Review: The Biscuit Eater (1972) (DMC #50)
Don’t go calling this dog a no-good biscuit eater! Last night we watched The Biscuit Eater, Disney’s 1972 remake of the 1940 film. It marks the 50th film in our Disnerd Movie Challenge! (Can you believe we’ve already watched 50 films?!) If you watched along with us last night, feel free to skip ahead to our review. If you need a refresher, our synopsis is below.
Synopsis
In Georgia, Lonnie McNeil is the son of Harve McNeil who trains hunting dogs for Mr. Ames, the owner of Ames Acres Kennels. Lonnie is smitten with a shaggy brown dog from the kennel and wants to keep him, but his father says no. According to Harve, the dog is a no-good biscuit-eater: his sire had to be shot for killing one of Mr. Eben’s sheep, the dog has a terrible habit of “sucking eggs” (stealing and eating eggs from the hen house), and worst of all, Harve has been unable to train the dog, and a dog that can’t hunt is of no use to him or Mr. Ames. Harve and Lonnie instead take the dog to Willie Dorsey, intending the dog as a gift since Willie has been wanting a dog for ages. Willie, however, always looking to make a deal, tries to trade for the dog. Harve eventually ends up giving Willie the dog and $3. On the way home, Lonnie stops at his friend Text Tomlin’s house where the two boys come up with a plan to trade back the dog from Willie, keep the dog at Text’s house, and work as partners to train the dog into a good birding dog. The boys make a deal with Willie: the dog in exchange for Lonnie’s pocket knife and the boys hauling wood. But Mr. Eben rides by with his dog, Shep, and discovers the boys’ plan. He tells Lonnie’s parents about the boys keeping the dog. Meanwhile the boys take the dog home to Text’s mother, Charity, and ask her for a name. While perusing the Bible for names, the boys settle upon Moreover. When Lonnie returns home, he admits to his parents that he traded back the dog and intends to train Moreover with Text. Harve thanks Lonnie for being honest and tells him he can train Moreover as long as he keeps away from the other dogs at the kennel, especially Harve’s prize dog Silver Belle. The boys return to Willie to trade him for a hunting rifle to practice birding with Moreover. Out in the field, Harve, out training Silver Belle, stops to inspect the boys’ gun and teach them about gun care and safety. He also reminds them that training is about learning to read their dog. He’s impressed with Moreover’s progress, and when he and Silver Belle leave, Moreover finds a downed bird that Silver Belle missed. That night, Moreover gets out and heads to Mr. Eben’s house. Lonnie alerts his father and they hurry after Moreover, arriving just in time to prevent Mr. Eben from shooting the dog, with Harve reminding Mr. Eben that he’s seen Shep around his property and hasn’t pulled a gun on him.
Later, the boys are bathing Moreover to get him ready for the County Trials competition when Harve pulls up at Charity’s house. Charity offers Harve the money Text has raised for the entry fee, but Harve, unaware the boys intended to enter, refuses to accept it, saying the boys won’t be entering because Lonnie didn’t tell him, and the boys’ dog is too green. Charity tells him to let the boys discover it on their own. Back at home, Lonnie’s mother, Mary Lee, tells Harve she finally got Lonnie to admit that he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to come up with his half of the entry fee, so that’s why he didn’t tell Harve about it. Harve doesn’t want Lonnie to embarrass himself in front of everyone, but Mary Lee calls him out for being afraid that Moreover might beat Silver Belle in the competition. She finally convinces Harve to let the boys compete saying losing could be good for them. The next day Harve takes the boys and the dogs to the competition at Oak Glen Gun Club where Mr. Ames meets the boys and Moreover. Harve asks Mr. Ames if it’s okay for the boys to compete, and Mr. Ames accepts gladly, asking Harve if he’s worried his son might beat him. At the competition, Moreover makes it to the semifinals alongside Silver Belle. The men tease Harve, joking that if Moreover beats Silver Belle he could be out of a job. One of the waiters overhears and thinks the men are being serious when he relays the news to the cook. Text, who’s washing dishes to earn scraps to feed Moreover, overhears and reports to Lonnie. Do they compete their hardest or forfeit the match so Harve keeps his job? The next day, in the middle of the contest, the boys start to believe they’re winning and decide Lonnie’s dad needs a job. Through tears, Lonnie calls Moreover a no-good biscuit-eater, and Moreover runs off with his tail between his legs, forfeiting the contest. The boys try to comfort Moreover and apologize to him, but the dog is despondent. On the way home, Harve tells Lonnie he’s disappointed in him for calling off his dog. Back at home, the boys try to get Moreover to eat, but he refuses. Text admits to Harve and Lonnie that he’d been feeding eggs to Moreover, but promises to stop so they can break him of egg sucking. Later, Mr. Ames comes to visit Text and Lonnie to set things right—Harve was never going to lose his job, and the boys didn’t have to throw the contest. Instead he invites the boys to enter Moreover in the upcoming Grand Nationals.
