White Dog

I checked out this classic by Sam Fuller after listening to the Criterion Cast. I am glad I checked this out. It is quite good. Think a cross between Lassie and To shoot a mocking bird.

A girl knocks down a white dog ends up adopting the dog without realizing the dog carries with it a terrifying conditioning. Strewn in the simple packaging is an effective message of racism plus mental conditioning. Certain scenes might be a bit dated, glaringly so are the scenes where cotton buds were stuffed into the dogs jaws to give it a joker-ish maniacal snarl. The story is simple yet effective and when was the last time you saw a movie with almost no CGI? This was so refreshing for me. Paul WinField is the trainer that is committed sometimes to questionable lengths to cure the dog of it's 'ailment'.

It's the first time I have heard of the term 'White Dog' too and no the 'White' here is not referring to the color of the dog. The 'White' here refers to the fact that the dog was trained to attack Negros or 'blacks'. The fact that a movie like this might have it's roots in reality stirred up a mixture of anger and a chill in me being a dog owner myself. The thought that someone could do something like this sends a chill right to the core of my soul.

The scenes of the dog attacks is realistically done and being a victim of a vicious dog attack once that nearly tore my finger off while I was jogging, the attack scenes brought back waves of uncomfortable memories too close to home. I shifted around uncomfortably and pulled the volume down anticipating the attack scenes.

Well a friend today made a good comment about something else that I think applies to these kinds of classic, he said "Signs of imperfection are usually an indication that it's original ..". I feel the same thing about this movie. While the outdated scenes might illicit a smile or two but then the final message of the film is just as effective and does not distract from the enjoyment of this movie. I started with the film they said would be the misunderstood gem of Sam Fuller .. and I find myself raring to check out what other gems this great director put forth. Check the criterion cast out for another source of passionate movie discussions.

This is a solid 4 in my books and makes me want to check out Fuller's other work.