White Fang Reviews

Covering much the same territory as CALL OF THE WILD, which the studio had filmed the year previously--and which included some of author Jack London's plot from his sequel to that tale, White Fang--this is a story of the Gold Rush days in the Far North. Muir and her brother, Beck, heirs to a rich vein of the precious metal, are assisted to their mine by rough-hewn guide Whalen, owner of the title canine. Unable to withstand the rigors of the trip, weak-willed Beck commits suicide. An evil band of men led by Carradine tries to gain possession of the valuable mine by throwing suspicion on Whalen, Muir's protector, claiming he murdered Beck. After some gunplay and some daring rescues by the dog, Beck's diary turns up, proving him to have killed himself. Excellent dialog and some fine comedy touches by Summerville and Winninger. Darwell shines as a north-country hotelkeeper and Carradine, who paired so well with her in THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940), is a wonderful villain. Unfortunately, leads Whalen and Muir don't come up to the charisma of the leads of THE CALL OF THE WILD, Clark Gable and Loretta Young. Audiences were pleased to notice that the dog, ostensibly wounded by a gunshot, favored one leg in an early scene and a completely different leg in a later one. Previously filmed in 1925.