TheRusty film series comprises eight American films produced for young audiences between 1945 and 1949 byColumbia Pictures. Child actorTed Donaldson starred as Danny Mitchell in the series, which relates the adventures of aGerman Shepherd dog named Rusty. The role of Rusty was played byAce the Wonder Dog in the first feature,Adventures of Rusty (1945).[1] A police dog named Rip took over the role for the second film,The Return of Rusty (1946).[2] In the later films Rusty was played by Flame,[1] a charismatic dog star who was featured in three separate series.[3]: 176, 193
The Rusty films wereB-movies, primarily shown as the second half of a double bill. The basic boy-and-his-dog stories usually addressed social issues of the era, and provided civics lessons to its young audiences.
Directors at Columbia usually broke in with the studio's "B" features. OnlyWilliam Castle andJohn Sturges advanced from the Rusty pictures to more ambitious projects; the series was usually entrusted to low-budget specialistsLew Landers orSeymour Friedman.
Among the regular cast members was child actorDavid Ackles, who appeared in most of the films as Danny's cohort Tuck. Character actorJohn Litel joined the series with the second film.Ann Doran, a longstanding member of Columbia's stock company, took over the role of Danny's mother in the third film, and remained in the role until the series ended in 1949. Ted Donaldson had outgrown the little-boy role by then; although the teenaged Donaldson remained with the series, much of the action in the final film,Rusty's Birthday (1949), was turned over to a new little boy,Jimmy Hunt.
| Release date | Title | Director | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 6, 1945 | Adventures of Rusty | Paul Burnford | 69 min.[1] | Cast:Ted Donaldson,Margaret Lindsay,Conrad Nagel,Ace the Wonder Dog[4] |
| June 27, 1946 | The Return of Rusty | William Castle | 64 min.[1] | Cast: Ted Donaldson,John Litel,Barbara Woodell,[5] Rip the Police Dog[2] |
| May 1, 1947 | For the Love of Rusty | John Sturges | 68 min.[1] | Cast: Ted Donaldson,Tom Powers,Ann Doran,Flame[6] |
| August 7, 1947 | The Son of Rusty | Lew Landers | 75 min.[1] | Cast: Ted Donaldson, Tom Powers, Ann Doran, Flame[7] |
| April 8, 1948 | My Dog Rusty | Lew Landers | 64 min.[1] | Cast: Ted Donaldson, John Litel, Ann Doran, Flame[8] |
| October 21, 1948 | Rusty Leads the Way | Will Jason | 58 min.[1] | Cast: Ted Donaldson, John Litel, Ann Doran, Flame[9] |
| April 8, 1949 | Rusty Saves a Life | Seymour Friedman | 67 min.[1] | Cast: Ted Donaldson, John Litel, Ann Doran, Flame[10] |
| November 3, 1949 | Rusty's Birthday | Seymour Friedman | 60 min.[1] | Cast: Ted Donaldson, John Litel, Ann Doran, Flame[11] |
