The Call of the Wild

Call of the Wild is a 1935 American adventure western film an adaptation of Jack London's 1903 novel The Call of the Wild. The film is directed by William A. Wellman, and stars Clark Gable, Loretta Young and Jack Oakie. The screenplay is by Gene Fowler and Leonard Praskins. This is the last film to be released under the 20th Century Pictures banner before being merged with the Fox Film Corporation to create 20th Century-Fox. Plot In Skagway in 1900, Jack Thornton announces to a crowded bar that he is going home after striking it rich in the gold fields. However, he loses most of his money gambling first. Then he runs into an old pal, "Shorty" Hoolihan, just released from jail after serving a sentence for reading other people's mail. Shorty tells Jack that the contents of one letter he read is worth a million dollars. It contained a map to a rich gold strike; prospector Martin Blake died before he could stake his claim to it, but the letter was mailed to his son John. Shorty had to eat the map when he was apprehended, but reconstructed it as best he could from memory. Jack's luck changes when he pays $250 for Buck, a savage St. Bernard dog, to keep him from being shot by an arrogant Englishman named Smith. Jack and Shorty head off for the Yukon with the map, Buck and other dogs. Along the way, they rescue Claire Blake from wolves. Her husband is Martin Blake's son and had the original map; he left to look for food and did not return. She refuses to leave without determining John's fate, but Jack drags her away. Sharing the hardships of the trail on their way to Dawson, her initial loathing of Jack gradually melts away. Once they reach Dawson, Jack proposes she join forces with them, as she knows what parts of Shorty's map are wrong. She agrees. However, they still need a stake. Smith bets a thousand dollars against Buck that the dog cannot pull a heavily loaded sled weighing thousand pounds a hundred yards. