Furry Noir
- Terry Hamburg
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
It may be a dark and stormy night in film noir, but it’s seldom raining cats and dogs. Pets represent normality, stability, family - hardly the settings for twisted tales of intrigue and passion. But furry creatures do appear, and can play a significant role.
If there were an Oscar for Best Canine Actor in a film noir it should go to Friday, the handsome German Shepherd guide dog for blind detective (Edward Arnold) in Eyes in the Night. He shares every scene with his boss plus solo stints to show off his formidable athleticism. The pedigree turns in a spectacular and disciplined performance – savvy and resourceful, giving Lassie and Rin Tin Tin a run for their money. Friday, the son of Flash, a prominent canine actor in the 1930s, received full credits as seen in the poster above. Most remarkably, dispatched on a frantic mission to rescue his master held by foreign agents and save the world from Nazi domination, he resists the oldest temptation in nature. Spoiler alert - Friday saves the day and gets his femme fatale bitch in the end.
My Best Supporting Canine Actor award goes to Pard in the 1941 film High Sierra. The loyal companion to hard scrapple Roy Earle (Humphrey Bogart), Pard was a nepo dog - Bogart’s own mixed terrier pet, Zero. The story was remade fourteen years later as I Died A Thousand Times starring Jack Palance as Roy Earle, and a Pard II. The original Pard would have been over one-hundred-and-forty in human years, so an established young canine actor named Daisy got the role.
And in The Story of Molly X, a scruffy mutt named Nipper is the unofficial mascot for a women’s prison. June Havoc, a tough criminal dame, is softened, even enlightened, by the creature’s unconditional love. She didn’t have to act. Off stage, the actress adopted a menagerie of shelter creatures, including nine dogs, two roosters, and a pig. She was known to have an "entourage of animals" at her Connecticut home. Upon her death, Havoc designated half the land as a permanent sanctuary for rescued strays. Nipper was played by an established actor named Corky, who got a listing credit.
The most devilish dog in film noir - a great dane named Devil - is the companion and protector of Anita Eckberg in Screaming Mimi. A psychotically traumatized erotic dancer can telepathically mesmerize her dog to attack, even turning on a person Devil knows. In one scene, a cop frantically searches for her on mean city streets. He asks a newsvendor: “Have you seen a beautiful blonde?” The guy nods. “A great dame with a great dane. At the fleabag.”
A familiar narrative ploy in film noir sets an animal as a foil for tough characters, humanizing them, providing stabs at a more complex personality, even if it’s psychopathic. In He Walked by Night, cold, amoral loner (Richard Basehart) kills a cop one night during his remorseless life of crime. Running from a massive police manhunt, he is accompanied by a fiercely loyal terrier who alerts him to police raids, leading to a climactic final chase through Los Angeles underground storm drains.
Bad guys can bond with cats, too. It’s a special connection. Alan Ladd, the professional killer in This Gun For Hire, has a visceral affection for strays; the remake, Short-Cut to Hell, stayed true to that theme. Hardened old criminals turn to putty when cuddling felines in The Asphalt Jungle and South Side 1-1000.
Overall, dogs and cats are conspicuous for their absence in film noir. The one animal that almost always appears is both universally loved and posthumous - the mink.
Comment below on your favorite animal performances in noir..
