Episode of the Dog McIntosh

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"Episode of the Dog McIntosh"
Author P. G. Wodehouse
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Series Jeeves
Genre(s) Comedy
Publisher The Strand Magazine
Media type Print (Magazine)
Publication date October 1929
Preceded by "Jeeves and the Song of Songs"
Followed by "The Spot of Art"

"Episode of the Dog McIntosh" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, and features the young gentleman Bertie Wooster and his valet Jeeves. The story was published in The Strand Magazine as "Jeeves and the Dog McIntosh" in the United Kingdom in October 1929, and in Cosmopolitan as "The Borrowed Dog" in the United States that same month. The story was also included as the fifth story in the 1930 collection Very Good, Jeeves . [1]

P. G. Wodehouse English author

Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. Born in Guildford, the third son of a British magistrate based in Hong Kong, Wodehouse spent happy teenage years at Dulwich College, to which he remained devoted all his life. After leaving school, he was employed by a bank but disliked the work and turned to writing in his spare time. His early novels were mostly school stories, but he later switched to comic fiction, creating several regular characters who became familiar to the public over the years. They include the jolly gentleman of leisure Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet Jeeves; the immaculate and loquacious Psmith; Lord Emsworth and the Blandings Castle set; the Oldest Member, with stories about golf; and Mr Mulliner, with tall tales on subjects ranging from bibulous bishops to megalomaniac movie moguls.

Bertie Wooster fictional character by P. G. Wodehouse

Bertram "Bertie" Wilberforce Wooster is a recurring fictional character in the comedic Jeeves stories created by British author P. G. Wodehouse. A young English gentleman and one of the "idle rich", Bertie frequently appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose intelligence manages to save Bertie or one of his friends from numerous awkward situations. As the first-person narrator of ten novels and over 30 short stories, Bertie Wooster ranks as one of the most vivid comic creations in popular literature.

Jeeves fictional character in stories by P.G. Wodehouse

Reginald Jeeves, usually referred to as just Jeeves, is a fictional character in a series of comedic short stories and novels by English author P. G. Wodehouse. Jeeves is the highly competent valet of a wealthy and idle young Londoner named Bertie Wooster. First appearing in print in 1915, Jeeves continued to feature in Wodehouse's work until his last completed novel Aunts Aren't Gentlemen in 1974, a span of 60 years.

Contents

In the story, Bertie must look after his Aunt Agatha's dog McIntosh. Meanwhile, Roberta “Bobbie” Wickham wants Bertie's help to sell her mother's play to an American theatrical producer.

Aunt Agatha fictional character in P.G. Wodehouses ‘Jeeves’ stories

Agatha Gregson, née Wooster, later Lady Worplesdon, is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being best known as Bertie Wooster's Aunt Agatha. Haughty and overbearing, Aunt Agatha wants Bertie to marry a wife she finds suitable, though she never manages to get Bertie married, thanks to Jeeves's interference.

Roberta "Bobbie" Wickham is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves and Mr. Mulliner stories of English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a mischievous red-headed girl who is fond of practical jokes. She is a friend and one-time love interest of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster, and a relative of Mr. Mulliner.

Plot

Bertie is looking after his Aunt Agatha's Aberdeen terrier, McIntosh. She tells him in a letter that she plans to pick up McIntosh in the evening. There is also another letter, from Bobbie Wickham. She wants Bertie to give lunch to her and two friends, and tells him to have plenty of sweets. Bobbie comes, and tells Bertie that an American theatrical manager named Blumenfeld and his young son are coming. The name sounds familiar to Bertie. Bobbie wants to sell Blumenfeld a play written by her mother. She plans to read the play to the Blumenfelds and wants to make the boy happy with sweets so that he will like the play; Blumenfeld takes his son's opinions seriously, since he thinks the child's intelligence is the same as an average audience's. With a yelp, Bertie remembers Blumenfeld and his son.

