Dog Eat Dog! (1964)

This 1960's oddity is a rare blend of pulp noir dialogue at it's worst, crisp B&W cinematography, snappy jazz score, Jayne Mansfield's round, doughy sex cat routine, Cameron Mitchell sweating and slugging people and every heist gone wrong cliché in the book (plus a little Agatha Christie thrown in for a good measure.) My friends and I were howling at the verbal "jousting" throughout the film and it is just loaded with one strange character after another. If you are expecting a well made taut heist film, rent Kubrick's The Killing - but for a fun, cheesy sixties crime crap in a blender - then this one is a hoot. Released in England with the much more subdued title When Strangers Meet, they slapped the Dog Eat Dog title on it in America and Mansfield died tragically in the now legendarily gruesome car accident. In fact Maynsfield is four months pregnant with future actress Law & Order:SVU's Mariska Haggerty (sp?) while filming this crime romp. There are cat fights, pistol whipping, Yugoslovian bartenders endlessly cleaning glasses, washed up madams, bald pimps and Cameron Mitchell bleeds more than any male lead in history (and Tim Roth was in an ENSEMBLE when he did all his marvelous bleeding in Resorvoir Dogs). Jayne Mansfield says a lot of unintentionally bad dialogue but her exclamation of "Crackers!" takes the cake...or the crackers...whatever.

The first hour or so of this film seems to be one of those barely competent Euro-thrillers that smells of "deal" and little more.Evil killers laugh for 20 minutes at a time, a thug in a car tries to kill a pedestrian thug and the editing makes no sense, a voluptuous babe offers to sell out the entire male cast sequentially and all at once, we've all seen it a thousand times and on our own deathbeds we'll undoubtedly regret the time we wasted doing so.Then the picture goes off the rails, perhaps because of the three or maybe four directors. All pretense of continuity goes out the window, scars disappear and reappear on faces, characters die for silly reasons or no reason at all; basically staging and dialog disintegrate completely. We watch the film go around and around in ever-diminishing circles and finally disappear up its own backside.You think, "Oh, the poor actors," as they all get that haunted look, like "How did I ever get involved with this mess?" and "Who do I have to sleep with to get OFF of this picture?" and "Boy, will I murder my agent when I get back home!" and "Oh wow, I really need to go; I'll bet it's that schnitzel last night at the hotel." Jayne Mansfield does some of the best acting in the film, which'll give you some idea of what to expect. When Cameron Mitchell goes berserk and starts ripping up the furniture, he does it with a remarkably rehearsed air, along the lines of "We only have one sofa, so I have to get it right on the first take," and "Does Stuart Whitman have to put up with this stuff in his movies?" There is no psychological or sociological subtext to this film; it has no stylistic elegance or directorial signature hidden in a overlooked "B"; it is simply a desperate and cynical attempt to make money. The movie fails on every level. You don't even get to see Dubrovnik. Skip it.

I've just seen this! It was oddly compelling. My partner gave up on it in the first half hour, but I just HAD to see it all of the way through! As others have said, it's about three thieves on the run after stealing money that was to be sent back to the USA for destruction. What a strange yet wonderful film. It was obviously made towards the end of Jayne's career, as her star was falling...but she acts as if she was still on the A-List! But it's bottom of the barrel-ness makes it (and her performance) all the more interesting!The movie starts off slowly, but once the thieves make an open sea break for it (with hostage in tow) and end up on a kooky island estate run by a demented older woman, things really shift gears and it becomes very (unintentionally) avant garde! In this movie you get a way-past-her-prime Jayne doing her own thing (she truly seems to be in her own world while chaos reigns around her), an older woman with a few screws loose, a mysterious killer offing everyone one by one, Cameron Mitchell who never takes the time to wash off the blood and grime that is all over his face, a balding, monocled butler who looks like he's from a 2nd rate (3rd rate?) touring company of "SUNSET BOULEVARD", and did I mention Jayne? See Jayne dance! See Jayne in a cat fight! See Jayne roll around in her undies on a bed full of money! See Jayne in constant heat! See a hefty Jayne run wild on a strange island in nothing but a feather trimmed negligee, a black eye, and extremely bad hair! Just so strange! WOW! I got this movie on a cheapy double bill (the mind-numbingly awful "SHE DEMONS" is the second feature) DVD. I sought it out just for "DOG EAT DOG", and I was NOT let down (the DVD was ultra cheap anyway...). I just wish someone out there would RESTORE this movie. It's wild and I think it could develop a cult following! NOT for everyone--but take a chance!

This movie was okay. I saw it about a year ago real late at night. I only watched it because "THE JAYNE MANSFIELD" was in it. She is so beautiful. The kind of person you just want to have sit in front of you and stare at all day to study each feature. The movie lacked interest though. If you are a Jayne fan, see it. If you are looking for a good movie to watch, don't see it. 1-10 (4) Jayne 1-10 (10) Z.