#455: FULLER, Samuel: White Dog (1982)

FULLER, Samuel (United States)

White Dog [1982]

Spine #455
DVD

Samuel Fuller's throat-grabbing statement on American racism was misunderstood and withheld from release when it was made in the early eighties; today, the notorious film is lauded for its daring metaphor and gripping pulp filmmaking. Kristy McNichol stars as a young actress who adopts a lost German shepherd only to discover through a series of horrifying incidents that the dog has been trained to attack black people, and Paul Winfield plays the animal trainer who tries to cure him. A snarling and uncompromising vision of human corruption, White Dog has lost none of its power to shock the senses or the conscience.

90 minutes
Color

Monaural

1:78:1 aspect ratio

Criterion Release 2008

Director/Writers

Based on the story by Romain Gary.

Screenplay by Samuel Fuller and Curtis Hanson.

Fuller was 70 when he directed White Dog.

Other Fuller films in the Collection:

Eclipse Series 5: I Shot Jesse James (1949)
Eclipse Series 5: The Baron Of Arizona (1950)
Eclipse Series 5: The Steel Helmet (1951)
#224: Pickup On South Street (1953)
#954: Forty Guns (1957)
#19: Shock Corridor (1963)
#18: The Naked Kiss (1964)

The Film

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Thirty-two page booklet featuring essays by critic J. Hoberman and Armond White, as well as a piece in which Fuller interviews the canine star of the film.

Commentary

None.

Video interviews

With producer Jon Davison, co-writer Hanson, and director Fuller’s widow, Christa Lang-Fuller.

Interview

With dog trainer Karl Lewis Miller.

Rare photos

From the film’s production.

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

99

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