White Dog (1982)

Director:

Samuel Fuller

Writers:

Romain Gary (story)
Samuel Fuller (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

7 July 1982 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

...Trained To Kill [Video Australia]

Plot:

A trainer attempts to retrain a vicious dog that's been raised to kill Black people.

Plot Keywords:

Dog | Deprogramming | Racist | Actress | Burglar

Cast

Kristy McNichol	...	Julie Sawyer
Christa Lang	...	Nurse
Vernon Weddle	...	Vet
Jameson Parker	...	Roland Grale
Karl Lewis Miller	...	Attacker
Karrie Emerson	...	Sun Bather
Helen Siff	...	Pound Operator (as Helen J. Siff)
Glen Garner	...	Pound Worker (as Glen D. Garner)
Terrence Beasor	...	Pound Driver
Tony Brubaker	...	Sweeper Driver
Samuel Fuller	...	Charlie Felton
Marshall Thompson	...	Director
Paul Bartel	...	Cameraman
Richard Monahan	...	Assistant Director
Neyle Morrow	...	Soundman
George Fisher	...	Gondolier
Lynne Moody	...	Molly
Hubert Wells	...	Trainer
Paul Winfield	...	Keys
Martine Dawson	...	Martine
Burl Ives	...	Carruthers
Bob Minor	...	Joe
Dick Miller	...	Animal Trainer
Robert Ritchie	...	Animal Trainer
Alex Brown	...	Man in Church (as Alex A. Brown)
Clifford A. Pellow	...	Sheriff (as Cliff Pellow)
Sam Laws	...	Charlie
Parley Baer	...	Wilber Hull
Samantha Fuller	...	Helen
Jamie L. Crowe	...	Theona (as Jamie Crowe)
Joe Hornok	...	Guitar Player (as Joseph R. Hornok)
Hans	...	Dog
Folsom	...	Dog
Son	...	Dog
Buster	...	Dog
Duke	...	Dog
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lisette Kremer	...	Swimsuit Model (uncredited)

Directed by
Samuel Fuller

Writing credits
Romain Gary		(story)
Samuel Fuller		(screenplay) &
Curtis Hanson		(screenplay)

Produced by
Jon Davison	....	producer
Richard Hashimoto	....	associate producer
Edgar J. Scherick	....	executive producer
Nick Vanoff	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Ennio Morricone

Cinematography by
Bruce Surtees		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Bernard Gribble

Casting by
Jane Feinberg
Mike Fenton

Production Design by
Brian Eatwell

Set Decoration by
Barbara Krieger

Makeup Department
Del Acevedo	....	makeup artist (as Adelbert Acevedo)
Barbara Lorenz	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Richard Hashimoto	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Daniel Attias	....	second assistant director
Bill Scott	....	assistant director (as William P. Scott)

Art Department
Sal Sommatino	....	property master
Duff Miller	....	assistant property master (uncredited)

Sound Department
Ray Alba	....	sound effects editor: New Creative Sound
Jim Bullock	....	sound effects editor: New Creative Sound
Don Cahn	....	sound re-recording mixer
Carolyn Colwell	....	sound effects editor: New Creative Sound
Jim Cook	....	sound re-recording mixer (as James R. Cook)
Robert Gravenor	....	sound mixer
Robert L. Harman	....	sound re-recording mixer
Larry Mann	....	dialogue editor
Tom C. McCarthy	....	sound effects editor: New Creative Sound (as Tom McCarthy)

Special Effects by
David Allen	....	prosthetics (as Dave Allen)
Roger Dicken	....	prosthetics (as Roger Dickins)
John Frazier	....	special effects supervisor
Stan Winston	....	prosthetics

Stunts
Kerrie Cullen	....	stunt person
Jadie David	....	stunt person
Gene LeBell	....	stunt person
Steve Martin	....	stunt person (as Steve Earl Martin)
Bob Minor	....	stunt coordinator
Sherry Peterson	....	stunt person
Wallace Ross	....	stunt person
John Sherrod	....	stunt person
Eddie Smith	....	stunt person
Marvin Walters	....	stunt person
George P. Wilbur	....	stunt person

Camera and Electrical Department
Sidney Ray Baldwin	....	still photographer (as Sidney Baldwin)
Charles Saldana	....	key grip
Tom Stern	....	gaffer (as Thomas Stern)
R. Michael De Chellis	....	electric best boy (uncredited)
Norman Lang	....	electrician (uncredited)
Owen Marsh	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Henry Minski	....	assistant camera trainee (uncredited)
Rick Neff	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Randall Robinson	....	first assistant camera (uncredited)
Bruce D. Spellman	....	second company grip (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ellis Cohen	....	costumer: men
Gail Viola	....	costumer: women

