Sunday, April 7, 2013

Biscuit Eater, The 1972

Biscuit Eater, The 1972



The Biscuit eater (1972)



‘The Biscuit Eater’ is a dog named Promise who will not hunt for his own food but is content to eat, well, biscuits handed out to him. His boy Lonnie and his best buddy Text train him to be a hunting dog and enter him in a hunting dog competition. He is doing well and fine and at the end his one dog opponent is ‘George Boy’ owned by Lonnie’s dad. This creates a problem as if Lonnie wins his dad gets fired from his job as dog trainer. What’s a boy to do? He insults Promise by calling him a Biscuit Eater and he runs away and in the end gets shot by Text’s dad. The End. This was one of the top 10 films when it came out in 1940.  It’s not on DVD (unless you by a bootleg copy) so you probably won’t likely see it.  Of course this film is not the one I’m really commenting on, it’s the Disney 1972 remake.

          The big difference in plot is that the Biscuit Eater’s name in this film is Moreover and Text has a mom and no dad. The dog also does not die in the end from a gunshot wound. I don’t know about the previous film but the remake has a funny (or someone trying to be funny) black sleek conman gas station owner named Willie Dorsey. Plus there is a cameo by Big Red, whom I think thought his film was better. My wife kept laughing during the film as it looked as if it was made in the 70’s even though it is supposed to take place in the 1940’s.  Both movies are based on a short story by James H. Street published in 1939.   It’s not an exciting Disney film and I believe is notable now for depicting a duo of 12 years carrying around a gun like it’s not a problem. No permit. No background checks. No waiting period. A different time. A different mentality. A time when responsibility was taught along with gun use and you didn’t have nuts shooting up places with weapons used by the military.

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