After two days of Moreover refusing to eat, the boys decide to eat biscuits and call themselves biscuit eaters to apologize, but Charity tells them they’ll only confuse the dog and instead suggests they take him hunting. The boys aren’t able to get Moreover to run or hunt either. Text decides he’ll try letting Moreover sleep in his bed that night to get him to like the boys again, but when Text falls asleep, Moreover sneaks out. Text realizes and chases after Moreover, following him to Mr. Eben’s where Mr. Eben locks the dog in the hen house with poisoned eggs. Text hurries to Lonnie’s to get help, and Harve hurries over to Mr. Eben’s to rescue the now sick dog. After giving the dog medicine, Harve lays the dog by the fire where the boys fall asleep next to Moreover, worrying if he’ll be okay. The next morning, Moreover wakes up and licks the boys awake, and the whole household celebrates Moreover’s recovery. Even Willie stops by to check on the dog. When Mr. Eben drives past, his dog Shep leaps off his cart and into the kennel yard. Harve clips the dog’s collar to a long rope and waits for Mr. Eben to come to him. When Harve refuses to give Mr. Eben his dog back, saying someone who poisons a dog doesn’t deserve a dog, Mr. Eben attacks Harve. The two men fight until Mr. Eben lands face down in the mud. Harve gives him his dog back and Mr. Eben slinks off. Later, the boys test Moreover with fresh eggs and discover he’s cured of egg sucking thanks to the poison fiasco, but when Mr. Ames stops by, he says it wouldn’t be fair to enter Moreover in the competition after what he’s been through. The boys, disappointed, don’t think it’s worth training Moreover for next year’s competition. However, when Willie tells the boys he has a backer willing to pay top dollar for Moreover, the boys quickly change their tune and decide to start training right away, after which Willie and Charity celebrate—their ruse worked to convince the boys not to give up. When Harve, Mary Lee, and Mr. Ames return with a victorious Silver Belle, Mr. Ames suggests retiring Silver Belle while she’s at the top and invites the boys to enter Moreover for him next year. The boys heartily agree.
Thoughts Before Watching
Megan: I’ve never seen this one before, but from the description it sounds like this should be a cute movie about two best friends and their dog. At this point I’m really just hoping it ends better than Old Yeller.
Kevin: At first, I kept confusing this with Seabiscuit. I had forgotten that Seabiscuit was a real-life horse, but I could see that The Biscuit Eater was clearly not about that once the realization hit me. Old Yeller was a tear-jerker, and most of Disney’s Western/Southern United States films have been mediocre, so I’m being cautiously optimistic for this one.
Thoughts After Watching
Spoiler Alert: The Dog Doesn’t Die!
Megan: I was incredibly relieved to find this is one of the rare dog movies where the dog doesn’t die at the end! Sure, there was a brief moment there where things looked bad, but to be honest, even after Moreover had been poisoned I knew he was going to be okay in the end. On the whole I loved the sweet friendship between the two boys and how they come together to train the dog they believe in, even if the plot is a bit predictable.
Kevin: Agreed! The Incredible Journey also had dogs that made it until the very end, but I would say The Biscuit Eater was a bit better. While the friendship between Luath, Bodger, and Tao was sweet, the relationship between Moreover and the boys, Lonnie and Text, was far more endearing.
