How the film "K-9. Dog Work" was filmed: 12 interesting facts about the film that many do not know (13 photos)

The action comedy about an unsmiling detective and his four-legged partner named Jerry Lee became a real hit, leaving no one indifferent.





1. In the 80s, the Buddy-movie genre became especially popular. In films of this genre, the plot revolves around two partners, usually of different characters.



The bosses of the Universal studio decided that it would be nice to improve this genre by taking a dog as one of the partners. In many ways, this idea came from the real-life exploits of real police dogs from the K-9 unit. Therefore, it was decided to call the film that way.

By the way, did you know why the police dog unit is called K-9? As a child, I thought that there was some kind of code hidden here, but everything turned out to be much simpler. This title is a play on words. "K-9" in English sounds like "K nine" (Key nine), which is similar to the word "Canine" (translated from English as "Dog").





2. Rod Daniel, who had previously directed the film “Teen Wolf” starring Michael J. Fox, was invited to direct. Naturally, the little-known director did not refuse such an offer.

3. Jace Belushi was almost immediately approved for the role of detective Michael Dooley, especially since shortly before that he had already played a policeman in the film “Red Heat” with Arnold Schwarzenegger. But there were some difficulties with finding the dog.



James Belushi

4. There were considerable demands placed on the dog who was to play Jerry Lee. The dog had to not only be trained and follow commands, but also have a bright character. In addition, there were also requirements for the dog’s appearance. Specifically, producers were looking for a German Shepherd with a light muzzle.

More than 40 German Shepherds were tested, but none of them were suitable. Basically, the problems were in the appearance of the dogs. Then it was decided to go to Germany (Germany), the homeland of German shepherds, to try to find the “star” there.



Still, the filmmakers were lucky, because in Germany they managed to find as many as four suitable dogs. They were all sent to the famous Hollywood trainer Carl Miller, who was supposed to train them for filming in just 12 weeks. It was not so simple, since although the dogs already knew some commands, they knew them in German.

According to another version, Jerry Lee played a real police dog named Coton, who participated in the capture of more than 20 criminals and discovered more than 10 kilograms of cocaine. And in 1991, the dog was shot by criminals while performing a combat mission. It is possible that Coton was Rando's stunt double in some scenes.



But still, in various interviews with members of the film crew, it is the dog named Rando that is mentioned. Yes, during filming the role of Jerry Lee was played by several dogs, but still the main actor was Rando. True, Rando no longer starred in the next two parts of the film. But he lived a fairly long and happy life with his mistress in Malibu, and died only in 2009.

5. During the training, a dog named Rando especially stood out. He absorbed all the commands taught by his trainer so well that he was able to learn 10 times more commands than his four-legged competitors.



Carl Miller (trainer) recalled that he could not even think of a command that Rando had not studied. He even joked that Rando had already learned to almost smile on command. He was almost as easy to work with as human actors, which is why he got the role of Jerry Lee.

6. Once, during filming, a stuntman portraying a bandit fell heavily. Rando, seeing that the man was hurt, immediately rushed to his aid. And as soon as the stuntman got to his feet, Rando returned to his role and began to growl at the “villain”.



7. You may have noticed in the credits that a dog named Jerry Lee is played by a dog named Jerry Lee. Many dThey noticed that they didn’t choose a name for the dog, but gave him his own nickname, so that it would be easier for him to follow commands during filming. But in reality this is a special move. The dog, as I already wrote, was called Rando.



Jerry Lee's nickname was already written in the script, and any dog who suited this role would have received it. By the way, the movie dog was named after the famous rock musician Jerry Lee Lewis.

8. James Belushi jokingly said that Jerry Lee “takes away his bread” and draws all the attention to himself. But the most interesting thing is that after filming the film, the actor himself got himself two German shepherds, which he named Mac and King. I immediately formed an association with two famous fast foods - McDonald's and Burger King. Maybe Belushi called them that on purpose? Unfortunately, I did not find this information.



And you know what's most interesting? A dog named Mac played Jerry Lee in the movie "K-911", and King played the same role in the third part - "K-9111".

9. With a budget of $17 million, the film "K-9. Dog Job" grossed $78.2 million, which was an excellent result for a film of this genre.

10. Three months after the release of the film “K-9. Dog Job” (also in 1989), the film “Turner and Hooch” was released with Tom Hanks in the title role. The film also talked about the relationship between a policeman and his four-legged partner Hooch.



11. Rando the dog was absolutely amazing. He not only coped with his role excellently and showed human qualities, but even managed to improvise in one of the scenes. Although, maybe this is just another move by the filmmakers. But I will still describe this moment.



During the hospital scene when James Belushi was crying over the (supposedly) unconscious dog, Jerry Lee was not supposed to open his eyes. But he still opened his eyes every time James Belushi turned away from him. This created an additional comic effect that was not written into the script, and it was this unplanned scene that ended up making it into the final version of the film. Although, it still seems to me that all this was planned.

12. The small role of the waiter was played by actor Dan Castalanetta, who is best known to audiences as the voice of Homer Simpson from the animated series The Simpsons and the voice of the Genie in some parts of the cartoon Aladdin.