Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at the neglected Doberman Gang series of movies.
THE DOBERMAN GANG (1972) – I’m a lifelong dog lover, so let me point out that this was the very first film to carry the American Humane Association’s guarantee that “No animals were harmed in the making of this film.” Despite spawning a franchise, The Doberman Gang flies by the proverbial seat of its pants, and while it’s good to know that no dogs were harmed this flick features a few Doberman attacks on humans that seem too gritty.
This movie bounces erratically between Family Friendly and low-budget gimmick production. Eddie (Byron Mabe) leads his bank robber accomplices Sammy and JoJo (Simmy Bow and JoJo D’Amore) who idiotically screw up heists that seem like sure things.
Fed up with the way that human error keeps messing up his carefully planned capers, Eddie strikes upon the idea of using trained dogs to rob banks for him. That may sound like the premise of a light-hearted Disney movie from the 1970s but The Doberman Gang retains a low-life criminal air that’s too grimy at times.
Eddie enlists Barney (Hal Reed), a former Air Force dog trainer, to drill seven pooches to carry out very unlikely bank robberies. The seven canines involved are six Dobermans that Eddie names Dillinger, Bonnie, Clyde, Ma Barker, Pretty Boy Floyd and Baby Face Nelson. The seventh pooch is a bulldog named J. Edgar, who serves as a canine sergeant to keep the Dobermans in line.
Despite those names for the dogs he was hired to train, Barney takes forever to figure out that the complicated maneuvers he’s conditioning the dogs to perform involve robbing banks. He wants nothing to do with such activities but Eddie threatens to kill the dogs if Barney backs out, so he reluctantly stays.
Eddie’s mistreated girlfriend June (Julie Parrish) falls in love with the animal lover Barney and starts an affair with him behind Eddie’s back. Irked when Eddie plans to decrease her cut of the robbery proceeds, she lets Barney know that Eddie plans on killing the dogs anyway as soon as their upcoming heist is complete.
This enables Barney to covertly adjust the training of the seven-dog gang to provide a happy ending of sorts. NOTE: Though it looks like one of the dogs gets killed when hit by a car the sequel clarifies that it was only injured and is still part of the Doberman Gang.
THE DARING DOBERMANS (1973) – This cash-in sequel picks up where the previous flick ended. With the Doberman Gang saved from Eddie’s cruel plans to kill them in order to get rid of evidence, the dogs are on the loose and in the news after their activities in the first movie.
Byron Chudnow is back in the director’s chair, but none of the original cast or writers return. Viewers are introduced to a new group of criminals – mastermind Steve Crandall (Charles Knox Robinson), Warren (THE Tim Considine) and Greg (black actor David Moses).
They are among the countless cops and crooks trying to track down the fugitive Dobermans, but in their case it’s because Steve wants the already-trained dogs to carry out a different heist for him, Warren and Greg.
Crandall is friends with Claudia (Joan Caulfield), who works for Cyrus Markham, the campaign manager for a corrupt politician. Said politician has two million dollars in illicit contributions from criminal “donors” who control him. Steve wants the Doberman Gang to steal the two million bucks.
This movie’s heist therefore has a deserving target instead of the legitimate banks of The Doberman Gang. To modify the dogs’ training for this new caper, our crooks enlist a Native America boy (Claudio Martinez), a virtual Dog Whisperer.
Bizarrely, the creative team treats the proceedings far more seriously than their predecessors did. Not as much humor this time around despite the ludicrous premise. The Daring Dobermans is a lesser version of the original flick, which did everything better.
Even the characters are imitations, with Steve as ruthless as Eddie and Claudia there to be taken advantage of. Warren and Greg are like a composite version of Barney. The dogs are the whole show again, so it’s worthwhile just to see them and their stuntwork.
THE AMAZING DOBERMANS (1976) – Okay, now THIS is what the Doberman series should have been all along! The Amazing Dobermans is an outright comedy that stars Fred Astaire, Barbara Eden, James Franciscus, Jack Carter and Billy Barty.
Director Byron Chudnow is back, as are the Dobermans, owned this time by the genial Fred Astaire as Daniel Hughes, a Born-Again ex-con who has rewired the dogs to do security work. James Franciscus is gambler Lucky Vincent, who owes thousands to loan shark Solly (Jack Carter).
Daniel saves Lucky from a beating at the hands of Solly’s thugs by siccing the Dobermans on them. Lucky hides out from Solly by working for a circus and brings Daniel and the dogs along with him since the Dobermans are smart enough to perform amazing tricks.
Barbara Eden plays Justine Pirot, the circus’ equine stunt woman and Lucky’s love interest. Solly catches up to Lucky and Daniel at their circus gig and threatens bodily harm to them and death to the Dobermans unless our heroes have the intelligent pooches pull off a robbery of the circus’ hefty gate proceeds.
The good guys win and Lucky & Justine seem headed for the altar. Fred Astaire does NO dancing given his health at this point.
ALEX AND THE DOBERMAN GANG (1980) – Byron Chudnow helmed the Dobermans one last time in this 90-minute telefilm which served as a failed pilot for a potential series. Alex Parker (Jack Stauffer) is a hapless private detective who inherits the canine geniuses.
Despite the chaos they bring into his life, he’s ecstatic when their latent skills emerge and prove useful to helping him solve cases. The emphasis was on chaotic comedy over detective work.
And how’s this for a supporting cast – TAUREAN BLACQUE, JERRY ORBACH, Lane Binkley and Martha Smith. This made-for-tv movie aired April 11th.
NICK AND THE DOBERMANS (1980) – There is some confusion regarding this one-hour pilot for a series to be called Nick and the Dobermans. It aired April 25th, 1980 – NOT April 11th. People seem to confuse this with Alex and the Doberman Gang.
Michael Nouri starred as private detective Nick Makazie, who becomes the owner of three brilliant Dobermans which he uses to help him fight crime. In this story he and his dogs protect accountant Barbara Gayton (Judith Chapman), who witnessed a murder
Other cast members were ROBERT DAVI and Charles Knox Robinson from the 1973 film The Daring Dobermans.
This production was from an entirely different creative team, but I have yet to see it or find a detailed review. Mark this one’s Doberman Gang connection as a question mark pending further information.
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