In small-town Lawtonville, teenager Ted Donaldson (as Daniel "Danny" Mitchell) has sneaked out well past his bedtime to tear down campaign posters promoting Mayor Lewis L. Russell (as Fulderwilder)'s reelection and replace them with his preferred candidate, father John Litel (as Hugh). After complaining about his son's lies, Mr. Litel returns from a volunteer firemen's meeting and catches young Donaldson and his dog "Rusty" sneaking in their bedroom window. Litel yells at Donaldson and whips him with a belt...
The beating is not shown on screen; we see Litel getting angry, getting the belt and shutting the bedroom door. Later, Donaldson complains about the pain and indicates his buttocks; mother Ann Doran (as Ethel) calls it a "painful" evening...
Next, Donaldson meets newly arrived female doctor Mona Barrie (as Antonia "Toni" Cordell) while bandaging a dog owned by blind Whitford Kane (as Joshua Michael Tucker). Impressed with Donaldson's "Dog and Cat Hospital", Ms. Barrie asks Donaldson to be his assistant. She advises him to keep his dog out of the lab, but Donaldson disobeys and Rusty knocks over some vials of water Barrie is testing to determine what is making some of Lawtonville's young citizens sick. Donaldson exclaims, "Will we get the dickens for this!" Indeed, Litel threatens to beat "the living daylights" out of Donaldson and send him away to military school...
Donaldson replaces the vials of water with contaminated samples. Of course, this could have a terrible effect on Donald's sick friends; it also threatens Litel's mayoral bid and leads to a canine tragedy. Good lessons for kids; bad example of fathering.
***** My Dog Rusty (4/8/48) Lew Landers ~ Ted Donaldson, John Litel, Mona Barrie, Whitford Kane
The beating is not shown on screen; we see Litel getting angry, getting the belt and shutting the bedroom door. Later, Donaldson complains about the pain and indicates his buttocks; mother Ann Doran (as Ethel) calls it a "painful" evening...
Next, Donaldson meets newly arrived female doctor Mona Barrie (as Antonia "Toni" Cordell) while bandaging a dog owned by blind Whitford Kane (as Joshua Michael Tucker). Impressed with Donaldson's "Dog and Cat Hospital", Ms. Barrie asks Donaldson to be his assistant. She advises him to keep his dog out of the lab, but Donaldson disobeys and Rusty knocks over some vials of water Barrie is testing to determine what is making some of Lawtonville's young citizens sick. Donaldson exclaims, "Will we get the dickens for this!" Indeed, Litel threatens to beat "the living daylights" out of Donaldson and send him away to military school...
Donaldson replaces the vials of water with contaminated samples. Of course, this could have a terrible effect on Donald's sick friends; it also threatens Litel's mayoral bid and leads to a canine tragedy. Good lessons for kids; bad example of fathering.
***** My Dog Rusty (4/8/48) Lew Landers ~ Ted Donaldson, John Litel, Mona Barrie, Whitford Kane