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Released by: Fox
Released on: December 3rd, 2013.
Director: William Wellman
Cast: Clark Gable, Loretta Young, Jack Oakie
Year: 1935
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The Movie:
Directed by William Wellman in 1935 and based on Jack London's movie of the same name, Call Of The Wild stars Clark Gable as Jack Thornton, a man who hopes to do well enough at cards to make the money he needs to buy a stake in Alaska. He's hoping to get in on the Gold Rush and get rich quick. When things get tricky for Jack and it looks like some of the other prospectors might have ill intentions toward him, he buys a dog named Buck to help out with his sled and to offer him some protection. As one of Jack's competitors, Smith (Reginald Owen), was eyeing on shooting the dog anyway, Jack figures he could use a dog like Buck around so he spends money he can't afford to spend to make that happen.
Jack's friendly with another guy named Shorty Houlihan (Jack Oakie), a man who once spent some time in jail for monkeying with someone else's mail but that time served was worth it because Shorty was able to find out about where some of the gold that everyone else is after might actually be. Jack and Shorty make their plans to head, with Buck, out into the wilderness and along the way come across as damsel in distress. Jack helps her out, learns that her name is Claire Blake (Loretta Young) and they hit it off but she's got ties to Shorty's mail crimes. Eventually equipped with all that they need to hit the big one, Jack and Shorty close in on the gold, but soon Jack can't hide the feelings he's starting to have for Claire.
Just as famous for the off-screen romance that took place on location between Gable and Young as for anything else, Call Of The Wild remains a good watch, a well-made film with some stunning location photography that really helps to seal the deal in regards to the movie's snowy, cold realism. The movie is well paced and you can't help but get drawn into things. While the script definitely takes some liberties with London's source material, what it does get right is the sense of adventure and blatant risk that works its way through the core of the storyline here. Those involved in this quest for gold are putting it all on the line, and it's obvious that not everyone is going to get their share.
Performances are solid here. Jack Oakie overdoes it with his dopey comedic stylings but occasionally he is quite funny, if way over the top. Gable and Young are the real stars here, the former playing the impeccably macho male lead in his typical fashion and doing a fine job of it. He's stoic and heroic and dashing, all those marquee staple qualities of his oozing out of his work here. Young, on the flipside, is gorgeous and while obviously in need of Jack's help, not quite as docile as she might at first seem. The pair show real chemistry here and you can't help but get wrapped up in their romance as the twists and turns and complications that it brings on play out. It's all a bit predictable and occasionally more melodramatic than it probably needs to be but this is fine classic Hollywood, good entertainment through and through.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Call Of The Wild arrives on Blu-ray in an AVC encoded 1.37.1 fullscreen 1080p high definition transfer that generally looks pretty good. Though contrast does sometimes bloom while grain is sometimes heavy and mild print damage not at all uncommon, the good certainly does outweigh the bad here. Detail looks about as good as the source materials will allow for, and it's frequently quite impressive. There is some jitter here and there the healthy bit rate keeps compression issues out of site. No noticeable issues with noise reduction or edge enhancement are noticeable and all in all, this is an accurately film like presentation of some materials that were in generally pretty good condition but for a movie made almost eight decades back, yeah, this is a good transfer.
The only audio option on the disc is a DTS-HD Mono track, though optional closed captioning is provided in English. Sound quality, for the most part, is just fine. It is limited in range, which is understandable given its age and origins, but dialogue is generally quite natural sounding. For the most part the score has good presence and the levels are nicely balanced throughout the film. Optional subtitles are provided in English SDH, French and Spanish.
Aside from a theatrical trailer, we also get a commentary track by Darwin Porter that gives a pretty solid history of the film and the people who made it. We get some background information on where the studio was at this point in their history, how this fits in alongside other entries in Gable's filmography and some interesting facts and figures regarding locations, the score and quite a bit more.
The Final Word:
Call Of The Wild remains a fun watch, a great mix of action, adventure, romance and drama that's beautifully shot and which makes excellent use of it's a-list cast. Fox's Blu-ray isn't jammed with extras but the commentary is a decent one and the high definition transfer and lossless audio offer up the movie in impressive shape.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
