The Ugly Dachshund (1965)

An agreeable, if decidedly minor, little film, The Ugly Dachshund is good family viewing, especially for those families with a marked fondness for dogs. Although Dachshund is rather typical of Disney's live action comedies of the 1960s, it doesn't stand up quite as well as most of them. This is primarily due to weaknesses in the script. Most of the other Disney live action films from this period have plenty of script flaws as well, but their plotting tends to be tighter than Dachshund's. Here, the incidents really seem to be just strung together, rather than being logically placed and paced in the service of a bigger story; it just doesn't come together the way it's intended to. That said, the many set pieces work very well on their own, most notably a memorably chaotic garden party sequence that is genuinely funny. Norman Tokar directs with an eye on the obvious, but it works with this material. Dean Jones does his usual frustrated, flummoxed good guy put into a difficult situation and does it well. Even better is Suzanne Pleshette, giving far more than is required of her and looking quite sensational into the bargain. Dachshund sags occasionally, but it's an agreeable enough little film. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide