| Puppies for Sale | |
| Director: | Ronald Krauss |
| Producer: | Ronald Krauss |
| Starring: |
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| Music: | Elmer Bernstein |
| Cinematography: | Mario Zavala |
| Editing: | Howard E. Smith |
| Distributor: | Aron Productions |
| Runtime: | 9 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Puppies for Sale is a 1998 American short film starring two-time Academy Award winner Jack Lemmon (one of Lemmon's last films) and seven year old Jesse James in his first role. The film's score was composed by Elmer Bernstein. The film's message is that disabilities are no match against the power of love and compassion.
The short is about a young boy (James), while walking down the street sees a pet shop sign that says “Puppies For Sale”. The boy enters the pet shop owned by Lemmon, to see the puppies. There are five puppies to pick from, one with a congenital hip problem. "That's the puppy I want to buy" exclaims the young boy. Lemmon tries to dissuade the boy from taking the imperfect pup, but the boy insists and gets down on the floor to play with his new pet. The owner gets a surprise - and a lesson.[1] [2]
Puppies for Sale was the first film written, produced, and directed by Ronald Krauss. His goal was to help get people of all ages to take a second look at the needs and feelings of persons with disabilities.[1]
Puppies for Sale was awarded "Best Short Film"and was celebrated in over twenty film festivals worldwide including Sundance Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, The Berlin International Film Festival,[4] Giffoni Film Festival,[3] Aspen Shortsfest,[3] Rimouski International,[6] Montevideo Uruguay,[3] The Heartland Film,[4] Chicago International Film Festival,[4] Cinequest Film Festival, Oberhausen Kurtz Film Festival, Temecula Film Festival,[4] Tokyo International Film Festival, Beijing International Film Festival, American Short Shorts Tokyo, Rio International Film Festival Brazil, New Zealand International Film Festival, BFI London International Film Festival, and many others.
In addition, Krauss was the recipient of the Kodak Vision Award for excellence presented by George Lucas.[5]
Puppies was then theatrically released accompanying the screenings the re-release of Disney's "The Little Mermaid.”[1]
Puppies for Sale also had the highest honor of being exhibited at The National Gallery Museum of Art in Washington D.C.