AllMovie

The Adventures of Rusty was Columbia Pictures' low-budget answer to MGM's Lassie series. This boy-and-his-dog effort starred Ted Donaldson and a German Shepherd. The first Rusty film paid its way, so Columbia hastily fashioned a sequel, Son of Rusty. The basic premise of the first film-a vicious dog tamed by love-could not be logically used twice, so the filmmakers relied on the old "separate boy and dog in the first reel, reunite them in the last" bit. Of the original Adventures of Rusty cast, only Ted Donaldson is back for Son of Rusty.