WAS IT A CAIRN?

FILMS CAIRN FANS ASKED ABOUT THAT MISSED GETTING ON THE LIST AND

MOVIES INCORRECTLY LISTED ON THE WEB AS STARRING CAIRN TERRIERS

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1. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz-1910 -A Terrier Mix

2. Mary of Scotland-1936-A Bearded Collie

3. Annabel Takes A Tour-1938- A West Highland White Terrier

4. Our Little Girl-1935-A Scottish Terrier  

5. Greyfriar’s Bobby-1961-A Skye Terrier  

6. The Adventures of Greyfriar’s Bobby-2005-A  West Highland White Terrier

7. The Wiz-1978-A Miniature Schnauzer

8. Back To The Future, Part I-1985-A Bearded Collie or sheepdog mixed breed.

9. Back To The Future Part II-1989-A Bearded Collie or sheepdog mixed breed.

10. Back To The Future Part III 1990-A Bearded Collie or sheepdog mixed breed.

11. Krypto-The Superdog-2005-A Cartoon series, generic Scottish terrier mix, with elastic tail

12. My Summer Vacation-1995 A Canadian film, gay erotica, there are no dogs in this film

13. The Big Lebowski- 1998-A Silky Terrier or Silky terrier mixed breed

·   The Wonderful Wizard of Oz-1910

           Silent film. All credits lost or disputed. It was created for the Selig Polyscope Co in 1910. I have recieved many requests to view this film and check the breed of dog playing Toto. My first viewing was not a clean copy and it did seem it could possibly be a Cairn. Although at first viewing my hopes were high, a frame by frame examination of a cleaner copy showed folded ears and what appeared to be a longer silky coat.  These are not Cairn characteristics. The film is charming, has nice effects, costumes, and sets, is very pleasant to watch, and short. It has all the main characters and the basic storyline, and  is true to the story we have all come to know. It lacks the unfortunate racial components that litter the Laural and Hardy 1925 silent film version of the story which has no Toto. If you are a fan of Wizard of Oz movies this one is worth your time.

Available on Amazon as a bonus on the 3 disc 1939 Wizard of Oz, and as part of the More Treasures from the American Film Archives DVD Collection

 

 

·       Mary of Scotland-1936
           Katherine Hepburn, Florence Eldridge, Fredric March, John Carradine, Douglas Walton, directed by John Ford for RKO Studios.  

     The film was adapted by Dudley Nichols from a 1933 play by Maxwell Anderson.
             Katherine Hepburn was never better than when playing sadly tragic romantic characters and in this film she played Mary, Queen of  Scots, to the pathetic hilt. The off-screen romance between Ford and Hepburn that bloomed during the filming of this movie is a Hollywood legend. Hepburn excelled as the helpless, grief stricken queen in this sad tale of a monarch forced to execution. She was not fond  of the character, considering her weak. Both the film and her performance received poor reviews at the time. That has not kept it from earning a cult following as a romantic classic.

           Ginger Rodgers was said to have done everything in her power to get the role of Elizabeth I in this film. Florence Eldridge who was married to Fredric March also wanted the role. Ginger Rodgers did have a private screen test to try to win it that was said to be amazing. She even sacrificed her golden locks, cutting her hair to a style worn by Elizabeth I, but she was turned down in favor of Florence Eldridge. Several fans of this film have contacted me about the dog in the movie; it is probably a Bearded Collie pup. It is not a Cairn Terrier.  This time I truly wish the studio had hired the right breed of dog as this is one of my favorite romantic films. VHS, DVD, available on Netflix, and as part of the John Ford Collection.

 

·      Our Little Girl -1935

       Shirley Temple, Rosemary Ames, Directed by John S. Robertson

     Parents of a charming little girl consider divorce causing her to run away from home to make things right. Sniffy the dog is a Scottish   Terrier.   Available on Amazon Instant rental,VHS, DVD. 

 

·  Annabel Takes A Tour-1938

        Lucille Ball, Jack Oakie, Ruth Donnelly, Ralph Forbes, Elmer the Dog-uncredited, Directed by Lew Landers.  

      Several persons contacted me about a Cairn in the first film in this series "The Affairs of Annabel" also made and released in 1938 with different writers and directors. It was apparently meant to be a three film series but the male lead asked for more money than the studio was willing to pay so the series stopped with the sequel "Annabel Takes A Tour" which may have also been released in some venues as "Annabel Takes A Trip". There is no dog in "The Affairs of Annabel". However there is a cute little terrier called "Elmer" in the sequel "Annabel Takes a Tour". Both pictures are very funny and both show off the comedic talents of Lucille Ball in a way that shows clear glimpses of the character she would later develop on television. 
     "Elmer" is a very difficult terrier to pin down. Although in many scenes Elmer looks like a light wheaten Cairn, smaller in bone, darker fur etc., in most scenes Elmer glows white. Because of that appearance of white color, especially on the face and ears, and the stovepipe tail grooming, Elmer really looks more Westie than Cairn in the movie. Although either breed's fanciers could make a case for Elmer, on the whole Elmer has more scenes looking very Westie so, in this case, I'm calling Elmer for the Westie team.  Unless someone can provide me documentation about this canine actor, Elmer's staying on the "Naughty Dogs" page as a Westie mistaken by viewers as a Cairn. Elmer's performance is excellent and her scenes are very funny. These two pictures are worth the time for an enjoyable evening of laughter and popcorn.

Available for purchase on Amazon in VHS, also available on Vudu to rent or own.  