Lonnie and Text have a strong bond
Kevin: Of course, the two boys also have a strong bond with Moreover, but the best part is the chemistry between these two kids. From the outside, the actors themselves do their jobs well. Johnny Whitaker (as Lonnie) and George Spell (as Text) are not at all typical of the underwhelming wooden acting that unfortunately happens with a lot of child actors. They are by no means stellar, but at least their performances were believable. Their characters, Lonnie and Text, make a wonderful team. Between Text’s knack for striking bargains, Lonnie’s strong-willed determination, and both boys’ ambition, they succeed in turning Moreover from a supposedly no good biscuit-eater into a prize-winning bird dog. While it’s not uncommon to feature stories of children defying odds and expectations, I do think it’s something that bears repeating now and again. Children are often underestimated in many ways, and while it is true that they require appropriate nurturing, a little bit of encouraging of their goals and desires also goes a long way. We also see Lonnie and Text’s strong friendship in the fact that they care deeply about each other and each other’s family. If this were a different story, either one of the boys could have easily turned selfish, trying desperately to win the bird hunt competition without regard to each other’s well being, only to have an epiphany when tragedy strikes. However, these are children and not self-centered adults. As soon as Text believes that winning the competition risks Lonnie’s father’s job, the boys make the heart-breaking decision to force Moreover to quit. What’s unfortunate is that all of this is due to a misunderstanding since Harve’s job was never in jeopardy, and it’s also additionally unfortunate because Mr. Ames’s joke of firing Harve is deeply tied to traditional ideas about masculinity (more down below). Still, however much they misunderstood the situation, the fact that both boys were willing to give up their goal to spare Lonnie’s father is a testament to their strength of character. It’s not ground-breaking, but it is still pleasant to see this play out in this movie. Prior to this, most of the Disney movies with this kind of setting didn’t do very well in setting up strong main characters with moral fiber.
Strong women…in isolation
Megan: Halfway into the movie it became clear this film was never going to pass the Bechdel test because the only two female characters, though well developed, never interact with each other on screen. Mary Lee never leaves her home, and Charity never leaves hers, but their boys, Lonnie and Text, and Mary Lee’s husband, Harve, are free to go wherever they please. This is not to say the women are physically restrained from going beyond their homes in the film (Mary Lee does technically leave with Harve and Mr. Ames toward the end of the film). The women more than likely could go visit each other if they wanted to, but we never see it on screen. Instead we see all the male characters—Lonnie, Text, Harve, Willie, Mr. Ames, and Mr. Eben—freely roaming wherever they wish, while the women are only seen within the confines of the domestic sphere or, in the case of Mary Lee, traveling only when in the company of male characters.
Megan: That said, Charity and Mary Lee do have their own power and agency in this story. Charity, for one, is part of the reason the boys are able to keep Moreover in the first place. If not for her, the boys’ plan to keep the dog would have been much more of a struggle. She’s also the one the boys turn to when it comes to naming the dog, even if the name they ultimately choose isn’t what she would have chosen. Her first shining moment, however, comes when Harve discovers the boys’ plan to enter Moreover in the County Trials. Charity is the first to try to convince Harve to let the boys learn by failing. If their dog really is as green as Harve says, she believes the boys should discover that by entering the competition, even if it means losing and facing disappointment. I love that she’s not trying to coddle the children, but rather encouraging them to take on new experiences and learn from them. Clearly she’s done right as Text’s mother if Text earned the entry money all on his own without any help from her. In this moment she’s trying to help Harve be a better father and let go a little. Her second shining moment comes at the end of the film when she gets Willie to help her pull one over on the boys. First, can we stop and appreciate how much money she has?! For a single black woman during the time period, that is a lot of cash to have on hand! What a way to showcase a woman who’s smart with money! In contrast, Willie seems to be terrible with money, yet she loops him into her scheme, momentarily giving him the cash so he can make a big show of how much money someone else is willing to pay for Moreover. Even better, Willie turns down the money Charity offers to pay him for his help, and he doesn’t seem bothered at all that Charity turns him down when he suggests they should date. He is not threatened by a woman having more money than him or telling him no, and he even recognizes that in this instance he’s quite happy just getting a seat at the table for Charity’s home cooking. Even if Willie is a bit of a mooch, it’s great to see that his actions are not taking away from Charity’s power or agency.
