Behave Yourself! (1951)

Simply A Masterpiece

Absolutely Fantastic

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

William Denny has forgotten that it is his second wedding anniversary till he is reminded on the phone… he claims to have a present so quickly goes to by one. Unfortunately for him he is followed into the shop by a dog; the dog causes a scene and he ends up paying for the damage and leaving without a present. He gets home, still followed by the dog and his wife, Kate, thinks it is her present and names him 'Archie'. What neither of them realise is that Archie was part of a criminal plot; he was meant to lead one criminal gang to another… now they are keen to get him back. William intends to return the dog to its rightful owner but is soon caught up in events that see him suspected of murder as he has trouble with the police, smugglers and counterfeiters.This comedy is definitely silly at times; in fact it is silly most of the time but I still thought it had sufficient genuinely funny moments to have been worth watching. The story is simple enough but it is told in such a way that makes it understandable that everybody caught up in the events is utterly confused. Unlike most canine capers the dog causes so much chaos that it isn't a surprise when William does not end up loving the mutt by the end. Farley Granger does a fine job as William; he may overplay things at times but that fits with the tone of the film. Shelley Winters is solid as his wife and Margalo Gillmore is entertaining as William's battle-axe of a mother in law, in whose house they live. Overall this isn't a must see but it is certainly amusing enough and doesn't contain any material likely to offend.

Moderate comedy of what used to be described as the "screwball" variety.There are so many user comments already that there is little point in my summarising the plot for the umpteenth time.Suffice to say that, on the plus side, the movie is lively and, mostly, good natured. Against that is the somewhat incomprehensible plot - I never really worked out what the two gangs of criminals were trying to achieve - and the "frantic" performances of the majority of the cast. Someone obviously decided that "loud equals funny" and, consequently, everyone seems to be in a constant state of yelling hysteria which gets wearing long before the picture is over.Farley Granger was, I thought, OK as the harassed husband: Shelley Winters - miscast as the young wife - was more irritating than amusing.

Behave Yourself! Not sure why the film is titled the way it was. I did want to watch it as I have not seen an early Shelly Winters film. I could only imagine an older, larger Shelly from the film "Poseidon Adventure." The film is a situation comedy of sorts. The early 50s version of situation comedy includes lots of misunderstandings, a mother-in-law doing Dianetics classes in the evenings, and an innocent man who (a) forgot his wife's anniversary; (b) had a run-in with a dog who is trained in finding drop-off points for smugglers and (c) is always at the scene of a murder or three! Sorry but the overacting was just too much. The comedy was not that funny to the modern viewer and the cops not really understanding what was going on as the stumbled through the scenes and the equally dumb gangsters with pratfalls and further misunderstandings – well! Stars: Fun to see William Demerist in something other than his "My Three Sons" TV series (from the Sixties). And Lon Chaney Jr. as a heavy was a sight to see. Shelly Winters acted as a clueless woman who faints more than she babbles on about her husband. The mother-in-law was a gem, how she accuses her son-in-law of murder and says "it figures" several times throughout the film. Unless you're a big Shelly Winters fan, probably not the style for you. Lucille Ball played this theme so much better. DVD: My DVD was from Alpha Video and did not have any features other than scene selections. Cast & Crew:Director: George Beck Writers: George Beck (screenplay), George Beck (story),» Stars: Farley Granger, Shelley Winters and William Demarest

***SLIGHT SPOILERS*** Archie the dog is a Welsh Terrier (the breed resembles a miniature Airedale terrier), although his head looks very much like a schnauzer to me. The dog is just a plain and simple dog. I mean, even though he's certainly one of the main characters, he doesn't act part human, as many movie dogs do today. He's mischievous, he's a thief, he's playful, he's heroic, he did what he's been trained to do, he didn't do what he was told to do--he's a 100% dog! All the good and bad and endearing qualities. Although he just acts like a dog, he did it in front of the camera, for most of the movie, so I'd say the little guy was a good actor, with a good trainer. However, I think the sound people wanted to ruin the little guy's credibility, because they added all kinds of weird noises to him, that he obviously was not making.There were a few strange elements in the movie. The police were ridiculous, refusing to listen to the story, when it was so obvious that the dog obviously had something to do with the murders. Then there was the case of Mr. Denny and the dog. Put simply, the dog followed him home. He didn't tell his wife that he hadn't brought the dog because she thought it was an anniversary present for her. But when everything got complicated, it would have been the best thing to do to just tell his wife everything. Hopefully he's not such a liar that his wife wouldn't believe him. I realize he did try to tell her, but it was just silly not to let her know right at the very beginning.The people were okay, although some of their relationships were a little confusing. The husband seemed madly in love with his wife, but the wife seemed manipulative and stand-offish, half the time accusing him and half the time defending him. I suppose this could be a realistic relationship, but there seemed to be something missing in their relationship--chemistry, or maybe it was just poor acting.Especially among the bad guys, I had a lot of trouble figuring out who was who and what exactly the heist was that they were trying to pull off. There was so much spying and back biting and mix ups. . . well, I was totally mixed up. But despite not knowing where all the bad guys stood in relation to each other, I knew they were all bad, so I understood it well enough in the end.