Won Ton Ton The Dog Who Saved Hollywood ( 1976) celebrating it;s 50th anniversary next year

Cast Starring

Bruce Dern as Grayson Potchuck

Madeline Kahn as Estie Del Ruth

Art Carney as J.J. Fromberg

Phil Silvers as Murray Fromberg

Ron Leibman as Rudy Montague

Teri Garr as Fluffy Peters

Ronny Graham as Mark Bennett

Larger cameos These players may have a few scenes or are prominently featured in a short segment with lines

Dorothy Lamour as Visiting Film Star

Joan Blondell as Landlady

Rhonda Fleming as Rhoda Flaming

Dennis Morgan as Tour Guide

Ethel Merman as Hedda Parsons

Virginia Mayo as Miss Battley

Henny Youngman as Manny Farber

Rory Calhoun as Phillip Hart

Billy Barty as Assistant Director

Andy Devine as Priest in Dog Pound

Broderick Crawford as Special Effects Man

Keye Luke as Cook in Kitchen

Walter Pidgeon as Grayson's Butler

Aldo Ray as Stubby Stebbins

Nancy Walker as Mrs. Fromberg

Dean Stockwell as Paul Lavell

Dick Haymes as James Crawford

Tab Hunter as David Hamilton

Robert Alda as Richard Entwhistle

Harry Ritz and Jimmy Ritz as Cleaning Women

Victor Mature as Nick

Edgar Bergen as Professor Quicksand

Carmel Myers as Woman Journalist

Henry Wilcoxon as Silent Film Director

Alice Faye as Secretary at Gate

Yvonne De Carlo as Cleaning Woman

Brief cameo appearances These players have brief appearances but may have lines of dialogue.

Shecky Greene as Tourist

William Demarest as Studio Gatekeeper

Ricardo Montalbán as Silent Film Star

Jackie Coogan as Stagehand #1

Gloria DeHaven as President's Girl #1

Louis Nye as Radio Interviewer

Ken Murray as Souvenir Salesman

Rudy Vallee as Autograph Hound

George Jessel as Awards Announcer

Eli Mintz as Tailor

Fritz Feld as Rudy's Butler

Edward Ashley as Second Butler

Jane Connell as Waitress

Dennis Day as Singing Telegraph Man

Mike Mazurki as Studio Guard

Jesse White as Rudy's Agent

Jack Carter as Male Journalist

Army Archerd as Premiere MC

Huntz Hall as Moving Man

Doodles Weaver as Man in Mexican Film

Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez as Mexican Projectionist

Morey Amsterdam as Custard Pie Star #1

Eddie Foy Jr. as Custard Pie Star #2

Peter Lawford as Custard Pie Star #3

Patricia Morison as Star at Screening

Regis Toomey as Burlesque Stagehand

Ann Rutherford as Grayson's Studio Secretary

Milton Berle as Blind Man

John Carradine as Drunk

Phil Leeds as Dog Catcher #1

Cliff Norton as Dog Catcher #2

Sterling Holloway as Old Man on Bus

Brief cameo appearances These players are seen but have no lines of dialogue.

William Benedict as Man on Bus

Dorothy Gulliver as Old Woman on Bus

Richard Arlen as Silent Film Star #2

Jack La Rue as Silent Film Villain

Johnny Weissmuller as Stagehand #2

Stepin Fetchit as Dancing Butler

Ann Miller as President's Girl #2

Janet Blair as President's Girl #3

Barbara Nichols as Nick's Girl

Fernando Lamas as Premiere Male Star

Zsa Zsa Gabor as Premiere Female Star

Cyd Charisse as President's Girl #4

Guy Madison as Star at Screening

Eddie Le Veque as Prostitute's Customer

Toni Basil as Award Ceremony Guest

You call this living?

Somebody's quite committed.

Great thread topic!

I'll have to watch it, which somehow (sarcasm?) I've missed. I just rented it ($3.99) to watch it tonight. I'm a sucker for cameo blizzards.

A true American classic. How many Oscars did it win?

I forgot Gloria DeHaven was dead.

She's a perfect foil for Judy Garland as her sister in Summer Stock.

R3 OP linked to the whole film for free.

I'm sure Madeline Kahn was the youngest person in the cast. I wish she were still alive--she should be.

Actually, I'll bet you anything, R7, that Won Ton Ton was younger than Madeline. :)

It’s almost everyone’s last movie.

Terri Garr was a couple of years younger than Madeline.

Teri Garr and Madeline Kahn with the right material could've been very funny together.

They didn't have any scenes together in Young Frankenstein, did they?

It seems pretty tasteless. At about the one hour point a character is referred to as a “faggot.”

I saw it when it came out on a double bill with "The Big Bus". I was a wee lad at the time.

I thought The Big Bus was hilarious. I wonder if I would now.

I'm glad it wasn't Ann Miller's last film. She acted in Mulholland Drive twenty-five years later.

I'm not sure why it makes me happy, but with her resurgence and financial security she got from doing Sugar Babies for years, then her iconic turn in the now semi-legendary Paper Mill production of Follies, then her turn in Mulholland Drive, I'm delighted an OG trouper like Ann had nice late career highlights and was not forgotten like so many.

I got The Big Bus on DVD and gave it a rewatch (I saw it in the theater as a kid, like R14). I got a lot more of the jokes, but I laughed less. Some films make better memories.

I though Connie Stevens was in this (piece of crap.)

I preferred to use Amazon for the screen I use, thanks, R6.

I watched it.

Horrible. The director put things together and then showed he didn't have a clue about how to direct the movie he set up.

The poor dog didn't save Hollywood. He couldn't even save the picture.

The worst part is that the dozens of older actresses and actors plainly were wasted in a particularly insulting and dismissive way. A flash of part of a face, a clumsy "comic" tableau, no connection with the personas that audiences knew.

I'm surprised the mass of them didn't descend on the director and do a Sebastian on him, a la "Suddenly, Last Summer." At least Kramer showed some context and respect doing this sort of this in "...Mad, Mad World."

It's that bad. Kahn and Dern tried, Carney tried and gave up, and Garr didn't have a chance.

I don't think they did..

That’s a lot of work for a lot of has-been!

Ron Leibman bit was still pretty out there for 1976. Hasn't aged well...but a prime example of portrayal of gays during the Dom DeLuise years...

Was Billy Barty doing a gay schtick as the assistant director.? He was in and out so fast...

[quote] They didn't have any scenes together in Young Frankenstein, did they?

Just the one where Madeline as Elizabeth arrives at the castle.

"What is it exactly that you do do?"

[quote] I'm glad it wasn't Ann Miller's last film. She acted in Mulholland Drive twenty-five years later.

Which also makes me happy since it was a good part. In the beginning section she's daffy and warm, and it's a campy turn. But in the second section, she's cold and judgmental, and shows she could act.

It also makes me happy her last film was one of the most highly regarded films of the century.