Dogville Comedies
From 1929 to 1931, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer produced a series of nine short comedy films called All Barkie Dogville Comedies, sometimes known as the "barkies". The actors in these films were trained dogs dressed to parody the performers in contemporary films. The dogs' dialogue was dubbed by actors and voice artists, including Pete Smith.
The films were directed by Zion Myers and conceived and codirected by Jules White. Myers and White later worked on the Three Stooges comedies.
Series titles
1929College Hounds: a parody of college football films, such as MGM's Brown of Harvard, featuring "Red Mange" Hot Dog: a parody of courtroom dramas, such as MGM's Madame X, featuring "Clara Bone"1930Who Killed Rover? AKA The Dogville Murder Case: a parody of Philo Vance whodunits, such as Paramount's The Canary Murder Case The Dogway Melody: a parody of talking, singing and dancing early musicals, specifically MGM's The Broadway Melody The Big Dog House: a parody of prison films, specifically MGM's The Big House
1931So Quiet on the Canine Front: a parody of World War I films, specifically Universal's All Quiet on the Western Front Love-Tails of Morocco: a parody of French Foreign Legion films, such as Paramount's Morocco The Two Barks Brothers: a parody of films with brothers on opposite sides of the law, specifically MGM's Gentleman's Fate Trader Hound: a parody of jungle adventure films, specifically MGM's ''Trader Horn''