''A Dog's Best Friend'' is a 1959 American

Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by

Edward L. Cahn Edward L. Cahn (February 12, 1899 – August 25, 1963) was an American film director. Early life and education Cahn was born in Brooklyn, New York. He went to work at Universal Pictures in 1917 while still a student at UCLA. Career ...

and written by Orville H. Hampton. The film stars Bill Williams,

Marcia Henderson Marcia Anne Prestlien (née Henderson; July 22, 1929 – November 23, 1987) was an American actress. She made her Broadway debut as Wendy in the musical ''Peter Pan'' (1950), for which she won a Theatre World Award. Henderson also appeared in fi ...

Roger Mobley Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

Roy Engel Roy Engel (September 13, 1913 – December 29, 1980) was an American actor on radio, film, and television. He performed in more than 150 films and almost 800 episodes of television programs. Career Engel's ancestry was Irish and Dutch. His ...

, Charles Cooper and

Harry Dean Stanton Harry Dean Stanton (July 14, 1926 – September 15, 2017) was an American actor, musician, and singer. In a career that spanned more than six decades, Stanton played supporting roles in films including '' Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), ''Kelly's Heroe ...

. The film was released on December 20, 1959, by

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...

Plot

Orphaned when his widowed father is executed for murder, Pip Wheeler is sent to live with rancher Wes Thurman and his wife Millie. The young boy's traumatic past makes him so withdrawn and difficult that the Thurmans consider returning him to the orphanage. Unknown to his foster parents, Pip finds a stray, hungry German shepherd, Silver King, guarding a .38 revolver one day and nurses the animal back to health and sneaks food from the Thurman house to feed him. Hiding the dog in the hills, Pip gradually gains the animal's trust, resulting in a softening of the boy's demeanor, which surprises the Thurmans, who know nothing of the blossoming friendship. Meanwhile, the shepherd's owner, miser Otto Tillman, who was rumored to keep a large amount of cash in his house, has been found murdered and Silver King is missing. Evidence at the scene of the crime leads officials to believe that Silver King, a war dog trained by the Marines, wounded the assailant during the murder, thus prompting Sheriff Dan Murdock to call for the dog to be found and shot. Meanwhile, the murderer, Roy Janney, lies suffering from gangrene in a motel with his partner in the crime, Deputy Sheriff Bill Beamer. Unable to seek medical attention for fear that Janney might be identified because of the dog bites, Beamer promises that they can leave town with the money once he finds the dog and the revolver that the animal snatched during their scuffle. Meanwhile, Wes, discovering that a dog has killed one of his lambs, tracks down Silver King and finds Pip with the gun drawn, guarding him. After Pip insists he would rather run away than give up the dog, Wes, convinced that Pip must go back to the county authorities, reports the incident at the police station. Beamer, who is also at the station, learns of Silver King's whereabouts and assumes he can finally recover his gun and dispose of the animal, thus destroying all the incriminating evidence. Soon after, following a lead about a man found dying in a nearby motel, Murdock and Wes go to the motel and discover Janney and the stolen money. When Janney confesses to killing Otto and names Beamer as his accomplice, Murdock and Wes deduce that Beamer will be hunting down Pip to destroy the gun and kill him and Silver King. Meanwhile, Beamer finds Pip in the hills, gets the gun and attempts to shoot the boy, but the dog leaps into the battle and saves Pip. When Wes and Murdock arrive at the scene, Beamer shoots and wounds Murdock but is knocked unconscious by Wes in the ensuing fight. Witnessing Wes's love for him, Pip happily returns to the Thurman house, where both he and Silver King accept their new, permanent home.

Cast

* Bill Williams as Wesley 'Wes' Thurman *

as Millie Thurman *

as Pip Wheeler *

as Sheriff Dan Murdock * Charles Cooper as Deputy Sheriff Bill Beamer * Dean Stanton as Roy Janney *

Jimmy Baird Jimmy Baird (born 1948) is an American film and television actor. He is known for playing Pee Wee Jenkins in the American western television series '' Fury''. Life and career Baird was born in Seattle, Washington. He began his screen career i ...

as Jimmy Thurman *Terry Ann Ross as Amy Thurman

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dogs Best Friend 1959 films 1950s English-language films United Artists films American drama films 1959 drama films American Western (genre) films 1959 Western (genre) films Films directed by Edward L. Cahn Films scored by Paul Sawtell 1950s American films