Film review: Lady and the Tramp (1955), directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske
A young couple (voiced by Peggy Lee and Lee Millar) decide to get themselves a dog, a precious little cocker spaniel they name Lady (voiced by Barbara Luddy). Lady has a fantastic life with the couple, and the neighbouring dogs Jock (Bill Thompson) and Trusty (Bill Baucom) are secretly in love with her.
But … there is trouble in paradise. An unwanted addition to the family means Lady is no longer the centre of her humans’ world. Fortunately, she meets a mutt, calling himself the Tramp (Larry Roberts), who shows her there’s so much more to enjoy in life when you’re a dog. More than being stuck in a dog house in the back yard …
Also starring Stan Freberg as Beaver, Verna Felton as the horrid Aunt Sarah, Alan Reed as Boris, and George Givot as Tony.
This is such a classic. In fact, the iconic meal behind the Italian restaurant is the “postcard” from Lady and the Tramp that Swedes see every Christmas Eve between 3 and 4pm, so it’s very seasonal. Plus I think Lady was acquired as a Christmas present, and it finishes around Christmas too.
I’m not sure I’ve seen the whole film prior to this. I might have done, years ago, I don’t remember. Growing up with cassette tapes with “the songs and story from the film” I was at least aware of how the story goes.
It’s the story of the working class boy and the upper class lady who fall in love and have babies and live happily ever after. Like Lady Sybil and Branson, but with an actual happy ending, heh.
Aunt Sarah is a nasty piece of work, as are her two Siamese cats. It’s not particularly believable how much they decide to cause havoc just to pin it on Lady, but it suits the purpose of storytelling. In any case I’m glad to have seen this classic Disney film because it really is very cute, while at the same time, if you see the dogs as people, it becomes a whole different story altogether. How slighted is Lady after having spent the night with the Tramp, only to find out he’s got floozies all over town? And so on, including the short stint in prison (dog pound). Interesting indeed.
4 out of 5 dog collars.