''The Son of Rusty'' is a 1947 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by Lew Landers and starring

Ted Donaldson Ted Donaldson (born August 20, 1933 in New York City) is an American former child actor. Early years Born in Brooklyn, New York, Donaldson was the son of singer-composer Will Donaldson and Will's wife, Jo. His mother died when he was years old. ...

, Stephen Dunne and

Ann Doran Ann Lee Doran (July 28, 1911 – September 19, 2000) was an American character actress, possibly best known as the mother of Jim Stark (James Dean) in ''Rebel Without a Cause'' (1955). She was an early member of the Screen Actors Guild and serv ...

. It was part of

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

' eight-film Rusty series about a boy and his valiant

German Shepherd The German Shepherd or Alsatian is a German breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various traditional German herding dogs from 1899. It was originally bred as a herding dog, for ...

Plot

Danny Mitchell and friends, Squeaky Foley, Gerald Hebble, Nip and Tuck Worden hang out in their clubhouse, listening to the radio serial "Fang, the Detective Dog" while they collect enough Vitabark box tops to send off for a book ''How to Train Your Dog to Be a Detective'' so they can train Danny's German Shepherd, Rusty. The clubhouse is on private property belonging to retired lawyer Franklyn B. Gibson, who instead of running the boys off, uses it as an opportunity to teach a lesson in responsibility. When a mysterious young man Jed Barlow and his German Shepherd Barb move to Lawtonville, rumors soon spread that Jed is a former "jailbird" based on a letter addressed to him from a U.S. Army Military Prison. Barlow is surly and uncommunicative, but Danny befriends him when Rusty becomes friends with Barb. Barlow is sharecropping the old, dilapidated, empty Gruber farm and is arrested when the townspeople accuse him of deliberately injuring Rusty while dynamiting a tree stump. Danny, refusing to believe Barlow would deliberately harm Rusty, convinces Mr. Gibson to defend Barlow. During the trial Barlow testifies that he is a veteran spurned by his girl friend and has become embittered at the world as a result. Mr. Gibson uses Barlow's testimony to argue that society is too often quick to judge people on outward appearances. Jed Barlow's main accuser Gerald Hebble's older brother Luther is charged with slander and the two German Shepherds, Rusty & Barb, become real good friends, hence the movie's title.

Cast

Source for uncredited: *

as Danny Mitchell * Stephen Dunne as Jed Barlow *

Tom Powers Thomas McCreery Powers (July 7, 1890 – November 9, 1955) was an American actor in theatre, films, radio and television. A veteran of the Broadway stage, notably in plays by George Bernard Shaw, he created the role of Charles Marsden in Eug ...

as Hugh Mitchell *

as Ethel Mitchell *

Thurston Hall Ernest Thurston Hall (May 10, 1882 – February 20, 1958) was an American film, stage and television actor.Aylesworth, Thomas G. and Bowman, John S. (1987). ''The World Almanac Who's Who of Film''. World Almanac. . Pp. 186-187. Career Stag ...

as Franklyn B. Gibson * Matt Willis as Luther Hebble *

Rudy Robles Rudy Robles (born Pastor Lluviosa Robles, 29 April 1910 – 11 August 1970) was a Filipino film and television actor. He was one of the first Filipino actors to appear in Hollywood movies. Career Robles was born in Tacloban, in the Eastern ...

as Gono * Rusty as Rusty * Ted Infuhr as Squeaky Foley (uncredited) *

Dwayne Hickman Dwayne Bernard Hickman (May 18, 1934 – January 9, 2022) was an American actor and television executive, producer and director, who worked as an executive at CBS and had also briefly recorded as a vocalist. Hickman portrayed Chuck MacDonald, B ...

as Nip Worden (uncredited) *

David Ackles David Thomas Ackles (February 20, 1937 – March 2, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, pianist, and child actor. He recorded four albums between 1968 and 1973. Describing Ackles' style in 2003, critic Colin McElligatt wrote, "An unlikely ...

as Tuck Worden (uncredited) *

Harlan Briggs Harlan Briggs (August 17, 1879 – January 26, 1952) was an American actor and Vaudeville performer who was active from the 1930s until his death in 1952. During the course of his career he appeared on Broadway, in over 100 films, as well a ...

as Dr. McNamara (uncredited) *

Griff Barnett Griff Barnett (born Manley Griffith, November 12, 1884 – January 12, 1958) was an American actor.(17 January 1958) ''The New York Times'' Barnett was born in Blue Ridge, Texas in 1884. In the early 20th century, Barnett was a member of the ...

as Judge (uncredited) *

Edythe Elliott Edythe Elliott (born Edythe Fletcher; July 14, 1886 – April 9, 1978) was an American character actress active primarily during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. Biography Edythe Elliott was born in San Francisco, California where her parents were ...

as Mrs. Hebble (uncredited) * Ernie Adams as Postmaster (uncredited) * Kenneth MacDonald as Police chief (uncredited) * Fred Sears as E. A. Thompson (uncredited) *

Norman Ollestad Norman Ollestad Jr. (born May 30, 1967) is an American author. At the age of eleven, he was the only survivor of a plane crash that claimed the life of his father. He wrote about it in his 2009 bestseller ''Crazy For The Storm: A Memoir Of Survi ...

as Sammy (uncredited) *

Chester Conklin Chester Cooper Conklin (January 11, 1886 – October 11, 1971) was an early American film comedian who started at Keystone Studios as one of Mack Sennett’s Keystone Cops, often paired with Mack Swain. He appeared in a series of films with Ma ...

as Bakery clerk (uncredited) *

Dick Elliott Richard Damon Elliott (April 30, 1886 – December 22, 1961) was an American character actor who played in over 240 films from the 1930s until the time of his death. Early years Elliott was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Career Elliott p ...

as Mayor (uncredited) *

Minta Durfee Araminta Estelle "Minta" Durfee (October 1, 1889 – September 9, 1975) was an American silent film actress from Los Angeles, California, possibly best known for her role in '' Mickey'' (1918). Biography She met Roscoe Arbuckle when he was att ...

as Townswoman (uncredited) *

Blackie Whiteford John Penman "Blackie" Whiteford (April 27, 1889 – March 21, 1962) was an American film actor. Biography In 1903, Whiteford was a seaman between jobs when he was offered a chance to work on '' The Great Train Robbery'' film. That opportuni ...

as Gossiper (uncredited)

References

External links

* 1947 films 1947 drama films American drama films Films directed by Lew Landers Columbia Pictures films American black-and-white films Rusty (film series) 1940s English-language films 1940s American films Films scored by Mischa Bakaleinikoff Films scored by Irving Gertz {{1940s-drama-film-stub