing yet stylish film. Johnson subsequently worked on such movies as To Catch A Thief, The Facts of Life, Mutiny on the Bounty and The Greatest Story Ever Told.James Wong Howe's photography is also a major asset. Although he never mentioned the film in interviews (preferring He Ran All the Way and The Brave Bulls as more representative of his 1951 work) his skill shines through every frame.Farley Granger is well cast as the dumb-cluck husband, while Shelley Winters fills the part of his young wife more than adequately. The gangsters are a joy (particularly Hans Conried and Francis L. Sullivan), opposing William Demarest in a made-to-order role as a fumbling, fulminating plainclothesman.

William Denny has forgotten that it is his second wedding anniversary till he is reminded on the phone… he claims to have a present so quickly goes to by one. Unfortunately for him he is followed into the shop by a dog; the dog causes a scene and he ends up paying for the damage and leaving without a present. He gets home, still followed by the dog and his wife, Kate, thinks it is her present and names him 'Archie'. What neither of them realise is that Archie was part of a criminal plot; he was meant to lead one criminal gang to another… now they are keen to get him back. William intends to return the dog to its rightful owner but is soon caught up in events that see him suspected of murder as he has trouble with the police, smugglers and counterfeiters.This comedy is definitely silly at times; in fact it is silly most of the time but I still thought it had sufficient genuinely funny moments to have been worth watching. The story is simple enough but it is told in such a way that makes it understandable that everybody caught up in the events is utterly confused. Unlike most canine capers the dog causes so much chaos that it isn't a surprise when William does not end up loving the mutt by the end. Farley Granger does a fine job as William; he may overplay things at times but that fits with the tone of the film. Shelley Winters is solid as his wife and Margalo Gillmore is entertaining as William's battle-axe of a mother in law, in whose house they live. Overall this isn't a must see but it is certainly amusing enough and doesn't contain any material likely to offend.

The plot's something about a go-between dog that gets lost from its two smuggler gangs and finds a home, sort of, with a young couple.Granger strives mightily to put the mad in madcap, but unfortunately it's too mightily. His incessant mugging in the latter half not only gets tiresome but amounts to unfunny desperation. Actually, the real problem with this misfire--as others point out--lies with director-writer Beck. In short, the screenplay is much too congested, probably to insert the many first-rate supporting players who could have provided real laughs if properly directed and defined. Instead, the likes of Leonard, Conreid, Cook, Jenkins, are largely wasted by a turgid screenplay. Only grouchy Demarest and sarcastic Gillmore manage to register. Winters' comedic talents are also largely wasted as the neglected wife, a role a hundred lesser actresses could have filled.Looks like the producers were intent on promoting Granger's career since he monopolizes the screen time. Looks also like he was trying to expand his range into comedy. Too bad the package doesn't work. At the same time, judging by his credits, the actor quickly returned to drama, and being the bobby-sox idol he was so good at. Anyway, I hope they gave Archie triple treats for his lively tail-wagging turn. He may not be a glamorous Lassie, but he'll sure do.

"Young newlyweds Bill and Kate Denny (Farley Granger and Shelley Winters) take in a stray dog named Archie. Archie is really a trained dog that is a go-between for two rival gangs of criminals. With a million-dollar counterfeiting scheme causing hostilities between the two gangs, our newlyweds and their adopted dog are thrown into the middle of the mix," according to the DVD sleeve summary. The more dramatically inclined co-stars have a lot of range, but it doesn't show in "Behave Yourself!" Most of the time, they seem out of their element. Made a few years earlier, with Cary Grant and Lucille Ball starring, this might have been a classic.***** Behave Yourself! (9/19/51) George Beck ~ Farley Granger, Shelley Winters, Margalo Gillmore, William Demarest