Nature seems to have a way of fighting back against those who try to steal its natural resources. Those searching for gold in the Yukon are prey to all sorts of natural obstacles, from the rushing rivers of cold, flowing water as well as the often non-stop snow that often comes with blizzard conditions. The men who went there often never came back, and those who did found a new sense of respect for nature's wrath.Jack London's tale of brave and villainous men is also a love story of man's desire to conquer the great outdoors. It is a story of the devoted friendship of man and dog, and often, the dog is more the hero than the human. For Clark Gable, the desire for gold doesn't come without its risks, and with a loyal St. Bernard by his side, the adventure he finds will be more valuable than gold.Keeping his prize St. Bernard is not without its challenges, betting it on a challenge that he can pull a thousand pounds. But the dastardly Reginald Owen isn't about to loose gracefully, and makes great effort to win back his loss. Along the way, Gable meets stranded Loretta Young who believes that her husband died in a blizzard. With the help of the friendly St. Bernard and jovial Jack Oakie, they set up camp and find a sudden romance that only fate can interrupt.With great scenery and some thrilling action sequences, this seems slight on plot but that doesn't stop it from being often thrilling. Directed with gusto by the legendary William Wellman, this never sags. There's even some light humor, particularly an adorable sequence when the dog heads off to the howling of wolves and briefly makes an adorable new friend. DVD prints run short by almost 20 minutes making me wonder what ever happened to the full, original print, and if this is one released for T.V. broadcasts.

This is pretty good, as adaptations go. The author of the story, Jack London, was quite a guy and came up with some gripping adventure stories. In life, he was an oyster pirate in Oakland, a prospector in the Yukon, a correspondent in the Far East, a member of the artist's colony in Carmel, and finally an isolated heroin addict in a house near Napa, dying alone at forty.I haven't read the story since high school but, as a movie, it stands on its own. Clark Gable is the prospector and gambler who fits very well into the north woods. His comic sidekick in Jack Oakie. The dog he wins is Buck, a St. Bernard, who is enormously willful and strong, and is torn between allegiance to his master and "the call of the wild," meaning that out there in the forest is a pack of wolves and one of them is in estrus. Gable has the same problem. He and Oakie manage to rescue a lost damsel, Loretta Young, looking petite and pretty and plump lipped. But she's married and, uh, well, she and Gable obey the call of the wild.They did in real life too. Loretta Young was whisked out of town to bear a daughter. A few years ago, long after the two miscreants had disappeared down the memory hole of everyone but withering old movie buffs, a photo of her appeared in the press. Unfortunately for her, she looked much more like Gable than Young, except no visible mustache. She passed away only a few weeks ago, or I wouldn't have written this.William Wellman directed with his usual dash. It's not long, it's packed with action, and if you pay attention it raises some interesting moral and philosophical questions. Are we really that different from the beasts? How much slippage should we expect to see between nature and culture?

Jack London's novel The Call Of The Wild is pretty much ignored in this 1935 adaptation. The title remains the same and there IS a dog named Buck involved in parts of the action, but apart from that the similarities are virtually non-existent. Far greater emphasis is placed on the human characters in the film than in the book. One has to assume that the film was written as a vehicle for Clark Gable, a big outdoor adventure yarn in which the star could get in to and out of a variety of hair-raising escapades in the frozen wilderness. The fact that London's novel is essentially an animal story with a few human characters passing through the narrative is of little significance to scripter Gene Fowler and director William Wellman. That's not to say The Call Of The Wild is a disposable film; the unusual and expensive decision to film on genuinely cold, mountainous locations (Washington state standing in for Yukon) shows that this was envisaged as a serious box office winner.Struggling gold prospector Jack Thornton (Gable) and his goofy sidekick Shorty Hooliham (Jack Oakie) travel around the Yukon in the 19th Century, searching for an elusive gold strike that will make them richer than rich. They are helped in their adventures by a St Bernard dog named Buck. Also busily scouring the land for gold is the sinister English-man Smith (Reginald Owen), a cruel rival who has a mysterious past and even a little history with Thornton's dog. During their wanderings, Jack and Shorty come across a woman called Claire Blake (Loretta Young) whose husband has gone missing in the snowfields and could be dead. Claire teams up with Jack, Shorty and Buck, but it isn't long before she finds herself falling for Thornton's roguish charm, even though she cannot be sure if her husband is dead or alive.The movie is very enjoyable in its old-fashioned way. I'm a believer in the theory that films should try to be faithful to their source material, at least to a reasonable extent, so in some ways I felt dismayed at the lack of respect towards London's original story. However, once I'd got that small irritation out of my system I found The Call Of The Wild a perfectly likable star vehicle. Gable is solid in a role that asks little of him other than to appear rugged and fearless. Owen is very good as the villain of the piece, while Young shares a good chemistry with the hero (in real-life, she and Gable were lovers). Jack Oakie is the least impressive of the key actors, mugging rather embarrassingly as the inevitable comical sidekick. The location work in Washington state adds a sense of authenticity to the film that is very uncommon for a movie made in the studio-bound '30s. On the negative side, though, the film settles for a very convenient ending which ditches plausibility so that the course of true love and personal success can run smoothly (indeed, IMPROBABLY smoothly) for the main protagonists. Of its type and era, however, The Call Of The Wild is watchable and entertaining fare.

There are some brilliant things in CALL OF THE WILD, such as the vivid portrait of frontier life at the turn of the century. This is, though, largely a disappointing version of Jack London's novel. Much of his anti-capitalism is here, but reduced to the emotional progress of Clark Gable. The theme of tame/wild is invoked - dog, woman, nature - but the crucial Buck plot is sidelined and made cute. The acting irritates in its refusal of depth, although Loretta Young's entrance could be straight out of Cocteau. The landscape is beautiful to look at, but there is little sense of nature as devouring or malevolent.