In the Doghouse, also known as Vet in the Doghouse, is a 1962 British black-and-white comedy film directed by Darcy Conyers and starring Leslie Phillips and Peggy Cummins.[2] The film was based on the 1961 novel It's a Vet's Life by Alex Duncan.
| In the Doghouse | |
|---|---|
British quad poster by Tom Chantrell
| |
| Directed by | Darcy Conyers |
| Written by | Michael Pertwee |
| Based on | It's a Vet's Life by Alex Duncan |
| Produced by | Earl St. John |
| Starring | Leslie Phillips Peggy Cummins Hattie Jacques James Booth |
| Cinematography | Alan Hume |
| Edited by | Roger Cherrill |
| Music by | Philip Green |
Production | |
Release date |
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Running time | 91 minutes[1] |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The title refers to the British expression of a person being "in the doghouse" when a person is ostracised usually relating to a husband for domestic bad behaviour, and usually used in the third person e.g. "he is in the doghouse because... "
Jimmy Fox-Upton is an accident prone and less than brilliant veterinary student in his final year of college having already failed his finals 4 times. He unexpectedly passes and his good heart outweighs any academic shortcomings.
He takes over an old practice and becomes rivals with a fellow student who opens a very swanky practice around the corner. Jimmy keeps a chimpanzee in the surgery.
The overarching plot revolves around trying to prevent a consignment of horses being sent to France as meat by a Mr Peddle aided by Skeffington.
Near the end of the film a lion escapes into a crowded pet show filled with a variety of both pets and people.
The three main heroes try to sabotage the shipment of horses but end up tied in the back of the lorry with the horses. The chimpanzee unties them.
They then chase Peddle and Skeffington on the rescued horses. This gets in the newspapers.
The vet is then called to Buckingham Palace to treat the corgis.
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Not content with gaining easy laughs by its parade of routine animal jokes, centred round an amiable booby of a vet, this wobbly farce makes a pitch for tears too by dragging in a whimsical toddler and a dear old lady with a dying spaniel. Its story gives the impression of being slapped together for shooting, then severely cut for distribution. But one role that deserves expansion is that given to Fenella Fielding who appears only briefly, exchanging glad-eyes with a lion and outsexing the blonde vamps who undulate through the poodles' beauty parlour run by a villainous vet. This character is played by James Booth in a horsewhip-and-brimstone style of comedy more suited to melodrama or the Demon King in pantomime."[3]
The Radio Times wrote "...makes a fine comic vehicle for Leslie Phillips, who has to resort to his trademark charm to atone for his misadventures as he begins life as a qualified vet (after spending years trying to pass his final exams. However, he also gets to reveal an unexpected action-man side as he thwarts a horse-smuggling ring. ... Despite booming support from Hattie Jacques, this patchy film is perhaps most significant for bringing down the curtain on the career of Peggy Cummins, who made her first film in 1940 at the age of 15."[4]