Wanted—A Master is a 1936 short film (10 minutes) directed by Gunther von Fritsch and Arthur Ornitz.
It's a story of a stray dog that needs a master. A dog is living in an abandoned junkyard. He goes out to scrounge some food. In the middle of the scrounging he reads a headline (yes, the dog can read) announcing that starting at 3 pm the city is going start rounding up and euthanizing strays.
The dog realizes that he needs to find a master immediately. He starts roaming all over the city, looking for a human to take him in, working against that 3 pm deadline. The search proves unexpectedly difficult.
Tropes:
- Added Alliterative Appeal: At the end, the dog's possible savior is about to go into a Burlesque show, which would be disastrous for the dog. The burlesque show has a sign advertising "spicy, sparkling, subtle shows."
- Butterface: A very weird moment has the dog, out on the street, spotting the shapely calves of a woman in a skirt. He approaches, barks, the woman turns, and she's revealed to be a slightly homely woman in her fifties. The dog turns and trots away. Why would a dog care what its master looked like?
- Diabolical Dog Catcher: A Diabolical Manager Of Dog Catchers has issued a 3 pm execution order.
- From Stray to Pet: "A homeless canine vagabond" tries to find himself an owner.
- Narrator: As always, no dialogue, but instead Pete Smith narrating his story.
- Shout-Out: The narrator announces that "I'll throw myself into a strange interlude," then starts verbalizing the thoughts of the dog. This is a shout-out to the 1930s play Strange Interlude when the Internal Monologues of the characters are delivered to the audience via No Fourth Wall direct address.
- Stray Animal Story: A stray dog needs to find a master.
- Time-Passes Montage: A montage shows the dog running around town trying to approach various people only to be ignored. A spinning clock shows the afternoon is waning.
