7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Jack Thornton has trouble winning enough at cards for the stake he needs to get to the Alaska gold fields. His luck changes when he pays $250 for Buck, a sled dog that is part wolf to keep him from being shot by an arrogant Englishman also headed for the Yukon. En route to the Yukon with Shorty Houlihan -- who spent time in jail for opening someone else's letter with a map of where gold is to be found -- Jack rescues a woman whose husband was the addressee of that letter.
Starring: Clark Gable, Loretta Young, Jack Oakie, Reginald Owen, Frank Conroy (I)Western | 100% |
Romance | 66% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH, French, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
My eighth grade teacher did not suffer class clowns gracefully (or in fact at all), and one of my strongest memories of that year in school was one day when she put on a record of The Call of the Wild and I started to pantomime the narration, including dog Buck’s panting and barking, much to the delight of a girl I had had my eyes on for a little while. Before I knew it, my teacher was at my side and literally lifted me out of my desk by my ear (it hurt!), sending my desk careening across the floor, after which she led me out to the hall (by my ear—it hurt!), where she informed me I’d be spending the rest of the afternoon. (This was obviously back in the Dark Ages, when such behavior from teachers wasn’t just tolerated, it was actually condoned.) And so I never got to find out what happened to Buck and his variety of owners, at least in that narrated version of the oft-told tale. Buck is on hand in the 1935 film adaptation of Jack London’s immortal story, but screenwriters Gene Fowler and Leonard Praskins don’t make Buck the center of the story, instead making him a “supporting player” in a tale of a trio of fortune hunters in the Yukon. This was famously the last film released under the 20th Century imprimatur before its merger with Fox, and it perhaps is even more famously the film where co-stars Clark Gable and Loretta Young kept each other warm against the frigid location shoot, resulting in Young’s hushed up pregnancy and birth of her daughter, Judy Lewis, shortly after film wrapped. (Young went to rather incredible lengths to preserve her pristine, virginal image, by disappearing from film for months, taking off to England for the bulk of her pregnancy, giving birth in secret and then—most incredibly of all—having her daughter delivered to an orphanage where she later “adopted” her.) That very location shooting which perhaps contributed to the conception of the Gable-Young progeny is one of The Call of the Wild’s most distinctive features, for this was by any measure a rigorous shoot which demanded a lot of its cast and crew.
Call of the Wild is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. My hunch is this was sourced from secondary elements, as evidenced by the rather heavy grain structure and occasional softness of the image, but this is not to state in any way that the image here isn't well detailed or naturally filmic. In fact for an eighty year old film, the elements are in remarkably good condition (or have been very well restored). There's really very little damage to report here, and beyond those concerns, contrast is extremely strong, helping to differentiate the sometimes minute differences in white tones when Jack, Shorty and Claire are out in the snow. Wellman and his DP Charles Rosher often tend to favor filtered close-ups of star Young, which should not be mistaken for any inherent softness in the transfer. Occasional other establishing shots also look slightly soft, but generally speaking, the bulk of this transfer maintains a nicely clear and well defined appearance with excellent fine detail.
Call of the Wild features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track which is in surprisingly good shape for its age. While there's some noticeable ambient hiss that floats through the soundstage, dialogue, score and effects are all delivered with good clarity, albeit with the narrowness and boxiness that is endemic to that era's recording techniques.
Call of the Wild has several notable features, not the least of which is its still impressive location photography. Gable and Young make a very appealing star pair, and Oakie, while his typically ebullient hammy self, provides a bit of supporting color. Buck isn't the star here, but he has a couple of great scenes (including one in a bar that will probably cause a few laughs). Nicely directed by William Wellman, and very well shot by Charles Rosher, Call of the Wild is definitely more Hollywood than London (so to speak), but it's still hugely enjoyable. This Blu-ray sports solid video and audio, and the commentary is also quite good. Recommended.
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