Lady and the Tramp

Lady and the Tramp

Posted on Mar 19, 2008 By Julia Szabo

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Disney, 1955, 76 minutes - add this title to your Netflix queue

Available on Amazon.com

This movie is in the FetchDog Top 20

If I could turn back the clock and re-do my Vassar education, I'd major in film with a concentration in dog movies, and I'd write my thesis on this masterpiece of Disney animation. I'd also frame the poster and put it up in my dorm room.

Before you dismiss this movie as kid stuff and this blogger as a nut, let me point out that I'm not the first to give Lady and the Tramp the serious props it deserves; Whit Stillman's The Last Day's of Disco famously includes a heated discussion in which someone opines that the romanticized figure of Tramp programs women to adore jerks (whatev).

This is one sophisticated adult - yes, adult - film. Consider the premise: A suave, collarless stray mutt named Tramp, who out-gigolo's young Richard Gere in being just what the various folks offering food want him to be, crosses paths with a pampered, purebred Cocker Spaniel. At the time of this movie's release, depicting inter-class, let alone inter-breed, romance was still a radical move (that same year, director Douglas Sirk shocked audiences with All That Heaven Allows and its portrayal of love between a wealthy widow and her gardener). Yet to the tune of the song "Bella Notte," the couple shares the most memorable plate of spaghetti and meatballs ever consummated - I mean, consumed - on screen. And that includes any Italian dish eaten in a Martin Scorsese picture.

Lady is picked up by the dog-catcher and spends a night in the pound. There she meets, among other hard-luck dogs, a world-weary Bulldog and a sexy Pekingese named Peg who's been around the pool yet still carries a torch for Tramp (she's voiced by Miss Peggy Lee, and her character design owes a debt to gorgeous Gloria Grahame). At the animal shelter, we're not spared the harsh reality of what becomes of unwanted dogs, especially seniors. It's depicted in shadow, but I promise it will stay with you; it may even propel you to your local animal shelter to spring one of the inmates.

Once safely back at home, Lady is comforted by her gallant neighbors, a Bloodhound and a Scottie. Methinks Lady doth protest too much when she turns a cold shoulder toward Tramp. Happily, all is forgiven when the swain proves his heroic mettle by coming to the rescue of a baby in distress. (Incidentally, Tramp's heroism is a fine argument against expecting parents sidelining dogs or dumping them at the pound; sadly, babies are among the most common excuses offered for surrendering a pet.)

Oh, I could go on. But don't mind me - just go fetch the movie already. And enjoy.

Presence of dogs: