Hound Dog Man

Plot

In 1912, Clint McKinney and his younger brother Spud talk their father Aaron into letting them go on a hunting trip with their older friend, the womanizing Blackie Scantling.

Cast

Original novel

The original book was published in 1949, several years before Gipson's better known Old Yeller. At one stage Ida Lupino expressed interest in obtaining the film rights, as a possible vehicle for Robert Mitchum.

Production

20th Century Fox bought the film rights in March 1958 following the success of the film of Old Yeller. It was assigned to prolific producer Jerry Wald. Ricky Nelson, Lyndsay Crosby, and David Ladd were mentioned early on as possible stars, along with Stuart Whitman, who did wind up playing the title role. Tuesday Weld was at one stage mentioned as a possible female lead.

The movie eventually became a starring vehicle for Fabian, who had released a series of hit singles. 20th Century Fox had enjoyed success launching pop stars Elvis Presley and Pat Boone into film careers and thought they could do the same with Fabian. He was paid $35,000 for ten weeks work.

Wald tried to get Jayne Mansfield to play the part of a blousy barmaid but was unsuccessful. Dodie Stevens was cast because Wald's teenage sons liked her song "Pink Shoe Laces".

Filming took place in August-September 1959.

Songs

The movie featured the following songs:

"Hound Dog Man" was a hit single, reaching number 9 on the US charts. "This Friendly World" reached number 12.

Reception

The film was not a commercial success, failing to make the Variety list of films that earned $1 million or more in rentals for 1959. Fox executives later put this down to public rejection of Fabian, in particular the fact that his fans were very young and not ticket-buying teenagers. However, Fox later found Fabian could be effective in supporting roles of major stars for the studios, such as John Wayne in North to Alaska and Bing Crosby in High Time.