PodBill Just what I expected

Teringer An Exercise In Nonsense

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Tweekums William Denny has forgotten that it is his second wedding anniversary till he is reminded on the phone… he claims to have a present so quickly goes to by one. Unfortunately for him he is followed into the shop by a dog; the dog causes a scene and he ends up paying for the damage and leaving without a present. He gets home, still followed by the dog and his wife, Kate, thinks it is her present and names him 'Archie'. What neither of them realise is that Archie was part of a criminal plot; he was meant to lead one criminal gang to another… now they are keen to get him back. William intends to return the dog to its rightful owner but is soon caught up in events that see him suspected of murder as he has trouble with the police, smugglers and counterfeiters.This comedy is definitely silly at times; in fact it is silly most of the time but I still thought it had sufficient genuinely funny moments to have been worth watching. The story is simple enough but it is told in such a way that makes it understandable that everybody caught up in the events is utterly confused. Unlike most canine capers the dog causes so much chaos that it isn't a surprise when William does not end up loving the mutt by the end. Farley Granger does a fine job as William; he may overplay things at times but that fits with the tone of the film. Shelley Winters is solid as his wife and Margalo Gillmore is entertaining as William's battle-axe of a mother in law, in whose house they live. Overall this isn't a must see but it is certainly amusing enough and doesn't contain any material likely to offend.

dougdoepke The plot's something about a go-between dog that gets lost from its two smuggler gangs and finds a home, sort of, with a young couple.Granger strives mightily to put the mad in madcap, but unfortunately it's too mightily. His incessant mugging in the latter half not only gets tiresome but amounts to unfunny desperation. Actually, the real problem with this misfire--as others point out--lies with director-writer Beck. In short, the screenplay is much too congested, probably to insert the many first-rate supporting players who could have provided real laughs if properly directed and defined. Instead, the likes of Leonard, Conreid, Cook, Jenkins, are largely wasted by a turgid screenplay. Only grouchy Demarest and sarcastic Gillmore manage to register. Winters' comedic talents are also largely wasted as the neglected wife, a role a hundred lesser actresses could have filled.Looks like the producers were intent on promoting Granger's career since he monopolizes the screen time. Looks also like he was trying to expand his range into comedy. Too bad the package doesn't work. At the same time, judging by his credits, the actor quickly returned to drama, and being the bobby-sox idol he was so good at. Anyway, I hope they gave Archie triple treats for his lively tail-wagging turn. He may not be a glamorous Lassie, but he'll sure do.

edwagreen Imagine Marvin Kaplan playing a gangster in film?This was absolutely an inane farce with Farley Granger and Shelley Winters. In the same year that she made the memorable "A Place in the Sun," Shelley got herself into this one mess of a film.The mother-in-law steals the film as she conveys what the traditional mother-in-law is supposed to convey- constant criticism of the in-law and non-stop trouble.In a ridiculous fashion, Granger gets caught up with counterfeiters when he accidentally comes upon the dog they need to make their counterfeit transaction. Winters is his wife and William Demarest is the wily head of the police bureau.No matter where the gullible Granger goes, murder seems to follow. In fact, this is just what this mess of a movie is-just murder to view.

Cristi_Ciopron A young husband's plans of conjugal love are constantly discouraged by various facts—like the appearance and pranks of a Welsh terrier. His access to his pretty wife is severely restricted by adverse circumstances. BEHAVE YOURSELF belongs to a hybrid genre, the 'crime and conjugal comedy'. The crime plot is convoluted enough to be a sequel to the MALTESE FALCON. Young Farley was the consummate opposite of Bogart; neurotic, coward, etc., in fact a man who loved peace and his wife.The couple of youngsters who hold the stage in the old fashioned macabre comedy BEHAVE YOURSELF was, at least partly, well chosen. Farley Granger and Shelley Winters are the young couple caught between rival gangs who sought to eliminate each other. She's not exactly Eve Marie Saint, he's not exactly Lemmon, but she played in NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, he was a Hitchcock actor …, which kind of qualifies them for such a tenebrous comedy where the underworld and the bourgeois meet; none of them made it to the first ranks of the stardom.By the time BEHAVE YOURSELF was made, Granger (--who had already appeared in both those Hitchcock movies--) and Winters were very good friends, they went together to New York and took classes at the Actors Studio; they became lovers, he had affairs with Ava and with Marais, she had an affair with Gassman, and were later reunited for another movie.By the time they made BEHAVE YOURSELF, Granger's career was practically over; Shelley still had a future. Granger shone only on Hitchcock's sets; Shelley had yet to give her important roles and had a career ahead.It can be said that Farley overacts a bit and that, while full of the youth's charm, he wasn't, because of his more introspective and neurotic nature, put by Hitchcock to good use, exactly fit for the snappy style of such a mordant comedy.Elisha Cook Jr., Lon Chaney do the respective stock characters.There's also a cute, naughty Welsh terrier.BEHAVE YOURSELF is, stylistically, quite exciting and accomplished; the comedies of the early '50s often reached this level of nonchalant charm. Lemmon did a couple of those.Funny, nonsensical and lively, with an admirable pace, BEHAVE YOURSELF has gusto and brio, the plot is absurdly Maltese, and Shelley seems better than Granger who, as I said, sometimes loads his performance with overacting. If taken for what it is—an unpretentious small comedy about a family's meeting with the underworld—BEHAVE YOURSELF proves enjoyable.