Megan: Mary Lee similarly holds her sway over the male characters in this story, especially when it comes to her husband, Harve. As she tells Harve early on in the film, the only reason they got married was because she put the idea in his head. It seems she’s quite talented at persuading him to do what she wants, because she also has a hand in getting Harve to allow Lonnie to keep and train Moreover with Text. We really get to see her talents of persuasion at work when Harve comes home after learning that Lonnie and Text were hoping to enter Moreover in the County Trials. Just take a look at this conversation at work:
HARVE: Honey, that dog is no account. I ain’t about to let my son make a fool of himself in front of all those people.
MARY LEE: Then it’s your pride that’s involved!
HARVE: Wha—No! You know better than that.
MARY LEE: Harve, you’re not afraid he’ll beat you?
HARVE: That mutt…beat my Silver Belle? Is that what you said?
MARY LEE: Stranger things have happened. And Lonnie tells me that Moreover can run the legs off Silver Belle.
HARVE: Oh, is that what he said? Well, for two cents, I’ll let him try. You know that? For two cents—of course I’d just…have to talk Mr. Ames into it.
MARY LEE: Ask him, Harve. It’d do Lonnie good to lose. Might teach him a lesson.
HARVE: Mary Lee, that’s what I’m gonna do. That’s just what I’m gonna do, honey. That boy’s gettin’ too big for his britches. It’s time he learned somethin’ the hard way.
MARY LEE: Right.
It’s a short scene, but boy does Mary Lee change Harve’s mind mighty quick! There’s a reason Harve admits to Lonnie that he’s only afraid of God and “your mother.” Of course, Mary Lee persuades Harve by leaning into the culture of toxic masculinity that’s prevalent in this film (more on this later). She calls his pride into question, and his masculinity, by suggesting he’s afraid his son will one-up him. Unable to let that challenge stand, Harve quickly changes his mind so he can have the opportunity to prove his masculinity by trouncing his son in the competition. It may not be for the right reasons, but you can’t argue with Mary Lee’s results—she gets what she wants, and Harve thinks it’s all his idea! The world of this film may not be set up to give women many freedoms, but the women within it sure know how to bend things to their advantage through the art of persuasion and a touch of reverse psychology.
How to offend men in five syllables or less
Megan: As mentioned above, this film is rife with toxic masculinity. What’s the easiest way to offend a male character in this environment? Question his masculinity. Or, if he’s a kid, question the masculinity of his father. You can even do it in three words: “Are you afraid?” Take a look at this exchange between Lonnie and Text:
TEXT: I don’t wanna have nothin’ to do with that man.
LONNIE: I ain’t afraid of Mr. Eben.
TEXT: I am. He’s a scutter. When he butchers beef, they say he drinks the blood. That’s how he got his face all red.
LONNIE: He don’t scare me.
TEXT: Well, I am. I’m scared of him. And you are too if you’d just admit it. And so is your Pa.
LONNIE: He is not! And if you say that one more time, I’ll bust you in two halves.
While Lonnie doesn’t ridicule Text for admitting he’s afraid of Mr. Eben, he cannot bring himself to admit that he, too, is afraid of Mr. Eben, because doing so risks his masculinity. Even worse for Lonnie than having to admit he’s afraid of something is to have Text accuse his father of being afraid. A boy being scared is somewhat okay—children are held to a different standard—but a full adult man being scared is unacceptable. Men are supposed to be brave and fearless. That’s why Harve can’t admit to Lonnie that he has some fear where Mr. Eben is concerned. We see it in his face when he realizes Lonnie has gone to Mr. Eben’s to chase after Moreover. Harve is terrified Eben might shoot his son or his son’s dog. Of course, after the ordeal is over, he can’t admit there was any fear in him.
LONNIE: You ain’t scared of Mr. Eben, are ya?
HARVE: Lonnie, I ain’t scared of nobody but God. And maybe your mother. Don’t tell her I said so.
Admitting he’s afraid of God is okay, because in many Christian religions it’s considered a good thing to have a holy fear of God—it’s a desirable quality. Oddly, in this instance, admitting he’s afraid of his wife still seems more acceptable than admitting he’s afraid of another man. Of course, it’s his wife who first questions if Harve is afraid he’ll lose to his son in the competition. The question is then repeated by Harve’s boss, Mr. Ames:
MR. AMES: You know…an old bachelor like me isn’t much of an authority on such things, but if I may say so, you sound like a father. Afraid your boy’ll beat you and afraid he won’t.
