Hollywood studio executives could be incredibly clueless. Few examples of that are as clear as the sate fate of White Dog, 1982 drama directed by Samuel Fuller. What is today recognised as one of the most anti-racist films to be produced by Hollywood was initially suppressed by Paramount Pictures over fears that it could be interpreted as racist and result in boycotts, protests and bad publicity.
The film is based on the novel by famed French novelist Romain Gary, itself based on the real events experienced by Gary and his wife Jean Seberg while living in late 1960s Los Angeles. The plot begins one night when Hollywood actress Julie Sawyer (played by Kristy McNichol), while driving, accidentally hits white German shepherd. The dog survives and Julie, unable to find his owners, decides to adopt him. Their happy co-existence is shattered when she brings dog on the film set when he inexplicably attacks and injures fellow actress who happens to be black. Baffled by dog’s strange behaviour, Julie brings him to animal training facility. Its owner Carruthers (played by Burl Ives) soon discovers that the animal is “White dog”, a special kind of dog which had been trained by its racist owners to attack and kill any black persons. While he suggests that the dog is too dangerous to be allowed to live, his black associate Keys (played by Paul Winfield) has different ideas and believes that the dog can be deprogrammed. Julie agrees and the long, difficult and dangerous process of unlearning racial hatred begins.
Script by Curtis Hanson, just like the original novel, uses the white dog as a symbolic representation of racism in American society, especially in times when such racism wasn’t institutionally sanctioned any more. White Americans can pretend that racism doesn’t exist any more, just like Julie might believe that the dog is nothing more than adorable pet; African American characters that encounter it experience something more unpleasant and deadly. Samuel Fuller was perfect choice for director because of his strongly independent character and tendency to explicitly deal with important issues and some of the more sinister aspects of American society, including racism. He directed White Dog with great skill, most notably in keeping the tight pace and fitting all the story and characters neatly into hour of half of running time. Simplicity of the film is maintained by relatively small number of characters, all played by very capable cast. Kristy McNichol, best known for her work on television, is very good as well-intentioned but naive member of America’s creative class. Her performance is, however, dwarfed by Paul Winfield who perfectly displays pride and obsession of a man who tries to exercise racist demons in a dog against common sense approach of his boss. Not everything in this film is perfect, however. Musical soundtrack by Ennio Morricone sometimes seems too overwhelming and used in the wrong scenes. The scene near the ending, when Julie finally meets and confronts the racist dog owner (played by Parley Baer), is too neat and Hollywood-like for such serious film. Fuller saves the impression by the bleak ending which, although based on optimistic idea that racism is learned and can be unlearned, also suggests that such serious problems can’t be solved easily or without risks of creating new problems. Fuller, displeased with the way studio handled his film, left Hollywood and continued his career in France, having to wait years before White Dog was properly distributed and appraised by the audience. That appraisal is going to be positive even today, because this film represent something which is quite rare in today’s Hollywood - an effective and thoughtful examination of an important social issue.
RATING: 7/10 (++)
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