For the fifth time since 1923, Hollywood makes Jack London’s 1903 book “The Call of the Wild” once more.
This time, though, there’s a CGI St. Bernard dog as the main character. I’m not sure I’m going to be okay with the CGI dog. Based on what I saw in the trailer, it seems the decision to use a CGI dog might have been to have the dog character deliver on cue for the sake of a few lighter moments. Then there’s always the animal rights protesters to consider, people who might take issue with how the movie was filmed if real dogs were used. Meanwhile, no one says anything about how the Yukon native people are portrayed, shot, and killed as members of the fictional “Yeehat” tribe in the book or movies. There is a history from which these things derive, though, so I suppose there’s no sense in a revisionist rewrite of history. But, I’ve seen the trailer for this upcoming 2020 version and my hopes are not high for this film to pan any box office gold.
In 1923, Hal Roach produced a silent feature-film version of The Call of the Wild. The story behind the dog chosen for the movie is interesting.
+12 years
In 1935, Clark Gable and Loretta Young starred in The Call of the Wild. This time, a woman was added to the mix of trail-trudging characters (of course). The plot barely has any resemblance to the book, and it is a movie typical of its era.
+37 years
In 1972, Charlton Heston went to Norway and Spain to make a version of The Call of the Wild. It stays close to the book, which is perhaps the best part of this film version. The dialogue looping is too obvious to ignore, and the acting of the supporting characters ought to be ignored. Some lines of dialogue violate the senses, even Heston’s. No one pried any guns from his cold, gray hands, but at least the movie stayed close to Jack London’s original book. It’s available on one of the streaming services, and would be good to see before going to the latest incarnation of the book on film. One of the best parts of this 1972 film is that there’s real snow in the scenes; global warming was not yet a problem then, whereas The Revenant had trouble finding snow for its scenes. Bravo Zulu to the cinematographers of this 1972 version for working so hard in the snow to enhance the cinematic storytelling with multiple angles and takes.
+ 4 years
In 1976, author James Dickey — hot off his “Deliverance” novel and movie fame — penned the screenplay for his version of The Call of the Wild. It’s described as “James Dickey meets Jack London” and “Deliverance in the Klondike.” I’ve never seen it, but I’m not sure that I want to, either. It’s probably one of those films of that period (and in the Westerns of that day and earlier, too) where the characters’ costumes are all spanking clean all the time, even after a tussle in the dirt or snow.
+ 21 years
A 1997 adaptation and TV movie called The Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon starred Rutger Hauer and was narrated by Richard Dreyfuss.
+ 12 years
In 2009, a version with the same title has a modern storyline that isn’t remotely similar to anything Jack London wrote. It’s so far removed from the spirit of the orignal Jack London story, I can’t even put the title up as a link because it would be sacrilegious to do so. In it, a young girl takes in an injured wild wolf-dog hybrid, nurses it back to health, and then takes it to Boston, of all places, and as a pet, no less. Yeah, right. That’s so dangerous in “real life,” it only makes a mockery of the film.The logline alone for this film tells me to finish carving my meerschaum pipe rather than view the film.
+ 11 years
In 2020, we now have Harrison Ford in The Call of the Wild interacting with a dog that isn’t really there. Ford probably pulls it off, too. But just from watching the trailer, an animated canine in a live-action setting already has rubbed my sensibilities the wrong way. It’s in the dog’s eyes. There’s a lie there that the animators cannot hide and cannot make real enough. Such is the psychic power and abilities of real-life dogs. For the animated dog reason alone, I can’t imagine watching two or more hours of this version of The Call of the Wild, so I’ll probably give this latest film version a chance only when it gets out on streaming services and I can walk out on the film in my own home.
This time, though, there’s a CGI St. Bernard dog as the main character. I’m not sure I’m going to be okay with the CGI dog. Based on what I saw in the trailer, it seems the decision to use a CGI dog might have been to have the dog character deliver on cue for the sake of a few lighter moments. Then there’s always the animal rights protesters to consider, people who might take issue with how the movie was filmed if real dogs were used. Meanwhile, no one says anything about how the Yukon native people are portrayed, shot, and killed as members of the fictional “Yeehat” tribe in the book or movies. There is a history from which these things derive, though, so I suppose there’s no sense in a revisionist rewrite of history. But, I’ve seen the trailer for this upcoming 2020 version and my hopes are not high for this film to pan any box office gold.
In 1923, Hal Roach produced a silent feature-film version of The Call of the Wild. The story behind the dog chosen for the movie is interesting.
+12 years
In 1935, Clark Gable and Loretta Young starred in The Call of the Wild. This time, a woman was added to the mix of trail-trudging characters (of course). The plot barely has any resemblance to the book, and it is a movie typical of its era.
+37 years
In 1972, Charlton Heston went to Norway and Spain to make a version of The Call of the Wild. It stays close to the book, which is perhaps the best part of this film version. The dialogue looping is too obvious to ignore, and the acting of the supporting characters ought to be ignored. Some lines of dialogue violate the senses, even Heston’s. No one pried any guns from his cold, gray hands, but at least the movie stayed close to Jack London’s original book. It’s available on one of the streaming services, and would be good to see before going to the latest incarnation of the book on film. One of the best parts of this 1972 film is that there’s real snow in the scenes; global warming was not yet a problem then, whereas The Revenant had trouble finding snow for its scenes. Bravo Zulu to the cinematographers of this 1972 version for working so hard in the snow to enhance the cinematic storytelling with multiple angles and takes.
+ 4 years
In 1976, author James Dickey — hot off his “Deliverance” novel and movie fame — penned the screenplay for his version of The Call of the Wild. It’s described as “James Dickey meets Jack London” and “Deliverance in the Klondike.” I’ve never seen it, but I’m not sure that I want to, either. It’s probably one of those films of that period (and in the Westerns of that day and earlier, too) where the characters’ costumes are all spanking clean all the time, even after a tussle in the dirt or snow.
+ 21 years
A 1997 adaptation and TV movie called The Call of the Wild: Dog of the Yukon starred Rutger Hauer and was narrated by Richard Dreyfuss.
+ 12 years
In 2009, a version with the same title has a modern storyline that isn’t remotely similar to anything Jack London wrote. It’s so far removed from the spirit of the orignal Jack London story, I can’t even put the title up as a link because it would be sacrilegious to do so. In it, a young girl takes in an injured wild wolf-dog hybrid, nurses it back to health, and then takes it to Boston, of all places, and as a pet, no less. Yeah, right. That’s so dangerous in “real life,” it only makes a mockery of the film.The logline alone for this film tells me to finish carving my meerschaum pipe rather than view the film.
+ 11 years
In 2020, we now have Harrison Ford in The Call of the Wild interacting with a dog that isn’t really there. Ford probably pulls it off, too. But just from watching the trailer, an animated canine in a live-action setting already has rubbed my sensibilities the wrong way. It’s in the dog’s eyes. There’s a lie there that the animators cannot hide and cannot make real enough. Such is the psychic power and abilities of real-life dogs. For the animated dog reason alone, I can’t imagine watching two or more hours of this version of The Call of the Wild, so I’ll probably give this latest film version a chance only when it gets out on streaming services and I can walk out on the film in my own home.
Comment