This was the 44th cartoon Robert McKimson directed, and it's a good one. I love this dog: he's a perfect portrait of an anal retentive S&M dominate, right down to the mounted wheel of fortune and the numbered and filed punishments, like a self-assured version of James Spader in THE SECRETARY. We last saw this team in "It's Hummer Time" (1950) where the dog punished the cat when the cat disturbed him (while chasing a humming bird). Here the dog is not punishing him due to annoyance, it's just the result of a friendly game of chance, which the cat can't help but play due to being bitten by the Gambling Bug. This cat was never named, but is sometimes referred to as "The Tuxedo Cat," "McKimson's Cat." or "The Capistrano Cat" because of his starring role in McKimson's "Swallow The Leader" (1949) where he hunted the swallows at Mission San Juan Capistrano. The cat would only appear in one more cartoon, LEGHORN SWOGGLED (1951.
Review of Early to Bet