Megan: The question is later insinuated by the other men in the competition and the reporter, with everyone talking about how Harve’s son might show him up in the finals. This becomes a twofold insult—questioning Harve’s fear that his son will beat him, and also questioning his authority in his job. If his son beats him, Harve won’t be applauded for doing such a fine job teaching his son how to train dogs. Instead, he’ll be ridiculed for not being more skilled than a child. After all, to be a masculine man is to hold authority in your chosen profession—to be the best. Anyone who appears to be better than you at your job is considered a threat. Both these ideas are highly destructive. For one thing, if men are not allowed to show fear, what are they supposed to do when in moments of real fear? Many men will suppress the fear, but constantly suppressing emotions only causes them to leak out in other ways. For men, who have so few “acceptable” emotions to choose from, fear will often materialize as anger and aggression. In the case of this film, Lonnie’s fear quickly turns to anger at Text for calling out his and his father’s fear. Harve’s fear of losing his son or his son’s dog, and Mr. Eben’s fear of losing his sheep or his dog, eventually culminate in a brawl between the two men. Secondly, if men are forced to see anyone more skilled than them as a threat, this not only prevents men from learning from those who are more skilled, it also prevents men from celebrating each other’s wins. Think of how different this movie would be if instead of living in fear of his son besting him in the competition, Harve chose to take pride in his son’s efforts and mentor him—maybe even learn from his son’s methods. For one thing, Lonnie and Text might not have felt it necessary to throw the competition. Perhaps the boys would have won, perhaps Harve would have won, but either way, if Harve had a more positive and supportive attitude, he would have seen Lonnie’s success as a shared success and celebrated with him rather than turning bitter and worrying what the other men might think of him.
Kevin: One thing I noticed is how affectionate Harve is around his son. That is to say, not at all. This is a common trope that, however accurate during this time, gets really old. We saw it before in Old Yeller, Those Calloways, and even more the folksy Davy Crockett films. While the men in those films and in this one display positive emotions such as joy, laughter, and happiness, those emotions tap out when it comes to expressing any form of affection. They may show it to their wives, but it’s almost always missing when it comes to fathers showing love for their children, particularly sons. Harve is another in a long list of manly men whose masculinity is threatened. There was a moment when Harve and Mary Lee are saying goodbye to Lonnie as they leave for the competition, and I kept wondering if Harve was going to give his son a hug, especially knowing how disappointed Lonnie is that he and Moreover can’t go. But nope! Harve doesn’t do that (and, to be fair, neither does Mary Lee). This would have been the perfect moment for Harve to show some arguably much needed affection towards his son. I suspect Harve can’t do it for two reasons: first, it just simply isn’t done. Men like Harve just don’t do things like hugging their sons. Second, I believe the reason is partially selfish, as he may still be feeling relieved that he has a chance at winning the competition rather than be upstaged by his own son. Also, what is up with sons in these kinds of films addressing their fathers as “sir” like they are in the military? Yes, I get that that is just what men and boys did back then, but then it’s no wonder why men still have problems expressing themselves and being open with their emotions. When you emphasize masculinity and manliness like this, you are far more likely to see the cycle continue generation after generation. Sadly, this trope still persists in movies to come as we continue.
