Won Ton Ton: the Dog Who Saved Hollywood

1976 Directed by Michael Winner

Introducing The Dog Who Launched 1000 Stars.

A would-be filmmaker and actress shake up the industry with a trick dog who gets discovered by a studio bus driver in the 1920s.

Bruce Dern Madeline Kahn Art Carney Phil Silvers Teri Garr Ron Leibman Sterling Holloway Virginia Mayo Henny Youngman Ethel Merman Ricardo Montalban Aldo Ray Joan Blondell Broderick Crawford Dorothy Lamour Ann Miller Dean Stockwell Tab Hunter Victor Mature Barbara Nichols Army Archerd Zsa Zsa Gabor Doodles Weaver Cyd Charisse Alice Faye Milton Berle Walter Pidgeon Gloria DeHaven Johnny Weissmuller Show All…

92 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Citizen_K ★ 21

(Reviewed as part of a "joke challenge" with Letterboxd user, Trolleyfreak; prompted by discussion of the works of Michael Winner...)
It's debatable as to when Old Hollywood decisively died, but the infamous 1970 MGM auction -- when the company decided to concentrate on Las Vegas gambling -- took a lot of the soul as well as the wind out of Tinseltown's sails. When Dorothy's ruby slippers went on the block, it was like Hollywood selling off its magic.
Hollywood in a certain sense was dead in the 1970s, mostly concentrating on television production. The studios were still open (mostly) but ramping down, no longer centers of frenetic hubbub. Those classic New American Cinema adult dramas that we now revere and…
Review by Travis Clark ★½ 2

As one can imagine from the title, this is a satire of silent Hollywood, starring a Rin Tin Tin-like Dog. We get a tour bus driver (Bruce Dern) who's also a wannabe writer-director. There's the struggling actress (Madeline Kahn) who ends up stuck in the shadow of the titular dog who'll only listen to her commands -- and protects her at each and every advance made by the lecherous men at every level of the industry. We also get the studio head (Art Carney), and a Rudolph Valentino type (Ron Leibman). The best I can say for the movie is that Kahn is a comedic treasure who really tries to make a hopeless script work, and there are a few…
Review by ReelMan ★½

A Hollywood dog... in more ways than one.
Review by LM_ ★★

“Typecast?! He’s a dog!”
My friend knew I was a fan of Michael Winner, as previously I lent him a copy of “SCREAM FOR HELP”. So he returned the favor with the polar opposite “WON TON TON THE DOG WHO SAVED HOLLYWOOD”. This was one of those films I heard of, but never went out of my way to see. Watching it was eye-boggling, as I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It’s the “Where’s Wally” of Hollywood filmmaking, as star after star after star of golden age cinema show up in small and at times, unimportant roles. Just looking at that cast listing, is a curiosity, but what a waste. Still all of this does become a distraction, with…
Review by Bob R. ★½

Won Ton Ton, The Dog Who Saved Hollywood has an amazing cast, and I mean AMAZING! There are at least four dozen stars who have headlined movies of their own here. Sadly, that makes it even more tragic that this slapstick tale about a dog-actor in the age of silent film is is so darned dull. The gags are stale and almost all of the talent on display goes to waste. This one only has a couple of things going for it - The always delightful Madeline Kahn's performance, and a funny bit involving a depressed dog and an oven. Put this one to sleep - It's done.
Review by Barton Kimball ★★

Paramount Exectutive: Michael Winner, Death Wish was a massive hit! We wanna be in business with you. Whatever you wanna do next, you got it!
Michael Winner: I wanna make a movie about a dog who becomes a star in the golden age of Hollywood.
<Silence>
Paramount Executive: Uhhhhhh. Okay?
Review by Nathan Rabin ★★½

Look for this in Fractured Mirror.
Review by ApertureOfDoom ★★★

Struggling actress Madeline Khan and wannabe director Bruce Dern find fame in the early days of Hollywood when they team up with the four-legged title character of this Michael Winner-directed homage to the silent era. While clearly not in the same league as Bogdanovich's Nickelodeon or Schlesinger's The Day of the Locust, Won Ton Ton... boasts an incredible supporting cast of veteran actors (including Preston Sturges regular William Demarest in his final film role) and is possibly the only screwball comedy to ever feature scenes of attempted canine suicide.