Bertie tells Jeeves that the Blumenfelds they saw in New York are coming to lunch. Bertie warns that if young Blumenfeld insults him as he did Cyril, Bertie will clump the child's head. On Jeeves's advice, Bertie is not present for lunch. Later, Bertie calls Jeeves from the Drones Club. Jeeves reports that the Blumenfelds have left, and Bobbie wants him to call her. Bertie does so, and she says that the child, buoyed by sweets, approved the play. She and Mr. Blumenfeld will sign a contract. Bobbie also says that the child adored Bertie's Aberdeen terrier, so Bobbie gave him the dog. Stunned, Bertie rushes home and tells Jeeves. Jeeves suggests that Bobbie, who is supposed to meet Blumenfeld in his suite, go to Blumenfeld's suite while he is out and let Bertie in, so Bertie can enter and use aniseed to lure the dog away.

Jeeves and the Chump Cyril short story

"Jeeves and the Chump Cyril" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, and features the young gentleman Bertie Wooster and his valet Jeeves. The story was published in the Saturday Evening Post in New York in June 1918, and in The Strand Magazine in London in August 1918. It was also included in the 1923 collection The Inimitable Jeeves as two separate chapters, "A Letter of Introduction" and "Startling Dressiness of a Lift Attendant".

Jeeves apprises Bobbie of the plan. Bertie meets Bobbie at Blumenfeld's hotel. She opens his suite and McIntosh, drawn to the scent of aniseed, follows Bertie home. Bertie praises Jeeves for his plan and rewards him with five pounds. Bertie realizes that Bobbie will be in trouble when the Blumenfelds discover that McIntosh is gone; at the same moment, the door bell rings. Jeeves says it is probably Mr. Blumenfeld, and advises Bertie to hide behind the settee. Bertie does so.

"Except to the eye of love, one Aberdeen terrier looks very much like another Aberdeen terrier, sir. Mr. Blumenfeld, I am happy to say, did not detect the innocent subterfuge."
"Jeeves," I said—and I am not ashamed to confess that there was a spot of chokiness in the voice—"there is none like you, none."

— Jeeves is praised by Bertie [2]

Blumenfeld enters and smells aniseed. Jeeves tells him that Mr. Wooster is an eccentric who sprinkles aniseed on his trousers, and is easily stirred to violence. Afraid, Blumenfeld leaves, and Bertie thanks Jeeves. Jeeves explains that he told Bobbie to tell Blumenfeld that Bertie had taken the dog. Jeeves adds that, before he left, Blumenfeld paid Jeeves five pounds in exchange for the dog, though Jeeves actually gave him another Aberdeen terrier he purchased earlier. McIntosh is in Jeeves's room. Bertie praises Jeeves again and rewards him with another fifteen pounds. When Aunt Agatha calls to make sure McIntosh is all right, Bertie has no worries.

Publication history

The story was illustrated by Charles Crombie in the Strand and by James Montgomery Flagg in Cosmopolitan. [3]

Charles Exeter Devereux Crombie cartoonist

Charles Exeter Devereux Crombie was an editorial cartoonist.

James Montgomery Flagg American artist

James Montgomery Flagg was an American artist, comics artist and illustrator. He worked in media ranging from fine art painting to cartooning, but is best remembered for his political posters.

"Episode of the Dog McIntosh" was included in the 1958 collection Selected Stories by P. G. Wodehouse, published by The Modern Library. [4]

Adaptations

The first episode of The World of Wooster was an adaptation of this story. The episode, titled "Jeeves and the Dog McIntosh", was originally broadcast in the UK on 30 May 1965. [5] It featured Ian Carmichael as Bertie Wooster, Dennis Price as Jeeves, Tracy Reed as Bobbie Wickham, Peter Stephens as Mr. Blumenfeld, and Addison Fordyce as Master Blumenfeld. [6]

This story was adapted into the Jeeves and Wooster episode "Tuppy and the Terrier", the second episode of the first series, which first aired on 29 April 1990. [7] There are some changes in plot, including:

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References

Notes
  1. Cawthorne (2013), p. 77.
  2. Wodehouse (2008) [1930], chapter 5, p. 133.
  3. McIlvaine (1990), p. 148, D17.41, and p. 185, E133.154.
  4. McIlvaine (1990), p. 120, B11a.
  5. Taves, Brian (2006). P. G. Wodehouse and Hollywood: Screenwriting, Satires and Adaptations. McFarland & Company. p. 176. ISBN   978-0786422883.
  6. "P. G. Wodehouse's The World of Wooster". BBC Genome. BBC. 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  7. "Jeeves and Wooster Series 1, Episode 2". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
Sources