In Call of the Wild (1935) Jack Thornton (Clark Gable) heads to the Alaskan Yukon and gets hooked on two things - finding gold and getting a winning hand at the card table. Neither seems to be coming his way until he rescues a sled dog from being shot by a bigheaded Englishman, and he finds love in the most unlikely place.

Jack first teams up with an unusual cohort. Shorty Houlihan (Jack Oakie) meets Jack in the saloon on the very day he gets out of jail. He tells Jack he went to jail for opening other people's mail, and when Jack ridicules him, Shorty reveals he read one piece of mail that discloses where gold can be found.    

The guys team up and start their search for sled dogs. That's when Jack runs across Buck, a big strong and misunderstood mutt and part wolf (really a St. Bernard) that he buys. After only a few days on the trail, the guys run across Claire Blake (Loretta Young). They find out her husband, the same man who wrote the letter is lost and presumed dead. They take her along and promise to help her find the gold. The only problem is someone else wants that gold! Mr. Smith (Reginald Owen) and his scandalous followers will do anything to get it. Owen is quite good as a scoundrel. He made

Reginald Owen

 Call Of The Wild is based on Jack London's novel and is based on his own gold seeking adventures. Screenwriter Gene Fowler drifted away from the novel quite a bit to build a story that unfolds through adventure, intrigue and romance. William A. Wellman directs in what turns out to be an entertaining film but one very difficult to make. The crew and cast had to deal with blizzards, frostbite and frozen equipment. There were many clashes between Gable and Wellman, food supplies were short and the production ran over.   Some of the scenes seem to reflect these difficulties as they appear to be cut really short and at times even feel choppy.

Still it's hard not to be infatuated by Gable or fall head over heels for the lovely Loretta Young. At one point Jack says to Claire when she's dreamy eyed about their relationship,    "Wishing never got anybody anyplace. It's owning something   that counts. And taking it when you can't get it any other way, that's all right too. It's the law up here; the law of the Klondike."  

Director: William A. Wellman

Writers: Jack London - the novel, Gene Fowler & Leonard Praskins - screenplay

Cast: Clark Gable, Loretta Young, Jack Oakie, Reginald Owen, Frank Convoy, Katherine DeMille

Rating: Unrated - okay for 13 and over

Classic Movie Guide Rating: 3 our of 5 stars

Run Time: 95 minutes  

Studio: 20^th Century Fox

Format: Color, Widescreen

Photo credits: 20^th Century Fox