Recent reviews

Review by caroline ★★★½

never thought id cry over a dog movie but here i am... obviously not the best but a cute little movie
Review by mackjay ★★

Arful! Well the dog is cute (assuming we always see the same dog) and some of the gags are funny. It's a send-up of Hollywood the movie industry and a bit fun to spot the aging former movie stars. Kahn, Dern and Carney give their all. But it runs out of steam after an hour.
Review by David Zierk ★★★★

Great score
Review by Katrina ½

this must have been the Movie 43 of the 1970’s
Review by David Zierk ★★★★

Best score! Great cast!
Review by ApertureOfDoom ★★★

Struggling actress Madeline Khan and wannabe director Bruce Dern find fame in the early days of Hollywood when they team up with the four-legged title character of this Michael Winner-directed homage to the silent era. While clearly not in the same league as Bogdanovich's Nickelodeon or Schlesinger's The Day of the Locust, Won Ton Ton... boasts an incredible supporting cast of veteran actors (including Preston Sturges regular William Demarest in his final film role) and is possibly the only screwball comedy to ever feature scenes of attempted canine suicide.
Review by bcbobby12 ★½

Viewed in 1976. Disappointing comedy that was a dud at the box office for Paramount.
Review by bandsaboutmovie ★½

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

We live in a magical reality, the kind of place where Michael Winner, the same man who made some of the roughest films ever — Death Wish, Death Wish 2, Death Wish 3, The Mechanic, The Sentinel — made this movie that’s a kind of, sort of biography of Hollywood star dog Rin Tin Tin.
It was originally called Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Warner Bros. before Paramount bought the film and, well, the movie had to change its name, right?
Estie Del Ruth (Madeline Kahn) has made her way to Hollywood, followed by a dog named Won Ton Ton. While she has dreams of being a star — and a director who continually and unsuccessfully pitches movies…
Review by Jeremy Allison ★★½

I still can't believe that this is the film that Michael Winner made after DEATH WISH.
Ron Leibman steals the film for me. He's absolutely hilarious.
Also, the scenes where the dog tries to commit suicide towards the end are incredibly silly and stupid. I love it.
Review by Dave S. ★½

Michael Winner directed this in between "Death Wish" and "The Sentinel". And it shows.
Review by Citizen_K ★ 21

(Reviewed as part of a "joke challenge" with Letterboxd user, Trolleyfreak; prompted by discussion of the works of Michael Winner...)
It's debatable as to when Old Hollywood decisively died, but the infamous 1970 MGM auction -- when the company decided to concentrate on Las Vegas gambling -- took a lot of the soul as well as the wind out of Tinseltown's sails. When Dorothy's ruby slippers went on the block, it was like Hollywood selling off its magic.
Hollywood in a certain sense was dead in the 1970s, mostly concentrating on television production. The studios were still open (mostly) but ramping down, no longer centers of frenetic hubbub. Those classic New American Cinema adult dramas that we now revere and…
Review by Travis Clark ★½ 2

As one can imagine from the title, this is a satire of silent Hollywood, starring a Rin Tin Tin-like Dog. We get a tour bus driver (Bruce Dern) who's also a wannabe writer-director. There's the struggling actress (Madeline Kahn) who ends up stuck in the shadow of the titular dog who'll only listen to her commands -- and protects her at each and every advance made by the lecherous men at every level of the industry. We also get the studio head (Art Carney), and a Rudolph Valentino type (Ron Leibman). The best I can say for the movie is that Kahn is a comedic treasure who really tries to make a hopeless script work, and there are a few…