Beethoven (film)

All you want to know about Beethoven (film)

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Beethoven
Directed by Brian Levant
Produced by Joe Medjuck
Michael Gross
Written by John Hughes
Amy Holden Jones
Starring Charles Grodin
Bonnie Hunt
Dean Jones
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date(s) April 30, 1992 (USA)
Running time 87 minutes
Language English
Followed by Beethoven's 2nd
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Beethoven is a 1992 American family film, directed by Brian Levant and starring Charles Grodin.

The film was written by John Hughes (under the pseudonym Edmond Dantès) and Amy Holden Jones. The story centers on a St. Bernard dog named after the composer Ludwig van Beethoven owned by the Newton family and co-stars Bonnie Hunt, Nicholle Tom, Christopher Castile, Sarah Rose Karr and Dean Jones. This film launched the Beethoven film series.

Contents

Plot

Beethoven starts off the movie as a puppy in a pet shop. Every child that walks by seems to pick out another puppy, and the owner of the store is having a terrible time selling dogs. At night, two dog thieves break into the shop and steal several dogs including Beethoven. Another small dog, Sparky, however, helps Beethoven escape his cage during the long truck ride. The other dogs notice and become excited. When one of the two thieves come to check on the dogs, Beethoven escapes.

Sparky is pursued by one of the thieves while Beethoven hides overnight in a trash can. In the morning, Beethoven sneaks into the Newton house and subsequently finds children in the Newton household. Emily (Karr), the youngest daughter, believes that her father has finally bought her a puppy. George, the father, is in a sticky situation, the kids believe he brought the dog home, but he does not want the added responsibility and aggravation of owning a dog. Soon he is talked into keeping the dog. While they are naming the dog, Emily plays a famous part of Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, and the dog immediately begins to bark. Thus, the family decides to name him Beethoven. As the family grows attached to him, George is left to single-handedly house train the pup, who regularly chooses to relieve himself in George's briefcase and on the living room rug. As the pup grows into middle size, the antics only increase. The adolescent pup scratches apart the door, sheds endlessly upon the furniture, and dines off of the kitchen counter. As Beethoven reaches 185 lbs. status, he begins to chew the house apart.

As Beethoven grows up, he helps the children. Ted challenges the bullies to a fistfight, and Beethoven growls at them from behind him. Beethoven runs away when Ted sees that the bullies have fled, making Ted believe that he caused the bullies to run.

He also helps Ryce (Tom) to talk to her crush, Mark. Beethoven forcibly drags him nearer to her after she confesses her obsession. Thus, she is finally able to talk, even if non-romantically, with Mark and overcomes her insecurity of not being perfect.

That night, Beethoven sneaks out of his dog house and into the Newton's house, turns on the TV, and watches a special report interrupting The Wolf Man. The report pertains to the stolen-pet crime. He then sneaks into George and Alice's room when George leaves to turn the TV off and Alice checks the heat. When George returns to bed, Beethoven licks him, with George thinking it's Alice. But when Alice returns to the room, George turns around and screams at the sight of Beethoven, then follows him out of the house, and back to the dog house. George realizes his mode of escape and decides to block it the next day. He then leaves, getting wet by the sprinklers, which have somehow turned on.

The family takes Beethoven in for a routine medical examination. They take him to Herman Varnick, who is posing as a veterinarian. Varnick has been asked to acquire a dog with a large skull for an ammunition test, and others for chemical testing. George has persuaded Alice to return to work with him so a babysitter is hired. While the babysitter, Devonia Pest, entertains Ted and Ryce with a shrill sing-along, Emily goes out back to play ball, but the ball lands into a pool. When Emily tries to reach it, she falls in. She flails and shouts for help as she can't swim, but Devonia is playing loud enough to block her cries for help, so her siblings and Devonia can't hear her. Beethoven, however, hears Emily from the Newton yard, so he escapes from the dog house and saves her.

Later, after a phone call from Ryce to Alice hearing of Emily's fall in the pool, she picks the kids up early and fires the Devonia for not watching out for the youngest kid. The next day, Beethoven ruins a BBQ that George was holding for two business associates (although it was the way Alice and the kids wanted it), and afterwards complains about the dog. The children hear, and decide to take responsibility for the dog themselves. Later, as part of his scheme to get the Newton family to give up the dog, Varnick visits the Newton home under the guise of seeing how Beethoven has been since his rabies vaccine. He manages to create the impression that Beethoven attacked him, by smearing red dye on his arm and on Beethoven's muzzle, then slapping the dog across the face. Varnick says Beethoven must be euthanized or he may have to bring legal action. Emily saw Varnick hit Beethoven and yells at him. George reluctantly takes Beethoven to the vet's office. While there he even sadly admits his father did the same thing to him as a child, having the family dog euthanized. Later that night Alice and George talk about Beethoven, they recalled Emily telling them Varnick hit the dog. With some encouragement, George decides to go see Varnick and do a little investigating. The entire family insists on going with him. They drive in the station wagon to the vet, and find Varnick leaving. They then follow him to the facility where he does his deadly experiments on dogs. George leaves the car, climbs on the roof of the building, steps on the skylight and crashes through the glass landing on top of one of the dog thieves, while Ted drives the family car through the wall of the facility, knocking over some toxic chemicals and impaling Varnick with many toxic syringes. Varnick is drugged and later arrested.

The family later gets to appear on local news.

Cast

Sequels and spinoffs

The film was followed by four sequels. Beethoven's 2nd was released to theaters in 1993. The remaining sequels were direct-to-video films: Beethoven's 3rd (2000), Beethoven's 4th (2001) and Beethoven's 5th (2003). An animated TV series was also created around the films that debuted in 1993. Dean Jones voiced the role of George Newton in this series after playing the villain in the film. There is also an upcoming Beethoven film set for release in 2008 called Beethoven's Big Break.

Features

External links

v • d • e
John Hughes
As Director and Writer
Sixteen Candles (1984)  · The Breakfast Club (1985)  · Weird Science (1985)  · Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)  · Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)  · She's Having a Baby (1988)  · Uncle Buck (1989)  · Curly Sue (1991)
As Writer Only
National Lampoon's Class Reunion (1982)  · Mr. Mom (1983)  · National Lampoon's Vacation (1983)  · Nate and Hayes (1983)  · Pretty in Pink (1986)  · Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)  · The Great Outdoors (1988)  · Christmas Vacation (1989)  · Home Alone (1990)  · Career Opportunituies (1991)  · Dutch (1991)  · Beethoven (1992)  · Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)  · Dennis the Menace (1993)  · Baby's Day Out (1994)  · Miracle on 34th Street (1994)  · 101 Dalmatians (1996)  · Flubber (1997)  · Home Alone 3 (1997)  · Reach the Rock (1998)  · Just Visiting (2001)  · Maid in Manhattan (2002)  · Drillbit Taylor (2008)


v • d • e
Beethoven film series
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beethoven_(film)"

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