Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

GamerTab That was an excellent one.

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

jacobs-greenwood The first in a series of eight "Rusty" films about a German Shepherd dog and the boy who owns him, featuring Ted Donaldson as Danny Mitchell; Ace the Wonder Dog plays the title role in this one.It's a family drama, directed by Paul Burnford, with a screenplay from Aubrey Wisberg that was based on a story by Al Martin. The cast includes two Hollywood veterans well past their prime, Margaret Lindsay and Conrad Nagel; Gloria Holden plays Lindsay's friend Louise.Danny is upset because his widower father (Nagel) is remarrying, even though Ann (Lindsay) is someone the boy likes, having known her while his mother was alive. A stereotypical conflict ensues especially because Danny's other best friend, his pet dog, was killed on the wedding day, making the boy resent his stepmother even more for the loneliness caused by his father's lack of time for him. So Danny attempts to befriend his neighbor Will Nelson's (Robert Williams) mean and vicious German Shepherd, which had been trained by the Nazis during World War II; Rusty was brought home to the states by Nelson after his service in the army.When Danny learns that Mr. Nelson may have the dog put down, he begs his parents to allow him to adopt it. After her initial caution for Danny's safety, Ann believes that the boy should be allowed to keep the dog. In fact, even though Ann has been kind, unusually understanding, and more than patient with Danny's lack of acceptance of her, she seeks the help of a professional psychiatrist named Dr. Banning (Addison Richards) hoping that he may advise her about how to deal with the boy. Ironically, Danny had seen the doctor for advice about how to train Rusty to be less vicious and more appreciative of his efforts.Danny begins to treat Rusty with a combination of indifference and praise for good behavior at the same time that Ann attempts to do the same, hoping that the boy will come to him, but the tactic doesn't work for either of them. Instead, Rusty chews threw his rope leash and runs away where he happens upon two German spies (Arno Frey and Eddie Parker), who take charge of him to steal for them.When Danny and his friends go searching for Rusty, the dog helps the boys to miraculously capture the luger wielding Germans. Meanwhile to solve her problem, Ann decides to leave husband Hugh and his boy. After seeing how depressed this makes his father, Danny finds her at Louise's and begs her to come home by promising that he'll never upset her again. She returns home so that the three (four if you count Rusty) of them can live happily ever after (and all go fishing together).

Michael_Elliott Adventures of Rusty (1945)*** (out of 4) Surprisenly fun tale of a young boy (Ted Donaldson) trying to cope with life after his beloved dog is killed and his father (Conrad Nagel) marries a new woman (Margaret Lindsay). Soon he befriends a cruel and rather vicious German Shepherd named Rusty and plans on teaching him how to act right. ADVENTURES OF RUSTY was the first in a series of movies from Columbia and there are so many reasons why this thing shouldn't work but I was surprised to see how effective it actually was. This is more of a coming of age film because the main focus is on the boy and him being unable to accept his new mother and I thought the film made some interesting connections. The boy couldn't relate or get along with his new mother no matter how hard she tried and the dog wouldn't be good to the boy no matter how hard he tried. I thought it was rather interesting that they would be working on two different story lines and both of them were entertaining to the fullest. There are some pretty good moments scattered throughout the film but I think something that is really beneficial is the fact that you can believe all of the situations because this family really does come across as a real one and not just actors thrown together for a movie. Donaldson, Nagel and Lindsay are all extremely good in their roles and the chemistry is certainly there. The only weak thing with the film is a weird subplot about a couple escaped German men but where they escaped from and what their crime was is never explained so I'm really not sure what the point of adding it was. Still, ADVENTURES OF RUSTY should entertaining the young and old.

maryszd I always try to catch this movie when it's on TCM. During World War II, a boy named Danny tames a dog and in the process learns to control his own anger at his new step-mother Ann and fight off German spies along the way. Looking at the film today, it's striking how all the men wear suits and ties--even the German spies wear suits, ties and hats when they land in their lifeboat.Danny's parents are kind-hearted and progressive for their time (Ann even goes to a psychiatrist). But eventually, Danny's anger wears her out, and she moves in with her best friend, Louise. Danny comes over and pleads with her to come back home; he misses having her around to do "women's work." At Louise's, Ann isn't shown wearing an apron or doing housework (as she is when she was living with Danny and his dad). She and Louise spend their time hooking rugs, smoking cigarettes and wearing great clothes. In the end, Danny wins her over and by the end of film she's back on duty taking care of the menfolk. The postwar urge to push women out of the workforce to make way for the returning war vets was already beginning.

Neil Doyle TED DONALDSON (who was the child star in A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN as Neely, the little brother), appeared the same year in this programmer, THE ADVENTURES OF RUSTY, a rather routine little melodrama from Columbia. It's all about a period of adjustment for a boy who just lost his little dog in an accident and has to adjust to his father (CONRAD NAGEL) marrying a new mom (MARGARET LINDSAY).The boy befriends a German Shepherd with a nasty attitude toward others that has to be tamed before his parents allow him to adopt the dog for a pet. But relations between the boy and his step-mom are anything but smooth, with both of them seeking the help of a psychiatrist to help them amend their ways.The last twenty minutes of the story brings a sub-plot involving the arrival of two German men who interact with Rusty. Turns out they're German spies (it takes place before the end of WWII), and the plot has the dog saving the day by pinning the men down so they can be picked up by the Shore Patrol.It's an uneven film, obviously made on the cheap, a quickie that probably played the lower half of double bills in the days of double features at the movies. TED DONALDSON is nowhere as lovable here as he was in A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN. Most of the time he's a sullen little boy who's selfish and completely ill-mannered toward a kindly step-mom who only wants to help him. CONRAD NAGEL and MARGARET LINDSAY do professional jobs in less than convincing roles.Summing up: A trifle hardly worth the trouble to watch--but Ace the Wonder Dog can certainly snarl well on cue.