White Dog

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White Ricch Aruadirom

source: White Dog

I saw the film at Rochester, NY's Eastman House with producer Davison present, December 2005. The film is several re-shoots and a full edit shy of ready for commercial release, much less serious consideration as a significant American film. Effective scenes (most involving the dog) bang up against first-take-and-break-for-lunch-clunkers. Jameson Parker is laughably stiff throughout. McNichol and Winfield have some nice moments but often get bogged down in the film's labored preaching. Ives' dialog is just so badly written (apart from his character's cute jab at the STAR WARS phenomenon) he is prevented from acting; he recites. There is also just lots of bad, heavy handed cutting that rips scene continuity to shreds and wreaks all kinds of havoc with character and plot development (The only police presence in the matter of two unsolved fatal animal attacks in the neighborhood is a single, momentary drop-in to ask directions. Then they are gone.) Most importantly the film betrays its own unctuous anti-racist message. As long as the dog stays true to its training to attack African-Americans, the African-American animal trainer (Winfield) willfully betrays allegiance to the law and his people, keeping the dog alive for re-programming. However, once the dog turns and attacks whites, Winfield embraces his larger obligations to society and kills the dog. The climax of the film rests entirely on the enhanced value of white lives over African American lives. African-Americans are part of the lab experiment -- an unintended invocation and validation of the racist sterility and lobotomy experiments of the 1940s and 1950s. While the dog attacks blacks, there is hope for a scientific "cure" for racism. When the dog attacks whites, all such hope is gone. In discussing the film and its problems, Davison tries to maintain a good public face, arguing that Paramount would not release the film because it had low commercial potential especially against the controversy that it stirred up. But he also unfairly accused NAACP monitors of criticizing the dailies in production just to pad their punch cards. The fact is this film's racial message is, at best, blurry and inarticulate. In 1982, Paramount was riding high on the GODFATHER franchise and APOCALYPSE NOW, in addition to other works of cinematic and social significance. Commercial release for WHITE DOG would have been an artistic embarrassment for the studio irrespective of the film's dismal commercial prospects. Wisely, Paramount decided to put this puppy to sleep.

I had a problem with this right from the start - How do you train a dog to attack black people ? Please don`t confuse the question , I`m not asking WHY I`m asking HOW ? Did someone sit Rover down in front of the TV and play old , and we`re talking very old in this case , Michael Jackson videos and hiss " Kill Rover kill "? The whole ridiculous idea isn`t helped by the production values . Director Samuel Fuller made the interesting SHOCK CORRIDOR and did sum up the Korean war with the classic retort " This is a police action - So why didn`t they send cops ? " but I`ve always found him somewhat overrated and with WHITE DOG there`s nothing to show why Fuller was so highly regarded since the movie is directed with as much passion as - And with the budget of - a TV movie . It also contains a couple of laughable attack scenes where it`s painfully ( Or should that be painlessly ? ) obvious that Fido is just playing with his " victims " . None of this is helped by Fuller making everything as dead pan and as serious as possible . When you`ve got a silly idea for a film and treating it with total seriousness you`re in danger of bringing what I call " The EXORCIST factor " into being , ie The more resolute things are played on screen the more ridiculous everything seems . I`m probably going to met by accusations of being cynical or even worse when I point out the line " There`s nothing worse than the death of a black man " ! Is it just me or was anyone else offended by this line of dialogue ? There`s nothing worse than the death of a black man ? What about the death of a black woman or a black child ? How about the death of an Asian woman or an Asian child ? or how about the death of a white woman or a white child ? If there`s one thing worse than racism it`s sexism and ageism

Meandering at times, but sensitive thriller about a white-colored, racist dog trained to attack African-Americans. Kristy McNichol nurses him back to health after hitting him with her car, soon learning his true nature and dedicating herself to curing the gorgeous but brainwashed creature. The random scenes of attack on black characters--one in slow-motion--are probably what doomed this film's chances at getting a theatrical release (it played Mexico, but only "preview performances" in the US). True, they are upsetting, but deliberately so. They are necessary in showing the reasoning of what happens next, but that certainly doesn't erase the controversial undermining. McNichol has a difficult time getting a grip on her character (we don't get a good idea of who she is either), but the actress's mere presence is reassuring--she's like a lovely ray. Paul Winfield gives his best performance ever as the black man who attempts to retrain the dog, knowing how slim his chances are. Some shots are repetitive, and Ennio Morricone's music is as well--though I found the passages lovely and melancholic. The slow motion taxed my patience, however all is nearly redeemed by that final shot. What tragic beauty there is in it, what a loss of innocence for all concerned. **1/2 from ****

