Call of the Wild

Like most adaptations of Jack London's adventure novel, this 1935 classic is more about the human drama than the story of a canine taken from civilization into the wilderness, where he becomes a sled dog during the Yukon gold rush. Clark Gable stars as Jack Thornton, a veteran miner who heads out with an old buddy named Shorty Hoolihan (Jack Oakie) to find the secret gold mine of a deceased man, with Loretta Young costarring as Claire Blake, a San Franciscan looking for the same prize. Naturally, the couple clash and eventually fall in love, but things gets complicated when Claire's presumed dead husband is found alive. The entire Thornton/Blake storyline was created just for the movie, but a few events from the book remain intact. Buck, an untrained but fierce Saint Bernard saved by Jack from brutal claim jumper Joe Groggins (Sidney Toler), bonds with his rescuer, becomes the alpha figure of his pack, and helps to win a bet when he pulls a 1,000-pound sled from a dead stop. The film was shot partially on location in Washington state, which doubles nicely for the Yukon's big forests, roaring rivers, and daunting mountains, and director William Wellman was able to make the most of his locations with impressive action scenes and handsome cinematography. Real-life then-lovers Gable and Young boast great chemistry as the feisty couple, and Oakie is amiable comic relief, but Buck manages to hold his own and even achieves some romance, of sorts, when he answers the call of the wild. Debuting on Blu-ray with a handsome transfer, extras include audio commentary by author Darwin Porter. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)