It Came From the Basement: Dog Eat Dog
By John Seal
September 22, 2004
Dog Eat Dog (1964 BRD-LIE-ITA)
The story: Somewhere in Europe, three unlikely thieves have stolen $1,000,000 in obsolete currency from the United States Treasury. When local hoteliers decide to get a piece of the action, things get complicated, and a game of cat and mouse ensues on a remote island.
The film: A man runs down a deserted European street, pursued by a well-dressed hood in an automobile. It's nighttime, but the villain has his sunglasses on anyway, and a jazzy, Peter Gunn-style score plays out in the background. Welcome to the pseudo-noir world of Dog Eat Dog, a low budget, made-in-Europe adventure story about an unlikely group of criminals trying to escape with the big bundle of cash they've hijacked.
Cameron Mitchell plays Lyle Corbett, the running man in the film's first scene. He's being pursued by his greedy former partner-in-crime Kostis (Ivor Salter), who's unilaterally decided to keep Corbett's share of the loot for himself. Kostis forces Corbett to jump off a rocky cliff and then returns to the local inn, confident that his erstwhile chum won't be returning to claim his cut. We then meet the third member of this dysfunctional crime family, Kostis' gal pal Darlene (Jayne Mansfield), a flighty moll with huge, erm, personal 'assets' and a penchant for carelessly tossing greenbacks around her hotel room. Responding to complaints about noise, hotel manager Morelli (Aldo Camarda) happens upon the peignoired Darlene as she lasciviously rolls atop the bed amidst an ocean of big bills. His interest piqued by this display, Morelli hatches a plot with sister Sandra (Dodie Heath) and lover Madame Benoit (Isa Miranda) to bag the cash for himself. The plan: Sandra will plant a bomb on Kostis' yacht, the explosion will eliminate the competition, and the local hospitality industry employees will be set for life.
However, as Robbie Burns once wrote, the best laid schemes of mice and men gang aft agley. Unbeknownst to Kostis, Corbett has survived his cliffside tumble and has climbed aboard the very boat Morelli is planning to blow up. He foils the bomb plot, commandeers the yacht at gunpoint (with Sandra, Kostis, and Darlene aboard), and sets sail for a remote and supposedly deserted island where a more seaworthy getaway boat is hidden. Further complications arise after docking, however, when Corbett and company discover the island is inhabited by a dying noblewoman, Xenia (Elisabeth Flickenscheldt), and her bald retainer, Janis (Pinkas Braun). Kostis, sizing up the situation, takes a risk and lunges for Corbett's gun. Whilst the two engage in fisticuffs, Darlene pursues the fleeing Sandra, resulting in a terrific yacht-bound catfight complete with hair-pulling and wet blouses. In the tumult the crafty Xenia absconds with the now unsupervised and cash laden money belt.
Meanwhile, Morelli, now aware that his original plan has been foiled, arrives on the island via motorboat. Will he be in time to save sister Sandra from Darlene's predations? Who will triumph in Kostis' and Corbett's bare-fisted bout? And will Xenia live long enough to enjoy the money she's hidden in her boudoir? You'll have to watch the movie to find out.
The cast and crew: Jayne Mansfield's star was waning rapidly when she starred in Dog Eat Dog, but it's one of the better films of the latter half of her career. In fact, compared to films like The Fat Spy and Hillbillys in the Haunted House, it's a classic. Mansfield would be dead within three years, decapitated in a gruesome car crash tastelessly recreated in 1968's mondo epic, The Wild, Wild World of Jayne Mansfield. Cameron Mitchell, on the other hand, was starting over after a brief time spent in low budget Hollywood fare such as Flight to Mars and Japanese War Bride. His brooding intensity always served him well in villainous roles in Euro-lensed thrillers such as Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace and the Little Shop of Horrors knockoff Man Eater of Hydra, and he's more than adequate here. Still beautiful in 1964, Isa Miranda had been a star in Italian fascist epics like 1937's Scipio Africanus, moved into live theatre in the post-war era, and ended her career with a brief but memorable appearance in Liliana Cavani's 1974 Nazisploitation art film, The Night Porter. Fans of German krimis will immediately recognize Werner Peters as a befuddled police inspector and the still active Pinkas Braun as Janis the Butler, and British-born Ivor Salter is best remembered for his recurring role as Gobber Newhouse in the popular television series All Creatures Great and Small.
Though this print carries a director credit for Gustav Gavrin, a little known Croatian director, Dog Eat Dog was actually the final film of director Richard Cunha, a Hawaiian born filmmaker responsible for rock-bottom drive-in filler like Giant From the Unknown and Frankenstein's Daughter (both 1958). He co-directed Dog Eat Dog with western specialist Ray Nazarro, who also retired after this feature. Screenwriter Robert Hill started out working on exploitation features with director Albert Zugsmith (perhaps lending credence to rumors that Zugsmith also spent some time working on Dog Eat Dog), and he gives Mansfield some memorable and ripe dialogue, usually revolving around her underwear, or lack thereof. During the first reel, she asks Kostis if she can 'have just one of these little one hundred dollar bills - so I can go and buy a pair of panties?' and later she advises Braun that 'I do TOO wear underwear - so there!' Mansfield also has a pet phrase ('crackers!') that she repeatedly uses to express shock or surprise, a verbal tic that Hill and co-writer Michael Elkins wisely drop half way through the picture.
Riccardo Pallotini's basic but reasonably effective black and white cinematography was apparently lensed in 1.85:1, but other than the credits sequence, this print is in pan and scan format. That's not a huge loss, as Pallotini clearly didn't spend a lot of time setting up complex shots. Additionally, there's a lame schlager song provided by Hugo Strasser and Ernst Neubach in an early and forgettable nightclub sequence.
Nostalgia value: If, like me, you spent your youth glued to the TV enjoying Movies Till Dawn on one of your local channels, this will rekindle happy memories of other early '60s made-in-Europe thrillers like Pyro and Carpet of Horror. Otherwise, no.
The print: The public domain print still making the rounds is in good shape and seems to be complete. It would be nice to find a source print so the entire film could be seen widescreen—and to perhaps clear up the confusion about who actually directed it.
DVD prognosis: Not particularly good. Dog Eat Dog is a film that falls between a lot of cracks: it's not particularly violent or sexy, it's by no means exploitative, and its US distribution was minimal at best. Unfairly or not, no one remembers this film. On the other hand, the aforementioned Hillbillys in the Haunted House came to DVD via VCI in the format's early days, so perhaps they'll also take the time to restore this forgotten gem.
Ratings:
Film: C+. If not for Mitchell and Mansfield, the film would be much less interesting and even more obscure than it already is. The story is only minimally engaging but is enlivened by the brooding score of Carlo Savina and some good location photography.
Print: B.
DVD worthiness: If you're a Mansfield fan, this is an A+ necessity. For everyone else, it's a C at best. I'd like to see this get more than a perfunctory and sloppy digital reissue, but a future spent in the catalogues of PD outfits like Alpha Video seems to be Dog Eat Dog's likely fate.
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