White Dog
| White Dog | |
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The Criterion Collection DVD cover
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| Directed by | Samuel Fuller |
| Produced by | Jon Davison |
| Screenplay by | Samuel Fuller Curtis Hanson |
| Based on |
White Dog by Romain Gary |
| Starring |
Kristy McNichol Paul Winfield Burl Ives Jameson Parker Parley Baer |
| Music by | Ennio Morricone |
| Cinematography | Bruce Surtees |
| Edited by | Bernard Gribble |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $7,000,000 (estimated) |
| Box office | $46,509 (United States) |
White Dog is a 1982 American drama film, which Samuel Fuller directed from a screenplay he and Curtis Hanson had dramatized, which, in turn, they based loosely on Romain Gary's 1970 novel of the same title. The film depicts the struggle of a dog trainer named Keys (Paul Winfield), who is black, trying to retrain a stray dog found by a young actress (Kristy McNichol), that is a "white dog"--a dog trained to make vicious attacks upon, and to murder, any black person. Fuller uses the film as a platform to deliver an anti-racist message as it examines the question of whether racism is a treatable problem or an incurable condition.
The film's theatrical release was suppressed after a week in the United States by Paramount Pictures out of concern of negative press after rumors began circulating that the film was racist. Prior to the date, it was released internationally in France in July 1982. Its first official American homevideo release came in December 2008 when The Criterion Collection released the original uncut film to DVD.
Critics praised the film's hard-line look at racism and Fuller's use of melodrama and metaphors to present his argument, and its somewhat disheartening ending that leaves the impression that while racism is learned, it cannot be cured. Reviewers consistently questioned the film's lack of wide release in the United States when it was completed and applauded its belated release by Criterion.
Young actress Julie Sawyer (Kristy McNichol) accidentally runs over a stray White German Shepherd Dog one night. After the dog is treated by a vet, Julie takes him home while trying to find his owners. A rapist breaks into her house and tries to attack her, but the dog protects her so she decides to adopt him, against the wishes of her boyfriend (Jameson Parker). Unbeknown to her, the dog was trained by a white racist to attack, and kill, any and all black people on sight. It sneaks out of the house one night and kills a black truck driver in an attack. Later, when Julie takes the dog to work with her, it attacks a black actress on the set.
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Wikipedia