Story of a Dog
1945 | 10m | English
Popularity: 0.1 (history)
| Director: | Gordon Hollingshead |
|---|---|
| Writer: | Saul Elkins |
| Staring: |
| A dog trains for the battlefield and becomes a crucial part of the United States military. This 1945 short documentary film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Live Action Short, One-Reel. | |
| Release Date: | Oct 27, 1945 |
|---|---|
| Director: | Gordon Hollingshead |
| Writer: | Saul Elkins |
| Genres: | Documentary |
| Keywords | world war ii, coast guard, black and white, dog, german shepherd, doberman, pacific theater, dog trainer, animal trainer, us military, war dog, military training, military working dogs, animal human friendship, short film |
| Production Companies | Warner Bros. Pictures, The Vitaphone Corporation, United States Coast Guard |
| Box Office |
Revenue: $0
Budget: $0 |
| Updates |
Updated: Jan 31, 2026 Entered: May 05, 2024 |
| Name | Character |
|---|---|
| Knox Manning | Narrator (voice) |
| Name | Job |
|---|---|
| Saul Elkins | Writer |
| William Lava | Music |
| Victor Kline Jr. | Editor |
| Gordon Hollingshead | Director |
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Gordon Hollingshead | Supervising Producer |
| Organization | Category | Person |
|---|
Popularity History
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| 2024 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
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| 2025 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2026 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Trending Position
Given what they were being fed, I was quite surprised these dogs didn’t turn on their handlers and eat them instead! Rather than that, though, the narration adopts the persona of these mutts as they undertake some brutal and onerous training so that they are as immune to the effects of war as it’s p ... ossible to be. That’s handy because the plan is to ship them off to the Far East theatre of the Second World War where they can be used to sniff out snipers hiding in the dense undergrowth - hopefully saving many a soldier’s life. It’s all fairly standard wartime fayre that I think could have worked better had someone like Pete Smith provided a more humorous and engaging commentary rather than this really quite dry and earnest output. It’s interesting just how much effort and import was placed on the training of hundreds of these animals and at just how much reliance the military placed on these creatures with enhanced senses and skills.