The Dogway Melody review: Dogs in wigs are weirdly captivating

I am still not entirely sure if I should be laughing or if I should feel a little bit scared after watching this.

If you like old-school weirdness or you just want to see what people thought was funny in 1929, you should give this a look today.

But if you find the idea of dogs in human clothes slightly creepy, you are going to absolutely hate it.

Wait, are those real dogs?

Yes, they are real dogs and they are wearing full tuxedos and little hats.

The whole thing is a spoof of the big musical that won the Oscar back then, but it feels more like a fever dream than a movie.

The main character is Mr. Cur, who is a producer. He walks around on his hind legs a lot, which looks really uncomfortable for the poor guy.

He is trying to get with the leading lady, who is also a dog, and she has this giant wig on her head.

I found myself wondering how they got the dogs to stay still for so long. Some of them just stare at the camera with this look that says, "I was promised a treat for this."

The voices are all dubbed in by humans, and they don't really match what the dogs are doing at all. It makes the whole thing feel even more unreal.

It is better than some serious movies

Honestly, I had more fun watching this than I did with The Marriage Lie, even though that one has actual people in it.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of The Dogway Melody (1930) through its definitive frames.

There is a scene where the dogs are all in a line like a chorus girl troop. They are just dangling there while the music plays.

It goes on for a long time. Maybe too long.

I noticed one dog in the background who looked like he was about to fall asleep in his little suit.

The plot is basically nothing, but you aren't watching a Dogville comedy for the deep writing. You are watching it because you want to see a bulldog in a top hat.

It is definitely more interesting than Going to Congress, mostly because the stakes are so low.

• The costumes are surprisingly detailed for a 15-minute short.
• The way they move the dogs' mouths to make it look like they are talking is nightmare fuel.
• There is a lot of barking that doesn't get translated.

I think my favorite part was when the producer dog gets mad. He just kind of wobbles around and the human voice-over screams at another dog.

It is very clunky and the editing is a bit of a mess, but it has a charm that you don't see anymore.

You can tell the filmmakers were just trying things out because sound was so new. They didn't really have any rules yet.

If you have fifteen minutes to kill, you could do worse than this. It’s certainly more memorable than Right Off the Bat.

Just don't expect it to make much sense. It is just dogs being people, and that is plenty for me. 🐶