The Top 10 Dog Films

Karen Bartlett

 

Watch Video of "Top Dog Award" at Cannes

 

1. Old Yeller, 1957. A Walt Disney classic about a poor 1860s Texas family and the dog who loved them. Be warned - it's a weepy.


2. Best in Show, 2000. Five show dogs, their owners and handlers head for the Mayflower Kennel Club Dog Show in this hilarious mockumentary.


3. Lassie Come Home, 1943. The first in a series of adventures: Lassie is cast out by her destitute family, but won't stay, even when her new owner's granddaughter is Elizabeth Taylor.


4. Rin Tin Tin, 1954. Rin Tin Tin and descendants starred in 48 movies between 1922 to 1954. Top film moment came in the 1954 adventure Rin Tin Tin Hero of the West.
5. Legally Blonde 2, 2003. Legendary chihuahua Bruiser gets his own Bill in Congress after Reese Witherspoon discovers his mother is being used for cosmetic testing. Bruiser becomes a gay icon after coming out with a rottweiller named Leslie.


6. The Wizard of Oz, 1939. When a neighbour tries to have her dog put to sleep, Dorothy takes Toto and heads into a cyclone. Toto, a Cairn terrier, was paid $125 a week - but it was money well spent. It gave the the Wicked Witch of the West her best line: “I'll get you, my pretty, and your little dog, too!”


7. Rescued by Rover, 1905. This classic British film about a baby being rescued by a dog, was shot on a budget of £7 13s 6d. It marked a key stage in the development of narrative editing.


8. Cujo, 1983. Based on the novel by Stephen King, Cujo is a loveable St Bernard, until he contracts rabies and conducts a reign of terror on a New England town. It all ends nastily for Cujo with a baseball bat.


9. Cats & Dogs, 2001. A war has always been fought in our living rooms between cats and dogs. Butch, Mr Tinkles and Ninja battle it out to see who can control a secret medicine that will either cure dog allergies, or create a more aggressive strain. Dogs are the heroes, cats are the villains. Could it be any other way?


10. Beethoven, 1992. Hard to ignore in the canine canon. Beethoven is the puppy that grows into a 185lb St Bernard, escaping the clutches of a dastardly veterinarian en route.

Source: The Times, 20 May 2008