The Call of the Wild (1972)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Ken Annakin

Writers:

Federico De Urrutia (Italian version)
Hubert Frank (German version)

Release Date:

March 1975 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Family

Tagline:

Jack London's epic saga of gold fever, romance and adventure.

Plot:

A house dog is abducted and brought to the north as a sled dog. |

Plot Keywords:

Dog | Tragedy | Dog Sled | Wolf | Gold Rush

Cast

Charlton Heston	...	John Thornton
Michèle Mercier	...	Calliope Laurent
Raimund Harmstorf	...	Pete (as Raymond Harmstorf)
George Eastman	...	Black Burton
Maria Rohm	...	Mercedes
Juan Luis Galiardo	...	Seze
Sancho Gracia	...	Taglish Charlie
Friedhelm Lehmann	...	Charles
Horst Heuck	...	Hal
Rik Battaglia	...	Dutch Harry
Alf Malland	...	Constantine
Alfredo Mayo	...	Judge Miller
Sverre Wilberg	...	Colonel
Olov Pedersen	...	Red Sweater
Per Amvik	...	François

Also Known As:

Il richiamo della foresta (Italy)
L'appel de la forêt (France)
La selva blanca (Spain)
Ruf der Wildnis (West Germany)

Runtime:

Norway:104 min | Spain:105 min | USA:100 min

Country:

UK | France | West Germany | Italy | Spain

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-12 (cut) | Australia:PG | Norway:12 | Sweden:11 | USA:PG | West Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Lapland, Finland

Company:

Central Cinema Company Film (CCC)

Quotes:

Pete: I've never seen so many people.
John Thornton: And more are coming all the time. I tell ya, Pete, if this is the promised land, I'll take the open trail.

Movie Connections:

Version of The Call of the Wild (1908)

Worth watching..

For a dog-lover, it is a moving and heart-touching story. For any other viewer, it is an old movie that features a bunch of sled dogs and Alaska. You really must read the book by Jack London before seeing the film. It follows the plot but it does confuse matters.

The dog stunts do look very real and do tend do worry you. Fortunatly, you are assured before the movie begins that no animals were harmed in the making of the film. It was good quality for the time period with well-trained animals and nice camera shots. The soundtrack could have been improved but works for the general atmosphere. I was also disappointed by Buck's appearance. He was a German Shepherd mix as described in the book but was presented as a Newfoundland in the film. Curly was also the wrong breed. None of this honestly mattered once the film got started.

It is no match for Disney's White Fang but Call of the Wild does come as its infamous partner.