 

·       Greyfriar’s Bobby-1961
         Donald Crisp, Laurence Naismith, directed by Don Chaffey. 

      This movie does not star a Cairn Terrier. Wikipedia incorrectly lists this as a Cairn Movie. It is not. It stars, as it should, a young Skye Terrier. Greyfriar’s Bobby is a true story about Scotland’s most famous loyal dog who has a dedicated statue in Edinburgh,      Scotland. Available on Netflix,VHS, DVD.

 

· Greyfriar’s Bobby-2005
       James Cosmo, Suzanne Dance, directed by John Henderson.

This movie does not star a Cairn Terrier. It stars a Westie. Heavy use of yellow filters to create atmosphere and a painterly look to scenes gave the dog a Wheaten look in many parts of the film but in scenes without the filter; it is clearly a white dog. Greyfriar’s Bobby is a true story about Scotland’s most famous loyal dog who has a dedicated statue in Edinburgh, Scotland. Available on DVD.

  

            

    ·         The Wiz-1978
     Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Lena Horne, directed by Sidney Lumet,
     This movie does not star a Cairn Terrier even though several enthusiastic fans on the web describe the dog in it as a Cairn. It stars a Miniature    Schnauzer. This film may have one of the most star studded casts of its time. The list of stars is stunning. Quincy Jones, Diana Ross, Michal Jackson, Lena Horne, Nipsey Russell, Richard Pryor and many other famous names fill the credits and make this movie worth your viewing. Available on Netflix, VHS, DVD.

·        Back To The Future-1985, Back To The Future Part II-1989, #Back To The Future Part III-1990.
     Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, directed by Robert Zemeckis.
     What a lot of fun this set of movies is for fans of Michael J. Fox and DeLorean cars. This is the most amusing mistake of all the movies listed on the web as Cairn movies. Once again the Wiki web sites caused this confusion. This movie does not star a Cairn Terrier. Einstein is a Bearded Collie or Bearded Collie/Sheepdog mixed breed dog. The third picture in this series is a treat for steampunk fans. Available on Netflix, VHS, DVD.

·        Krypto The Superdog-2005-Warner Bros. cartoon series based on a DC Comics comic book .
     Although fans of this Warner Brothers cartoon series have listed it as a Cairn Terrier film on Wikipedia, the character of Tail Terrier is not identifiable as a Cairn Terrier. Tail is a green generic Scottish Terrier mix type dog with an elastic tail superpower that allows it to lasso bad guys. Tail Terrier is a member of the Super Dog force that invited Super Dog to join them in the fight against galactic villainsAvailable on Netflix, DVD

·        My Summer Vacation-1996
     This film is incorrectly listed on the web on several sites as a Cairn Terrier movie due to a mistake on my part on my first Cairn movie list. Because the content of my list has, on occasion, been “borrowed” without credit or notice, the sites that used it carried this mistake with the material. Over a decade ago. I watched a picture on late night television that featured cairn puppies. As I remembered the title I looked up that night, the TV guide at the time gave the name “My Summer Vacation”, which was either the title of a made for TV film that was no longer available, or my memory was flatly wrong. Recently, with the help of a Cairn movie fan, I found the film I remember from that evening. The film I saw was not 1996’s “My Summer Vacation” but 1986’s “One Crazy Summer”. “One Crazy Summer” is an American summer vacation beach movie with Cairn Terriers in it. “My Summer Vacation” is a Canadian gay dating movie with very adult themes, suggestive gay romance scenes, and no Cairns.
     When I started my Cairn movie list I did not go back and watch the films again before listing them. Because of this error I now watch every picture again before I list it. This picture had a similar title to the one I saw with a Cairn Terrier, and I also mistakenly listed it at that time as being made in 1995 not the correct year of 1996. I made the assumption it was the same film I saw on late night television, thus the mistake. The film “My Summer Vacation” has no dogs in it at all. It is an independent film whose production company was the National Film Board of Canada. This is an independent art film. It contains some sexually suggestive gay romance situations, drug use, and coarse language.It does not have Cairn Terriers. Available on VHS.
 

·       The Big Lebowski- 1998

          Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, John Turturro. Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen.

           This film is incorrectly listed on various sites online as starring a Cairn Terrier. A little red terrier named Scamp is featured in the role of the Pomeranian in the movie. The dog does not get screen credit. It is trained and owned by Animal Actors which does get a film credit.        

           The little dog does have a Cairnlike look to its face and head but so do many small breeds of terriers. In this case the dog is too small, has too long and silky a coat, too sharp a bark, and too long a tail to be a Cairn Terrier. It is most likely a poorly colored Silky Terrier or Silky Terrier mix with an undocked tail. The coat type, size, overall look, and "yappy" bark are typical of Silky Terriers. Some Silky's are so light in their saddle markings they seem to have none and this appears to be the case here. The tail, size, bark, and coat are typical of Silky Terriers. The terrier head that reminds so many of Cairns comes from one of the Silky's ancestor breeds, the Australian Terrier.

             This picture is a lot of fun. It takes off from the beginning when a laid back character called the Dude is introduced having the bad luck to share a name with a millionaire named Lebowski. The rich man's wife is mixed up with a cadre of odd and dangerous characters. The Dude gets involved after thugs looking for the millionaire beat him up and pee on his rug.  Everyone is tied to a plot steal a million dollars in cash. The picture has wonderful bowling alley themed Busby Birkley style dream sequences and tips its hat to complex detective pictures like "The Big Sleep" as well. Be aware it is an adult film loaded with sexual innuendo, drug references, partial nudity, and violence that earned it an R rating in theaters. VHS, DVD.