A less racially divisive movie than before
Megan: I had some hesitation entering into this film once I realized it was centered around a friendship between a black family and a white family. Would this film, like others we’ve seen prior to this, contain problematic or racist depictions? There was no warning for “outdated cultural depictions” in the short description on Disney Plus, nor was there anything that appeared as the film began to play, but I was still wary. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this film largely avoids major stereotypes, and nothing felt immediately racist. The IMDb description for the film mentions the boys “ignor[ing] their racial differences” but I think that mischaracterizes the boys’ relationship in the film, since racial differences never seem to come into play for the boys in their friendship. They’re just two boys who are best friends and love their dog. I especially loved seeing Text presented as the smarter of the two boys. While Lonnie is quick to agree to hauling, splitting, and piling wood for Willie, Text is the one who refuses, saying that’s too much to trade for the dog. He instead works out a better deal where he and Lonnie only have to haul the logs in exchange for the dog. Later, when the boys go to trade Willie for the rifle, it’s Text who remembers the gun is no good to them without shells. He’s a smart negotiator, willing to refuse the product Willie is offering in order to get Willie to offer a better trade. No doubt it’s something he learned from his mother, and we’ve already covered how skilled she is at persuasion! While on the surface Willie may seem to fall into some less-than-positive black man stereotypes, he’s actually quite the shrewd salesman in his own way. Sure, he runs a gas station that doesn’t have gas, and he doesn’t seem very good with money, but he is extremely good at bargaining and trading to get what he wants. His skill is in discerning what his customer wants and what his customer has that Willie could use. I’d never heard someone referred to as the “original Philadelphia lawyer” prior to Mr. Ames referring to Willie as such in this film, so I had to look up what that means. Turns out it’s slang for a shrewd attorney, adept at dealing with legal technicalities. The term dates back to the 1700s when a lawyer from Philadelphia, Andrew Hamilton, successfully argued that printing a true statement could not be considered libel, winning a case in favor of the writer and printer that reported the truth about a corrupt New York mayor at the time. (You can read more about it here.) While I was initially concerned the term might be derogatory, it actually seems quite complimentary in this context. Rather than complaining about Willie to the McNeils, Mr. Ames calls him the “original Philadelphia lawyer” and asks what he should bring with him for Willie the next time he’s passing through. He recognizes the importance of creating a relationship with Willie rather than trying to avoid or thwart Willie’s business. It’s such a switch from some of the depictions of white and black characters we’ve seen in other films (those in the challenge, and even more current films from studios other than Disney).
Kevin: Indeed, Mr. Ames’ characterization of Willie as the “original Philadelphia lawyer” is complimentary. Mr. Ames recognizes that Willie has learned a great skill, and one that isn’t easily obtained. Willie is actually respected for his ability to make deals. One thing we should note is that Willie’s accent is definitely fake, or at least is heavily modified. I was watching a few videos of Godfrey Cambridge which clearly show that he put this accent on for the movie. I only hope that it was not the filmmakers themselves that made this decision, and that Godfrey was able to do this of his own accord. I’m not sure how entirely historically accurate it is, but at the very least it is refreshing to see that his character is written to be someone who is respected by everyone for what he does, black or white, and especially by those who hold more structural power. That said, there is still a very long way to go, and there are a few instances in this film where racial divides and stereotypes rear their heads.
Megan: There are of course some holdovers of racism that leak into the film. Some of it might just be acknowledging the historical time period since it takes place in Georgia some time in the past (the exact year is never stated in the film). For example, at the gun club, all the men in the competition that we are able to see appear to be white (with the exception of Text), and the only black men are seen working in the kitchen. Even though both boys need to get scraps to feed Moreover, it is only Text, the black boy, who is seen washing dishes in the kitchen with the other black men. In this sense there is a clear divide between the jobs the white men hold (dog trainers or kennel owners) and the jobs the black men hold (cook, waiter, or whatever job title you’d give Willie). This is where it gets tricky—is it okay if it’s historically accurate? In this context, I’m still not entirely okay with it because of the subtle implication that black people are somehow less than white people, but I do appreciate that this film avoids overtly racist dialogue between characters. Not once do we see a white character say anything derogatory about a black character, and that’s a small win in my book.
Kevin: There is also a short scene where Willie casually mentions to Charity that he would love to have more of her fried chicken dinners. Keeping in mind that Charity and Willie are black, this at first harmless sounding comment can be off-putting and comes off as yet another racial stereotype.
Megan: However, this could be something that we notice because of the more modern time period we’re in. It could be that in the time period of this film, fried chicken was just a common dish in the South, no matter if you were black or white.
Kevin: Again, I’m not sure how much of it is historically accurate, but I feel like that line was written with prejudice, whether unknowingly or not (although, I suspect it was on purpose). This is not the most overt example, as Megan already pointed out others above, but this was another moment that caught our attention. Still, what the movie gets wrong in some of its depictions, it also appears to get right in others. It’s a step in the right direction to have a couple young boys of different racial backgrounds working together to achieve a goal, while the adults (even Harve, eventually), also of different backgrounds, support them.