Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Aspen Orson There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

jacobs-greenwood The first in a series of eight "Rusty" films about a German Shepherd dog and the boy who owns him, featuring Ted Donaldson as Danny Mitchell; Ace the Wonder Dog plays the title role in this one.It's a family drama, directed by Paul Burnford, with a screenplay from Aubrey Wisberg that was based on a story by Al Martin. The cast includes two Hollywood veterans well past their prime, Margaret Lindsay and Conrad Nagel; Gloria Holden plays Lindsay's friend Louise.Danny is upset because his widower father (Nagel) is remarrying, even though Ann (Lindsay) is someone the boy likes, having known her while his mother was alive. A stereotypical conflict ensues especially because Danny's other best friend, his pet dog, was killed on the wedding day, making the boy resent his stepmother even more for the loneliness caused by his father's lack of time for him. So Danny attempts to befriend his neighbor Will Nelson's (Robert Williams) mean and vicious German Shepherd, which had been trained by the Nazis during World War II; Rusty was brought home to the states by Nelson after his service in the army.When Danny learns that Mr. Nelson may have the dog put down, he begs his parents to allow him to adopt it. After her initial caution for Danny's safety, Ann believes that the boy should be allowed to keep the dog. In fact, even though Ann has been kind, unusually understanding, and more than patient with Danny's lack of acceptance of her, she seeks the help of a professional psychiatrist named Dr. Banning (Addison Richards) hoping that he may advise her about how to deal with the boy. Ironically, Danny had seen the doctor for advice about how to train Rusty to be less vicious and more appreciative of his efforts.Danny begins to treat Rusty with a combination of indifference and praise for good behavior at the same time that Ann attempts to do the same, hoping that the boy will come to him, but the tactic doesn't work for either of them. Instead, Rusty chews threw his rope leash and runs away where he happens upon two German spies (Arno Frey and Eddie Parker), who take charge of him to steal for them.When Danny and his friends go searching for Rusty, the dog helps the boys to miraculously capture the luger wielding Germans. Meanwhile to solve her problem, Ann decides to leave husband Hugh and his boy. After seeing how depressed this makes his father, Danny finds her at Louise's and begs her to come home by promising that he'll never upset her again. She returns home so that the three (four if you count Rusty) of them can live happily ever after (and all go fishing together).

MCL1150 I wasn't born until 1963, but I have a great love of 1930s and 40s America. Until TCM began airing the "Rusty" series, I had no idea that the films even existed. I'm glad they do though. Considered corny and unrealistic by todays standards, I find them to be wonderful little time capsules of post-war USA. The reason they can't make something like this today is simply because today's world is too caught up in selfishness and lack of respect for others. It must have been nice to live in a time in which a Boy and His Dog series of films was what the public wanted to see. Unfortuanately for todays audiences, these 60 year old time pieces deal in such "boring" subjects as parents caring about their kids and the kids learning from their mistakes. If they were made today, they'd have to toss in drive by shootings, drugs, teen pregnancy and lots of profanity in order to attract an audience. And, of course, the kids would have to be smarter than the parents and all the other adults. Anyway, if you enjoy simple, predictable stories in which the kids don't hate their parents and even love them for caring about their proper upbringing, then certainly give these films a shot. All I know is these simple portraits of America in the 1940s leave me with a nice, nostalgic feeling for a time that we'll never see again. After all, the world of today is all about how the young being totally disrespectful to anyone over 30 and anything else would be seen as hopelessly corny and boring to watch. I was truly born about 50 years too late!

Neil Doyle TED DONALDSON (who was the child star in A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN as Neely, the little brother), appeared the same year in this programmer, THE ADVENTURES OF RUSTY, a rather routine little melodrama from Columbia. It's all about a period of adjustment for a boy who just lost his little dog in an accident and has to adjust to his father (CONRAD NAGEL) marrying a new mom (MARGARET LINDSAY).The boy befriends a German Shepherd with a nasty attitude toward others that has to be tamed before his parents allow him to adopt the dog for a pet. But relations between the boy and his step-mom are anything but smooth, with both of them seeking the help of a psychiatrist to help them amend their ways.The last twenty minutes of the story brings a sub-plot involving the arrival of two German men who interact with Rusty. Turns out they're German spies (it takes place before the end of WWII), and the plot has the dog saving the day by pinning the men down so they can be picked up by the Shore Patrol.It's an uneven film, obviously made on the cheap, a quickie that probably played the lower half of double bills in the days of double features at the movies. TED DONALDSON is nowhere as lovable here as he was in A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN. Most of the time he's a sullen little boy who's selfish and completely ill-mannered toward a kindly step-mom who only wants to help him. CONRAD NAGEL and MARGARET LINDSAY do professional jobs in less than convincing roles.Summing up: A trifle hardly worth the trouble to watch--but Ace the Wonder Dog can certainly snarl well on cue.

sol (Some Spoilers) Unusual dog movie about a former German police dog who was brought back to the states by a GI who ends up capturing two German saboteurs. The movie "Rusty" is also about a young boy Danny,Ted Donaldson, who after his mother tragically died has his dad Hugh Mitchell, Conrad Nagel, marry his new love Ann, Margaret Lindsay, which cause friction between him and his step-mother for his father affection and attention. After Danny's dog Skipper gets killed in a traffic accident the boy is left without his best friend as well as losing his dad who now has no time for his after he married Ann. Later Danny spots this vicious German Shepherd, that he later names Rusty, at his neighbors Will Nelson, Robert Williams,home and offer to take the unruly dog off his hands.At the Mitchell home Rusty is both wild and unapproachable and every time Danny goes near him, and tries to pet the dog, he takes a snap at him and once almost tears his hand off. It's obvious that the dog being trained by the German Army during WWII, the movie takes place in 1944, is anything but a Lassie or Rin-Tin-Tin. The only way to treat the poor dog is to be as unfeeling to him as he is to Danny and thus not show him any love or affection since he's unable to respond to it.Rusty felling unwanted and at the same time unable to show any friendliness toward Danny, because of his brutal training back in Germany,breaks away from his lease at the Mitchell's home doghouse and runs off into the nearby woods. It just happens that these two German saboteurs are landed by a U-Boat and they both start to do their work to blow up US military installations. All the Germans seem to do in their attempts to "Blow up America" is just go camping and then steal a number of kitchen utensils as they later run into the lost and confused Rusty. Rusty immediately responds and obeys the two Gremans, like he was trained to back in Germany, whom they use to catch rabbits and chickens from the locals hen houses and chicken coops for food for the saboteurs and Rusty to eat.Danny looking for Rusty with his friends run into him and his new masters, the Germans. Rusty after hesitating to attack Danny and friends, as he was ordered by the Germans, turns on them when one of the Nazis pulls out a gun and is about to shoot his real friend Danny. After almost getting his arm ripped off by the courageous Rusty the other German saboteur is caught by the boys and Rusty after he's hit in the head with a sling-shot by Hurbie (Gary Gray) who's the smallest of the boys looking for Rusty. The two outer Germans are finally saved from the rampaging Rusty, a former comrade of theirs, by the US Navy MP's who just happened to come on the scene. Besides the obvious boy and his dog-type story "Rusty" also showed how difficult it is for a young boy to get along with someone replacing his mom, Ann. In the end both Danny and Ann overcame those difficulties and came together, with Danny's dad Hugh, as a happy and loving family. But that wouldn't have happened if it was not for the brave and selfless Rusty who brought them all together.