A dog's purpose? To sell movie tickets.
A producer once told me that she would give the same advice to all aspiring filmmakers: "Put a dog in your movie. People love dogs!"
Hollywood has heeded this maxim for nearly a century.
Although occasionally upstaged by cats, horses, talking fish and those lion cubs in "Born Free," dogs have proven to be perennial favorites as stars or sidekicks.
Here are some of the classics of canine cinema:
"Rin-Tin-Tin." A global box office smash, "Rinty" starred in a slew of movies from 1922 to 1931, often rescuing humans from peril. In real life, the German shepherd was rescued by a soldier in France during World War I and brought to America. He lived to age 14 and achieved a doggie first in films: top billing.
"Lassie Come Home" (1942). This tear-jerker about a Collie's long, arduous trek to find her loved ones in England starred Roddy McDowall and featured 11-year-old Elizabeth Taylor. It launched a multitude of spinoffs and remakes. Lassie debuted on TV in 1954 and ran for 20 years.
"Old Yeller" (1957). The classic weeper charts the hallowed friendship between young farm boy Travis Coates (Tommy Kirk) and the stray, kind of yellowish lab-retriever-mastiff he adopts. Yeller contracts rabies and must be put down. And guess who gets to shoot him? Brought to you by Disney, the same cheery folks who killed Bambi's mother.
"Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey" (1993). This pets-on-a-trek saga is a rollicking adventure featuring two dogs and (ahem) a cat. It's greatly enhanced by the voice talents of Michael J. Fox as Chance, a spotted bulldog; Don Ameche as Shadow, a Golden retriever, and Sally Field as Sassy, a Himalayan.
"Marley & Me" (2008). If you're a young, stressed-out working couple with kids, by all means add a dog to your house. The Grogans (Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston) acquire a yellow Labrador retriever and he proceeds to eat and/or chew everything in his path. Constantly. Group effort: Marley was played by 22 different dogs.
