Summary
A sun-bleached pastoral reverie shatters into vaudeville mayhem when a piebald farm mutt—part trickster deity, part four-legged moral compass—catapults his human playthings from hay-mote idyll to urban neon. Pop Walker, whiskered patriarch of a dwindling Eden, presides over twin cherubs whose shrieks braid with the clatter of a homemade see-saw until Brownie’s acrobatics launch them skyward like mythic putti. Accused of gluttony, grandson Bud absorbs patriarchal wrath in a spanking that echoes across the prairie, while the true culprit—a canine Bacchus—grins through bacon-grease whiskers. Fortune’s wheel spins: an uncle’s death bequeaths a nightclub-cum-temple of shimmying flappers, and the clan migrates toward electric light. Inside the Lily White Café, bodies glisten under fractured chandeliers; Pop, bewildered satyr, is crowned impresario; Bud, aproned child-savage, mans the grill; Merta’s tremolo empties the room like a plague. Beneath the sink, amid pipes and ratcheted dreams, the girl plots redemption while conspirators—manager and maître d’—hatch larceny over bourbon breath. Brownie, velvet-eared eavesdropper, pilfers the night’s take, a furry anarchist redistributing destiny. Pursued, the thieves hurl dynamite into the gilded womb, but the dog intercepts, tucking death beneath their very haunches. The blast paints the night with slapstick apotheosis; crooks rocket skyward in a confetti of suspenders and hubris, while Brownie, tail semaphore of justice, delivers the cash to Pop. Dawn finds the café a smoldering proscenium, the family reborn amid ashes, the dog eternal.
Synopsis
Old "Pop" Walker owned a farm, two babies, a wonderful dog and other interesting things. Bud the grandson, and Merta the granddaughter made things pretty lively for "Pop." Their dog "Brownie " see sawed for them all day long. When the postman came Brownie jumped off the see-saw and sent the two or them spinning through the air. "Brownie" always up to mischief, steals the food from "Pop," Bud is accused of it and is given a severe spanking. A letter arrives for "Pop" advising him that he has been made the sole proprietor of the "Lily White Cafe," owing to the death of his uncle John Barleycorn. They pack up and venture forth to take possession of the Cafe. There the girls shimmy and dance for old "Pop." He makes Bud the cook. Merta attempts to sing for the audience, but they all run out. The manager orders her under the sink with her pipes. The manager and head waiter plan to rob "Pop" of the money they have taken in. Brownie overhears the plot and steals the money from the Manager. The Manager and the head waiter go outside thinking they have the money, and throw bombs into the cafe to blow it up. Brownie runs after the bombs and puts them underneath the box on which the two thieves are sitting. The bombs explode and knock the two crooks into smithereens. Brownie brings the money to "Pop" and a happy ending follows.
Review Excerpt
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From Pastoral Lullaby to Cabaret Pandemonium
Imagine a daguerreotype come alive: wheat taller than toddlers, cicadas threading the hush, a see-saw fashioned from splintered pine and rusted iron. Fred Hibbard’s camera drinks in this prelapsarian hush until Brownie—half husky, half harlequin—vaults of..."