Adapted by Fuller and Curtis Hanson from the Romain Gary novel (to whom the picture is dedicated), WHITE DOG was the iconoclastic director's last Hollywood effort – and one of his most remarkable, in my opinion. However, due to accusations of racism, the film was never released to theaters in the U.S.; undaunted, Fuller took it to Europe instead! Having watched it twice myself (first on Italian TV and now on DivX, both viewings compromised by the full-screen format – since it was originally filmed in Panavision – and the latter even more so by the VHS quality of the source!), I have to say that I really don't see it as a racist picture at all. On the contrary, the film deals extremely tactfully with its delicate subject matter, and nowhere does it condone such views! One perhaps tends to forget that, hand in hand with the racial angle, the film also tackles another very sensitive issue: animal cruelty. This is handled just as effectively, particularly in the scene towards the end where the dog's previous redneck owner appears out of the blue to reclaim it. Despite the violence it commits, the dog is never portrayed as a 'monster' that should be destroyed like the ones we encounter in conventional horror films. However, it does carry undeniable connotations with the genre – notably Robert Louis Stevenson's perennial "Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde". Like the leading character of that story, the dog seems to register two diverse and entirely opposing personalities – docile, protective and even playful with its mistress (Kristy McNichol), then turning suddenly into an unstoppable beast out for blood whenever a colored person crosses its path! The 'reconditioning' scenes with Paul Winfield are exceptional, and really give one an idea of what trained animals have to go through before they finally learn to 'perform'. The rather bleak final scene (so typical of Fuller) is especially powerful – and poignant. The film is accompanied by a simple yet tremendously effective score by the great Ennio Morricone. From the cast, both McNichol and Winfield are superb; Burl Ives is admirably cast against type; Jameson Parker (from the SIMON & SIMON TV series) appears as McNichol's boyfriend; and there are nice cameos by the likes of veterans Marshall Thompson and Dick Miller, director Paul Bartel and even Fuller himself (as McNichol's agent). Twenty-five years after the fact, it seems that Paramount has had enough time to reconsider its position and accommodate this important motion picture with an official release, at long last – which is rumored to be coming via a Criterion DVD, no less! I truly hope that we will soon see this fascinating and thought-provoking film receive the exposure it so well deserves: if anything, it ought to be made available for its valid sociological aspects – which it doesn't exploit for sensationalistic value but rather aims for maximum eloquence with a direct, realistic style that really shouldn't offend anybody...

Sam Fuller's reputation as an important film maker is something of a mystery to me. The movies of his that I've seen have all had a cheap, distinct trashiness about them. This in itself can hold a certain appeal, but there's an overriding sense of an amateur at work, rather than the serious director he is purported to be. "White Dog" is no exception. Roman Gary's story is powerful and in the hands of a truly talented director, the result could have been explosive. While Gary and Curits Hanson are credited as co-writers, the stilted dialog has Fuller's stamp on it. The lines have a lame quality, associated with extreme B movies, if not the filler dialog of * movies. Kristy McNchol, Burl Ives and Paul Winfield are fine enough actors, so it's to Fuller's discredit that the film should be so shoddy. The attack scenes are handled well, and as some reviewers have mentioned the dog out acts them all. Fortunately he has no dialog.

As someone who was raised to abhor racism & any discrimination for that matter, maybe there is some truth to the idea that a person's beliefs (whether questionable or not) all begin with how they are raised. This could very well transfer to the animal kingdom if WHITE DOG is any indication. Just from reading the synopsis of the film, I was prepared for a movie that would not be making its points subtly, but rather pulling no punches whatsoever. Director Samuel Fuller was always known for telling it like it is, as well as maintaining his independence from the Hollywood mainstream. At first, Paramount had intended to distribute this movie after owning the rights to Romain Gary's story for years. However, I can guess that the powers that be were still very afraid of the adverse reaction WHITE DOG was likely going to generate, mainly by people who either had not seen the movie, or had misunderstood it. That was why Paramount pulled out before the film's American release, and to this day, it has not been seen in our theaters. It is thus easily understood why Fuller never made another American film (to which I say, good for him!) because even as liberal as we Americans often claim to be, sometimes a certain subject such as that portrayed in WHITE DOG hits a little too close to home. Fuller dared to talk about racism (a problem still alive & well even decades after the advent of civil rights) without any sugarcoating whatsoever, and it was this take-no-prisoners approach that meant curtains for the film even before it had a chance. No surprise, European audiences & critics loved WHITE DOG, and understood the movie for what it was: a statement against racism, not condoning it. Furthermore, Fuller dared to put forth the theory that racism can be taught to another person (or in this case, animal) by careful teaching. Whether or not deprogramming in the opposite direction can happen is unclear. WHITE DOG succeeds by not giving any clear-cut answers, and that is another reason why Americans probably would not have taken to it well: for every message picture we get, we expect to see some solutions for the problem. WHITE DOG does not do that. To say WHITE DOG is a film ahead of its time would be an understatement because I do not think even today, a movie like this could be green-lighted by a major studio. Coalitions & interest groups would likely protest loudly enough to force WHITE DOG off the screen. Some would say the violence is to blame, and yes, it IS graphic. But the film does have a PG rating, so it is not gore of the highest order. Even when the film did make it on to American cable, cuts were made so that the dog merely bit its victims rather than killed them. Others would say the mere plot of the movie itself is hateful enough, but sometimes an unvarnished approach to a brutal subject is necessary to get the point across. All I can say is be prepared to have the film's message beat you over the head, for I highly doubt Fuller would have done it any other way. It will also cause heated debate & discussion, yet another result that Fuller (R.I.P.) would also have appreciated totally.

In Los Angeles, the unemployed young actress Julie Sawyer (Kristy McNichol) hits a white German Sheppard while driving though the hills during the night. She brings the dog to the veterinary and keeps the animal in her house on the hills. Julie takes a picture of the dog and distributes fliers with her boyfriend seeking out the owner. When a burglar and rapist breaks in her house, the dog protects Julie and she decides to keep the animal with her. But sooner she learns the white dog is an animal trained by a racist to attack black people. However Julie has become attached to the dog and tries to find a trainer for "deprogramming" the dog. She goes to the Noah Ark, a place where the Afro-American trainer of wild animals Keys (Paul Winfield) accepts the challenge despite the difficulties of his task. "White Dog" is among the most impressive films about racism ever made by the cinema history. The plot is very simple but touching and shows how cruel and intolerant a human being can be. The sick idea of using alcoholic or addicted black man to frequently beat up a puppy until it grows-up with hatred of black people is so despicable that it is hard to believe that it may happen. I saw this film for the first time in the 80's and it has not aged. My vote is sight. Title (Brazil): "Cão Branco" ("White Dog")