Behave Yourself! (1951)

Purely Joyful Movie!

Nice effects though.

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

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.

Moderate comedy of what used to be described as the "screwball" variety.There are so many user comments already that there is little point in my summarising the plot for the umpteenth time.Suffice to say that, on the plus side, the movie is lively and, mostly, good natured. Against that is the somewhat incomprehensible plot - I never really worked out what the two gangs of criminals were trying to achieve - and the "frantic" performances of the majority of the cast. Someone obviously decided that "loud equals funny" and, consequently, everyone seems to be in a constant state of yelling hysteria which gets wearing long before the picture is over.Farley Granger was, I thought, OK as the harassed husband: Shelley Winters - miscast as the young wife - was more irritating than amusing.

A little dog turns out to be the most interesting feature of this film. This dog is the only lead for the "gangland buyers of the counterfeit money" to find the counterfeiters on Wilshire Blvd. Archie "the dog" has other plans and adopts Farley Granger and Shelley Winters as his family. Now the scramble by the gangsters to find the dog intensifies. Murder seems to follow this "pooch" and brings Granger to the center of all the mayhem. An amusing dog tale which ends answering the question "what if man bites dog."