Editorial Department
Robert Hendricks	....	assistant editor
Pamela Malouf	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Daniel Allan Carlin	....	music editor: La Da Productions (as Dan Carlin)
Ennio Morricone	....	conductor
Ennio Morricone	....	orchestrator
Dan Wallin	....	music mixer

Other crew
Glen Garner	....	assistant dog trainer (as Glen D. Garner)
Joe Hornok	....	assistant dog trainer (as Joseph R. Hornok)
Karl Lewis Miller	....	dog trainer: Animal Action
Dan Perri	....	title designer
Michael John Meehan	....	location manager (uncredited)
Kenneth Shiffrin	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Thanks
Martine Dawson	....	special thanks: Wildlife Way Station
Romain Gary	....	dedicatee

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1982) (USA) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1984) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• American Humane Association, The  this motion picture was filmed under the supervision of
• Animal Action  dogs trained by
• BT Industrial Supply  expendables (uncredited)
• La Da Productions  music editor
• New Creative Sound  sound effects editor
• Panavision  lenses and Panaflex® Cameras by

Also Known As:

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

France:-12 | Norway:15 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG (certificate #26388) | West Germany:16 | UK:15 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Wildlife Way Station - 14831 Little Tujunga Canyon Road, San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Jon Davison was brought in to produce the film later on and immediately hired Samuel Fuller, who he knew could rewrite the script and get the film into production within two months, after a recommendation from Curtis Hanson, the screenwriter brought back on. Filming commenced in April 1981.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When the dog's owner shows up at Julie's house, he rewards her for finding his pet with an unwrapped Whitman's Sampler. That boxed candy is always sold with cellophane wrapper - presumably the filmmakers thought it would be more dramatic to have lid come off and candy fly all over the place when Julie threw it back at him.

Quotes:

Roland Gray:You got a four-legged time bomb!

Movie Connections:

References True Grit (1969)

WHITE DOG (Samuel Fuller, 1982) ***

Adapted by Fuller and Curtis Hanson from the Romain Gary novel (to whom the picture is dedicated), WHITE DOG was the iconoclastic director's last Hollywood effort – and one of his most remarkable, in my opinion. However, due to accusations of racism, the film was never released to theaters in the U.S.; undaunted, Fuller took it to Europe instead!

Having watched it twice myself (first on Italian TV and now on DivX, both viewings compromised by the full-screen format – since it was originally filmed in Panavision – and the latter even more so by the VHS quality of the source!), I have to say that I really don't see it as a racist picture at all. On the contrary, the film deals extremely tactfully with its delicate subject matter, and nowhere does it condone such views! One perhaps tends to forget that, hand in hand with the racial angle, the film also tackles another very sensitive issue: animal cruelty. This is handled just as effectively, particularly in the scene towards the end where the dog's previous redneck owner appears out of the blue to reclaim it.

Despite the violence it commits, the dog is never portrayed as a 'monster' that should be destroyed like the ones we encounter in conventional horror films. However, it does carry undeniable connotations with the genre – notably Robert Louis Stevenson's perennial "Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde". Like the leading character of that story, the dog seems to register two diverse and entirely opposing personalities – docile, protective and even playful with its mistress (Kristy McNichol), then turning suddenly into an unstoppable beast out for blood whenever a colored person crosses its path!

The 'reconditioning' scenes with Paul Winfield are exceptional, and really give one an idea of what trained animals have to go through before they finally learn to 'perform'. The rather bleak final scene (so typical of Fuller) is especially powerful – and poignant. The film is accompanied by a simple yet tremendously effective score by the great Ennio Morricone. From the cast, both McNichol and Winfield are superb; Burl Ives is admirably cast against type; Jameson Parker (from the SIMON & SIMON TV series) appears as McNichol's boyfriend; and there are nice cameos by the likes of veterans Marshall Thompson and Dick Miller, director Paul Bartel and even Fuller himself (as McNichol's agent).

Twenty-five years after the fact, it seems that Paramount has had enough time to reconsider its position and accommodate this important motion picture with an official release, at long last – which is rumored to be coming via a Criterion DVD, no less! I truly hope that we will soon see this fascinating and thought-provoking film receive the exposure it so well deserves: if anything, it ought to be made available for its valid sociological aspects – which it doesn't exploit for sensationalistic value but rather aims for maximum eloquence with a direct, realistic style that really shouldn't offend anybody...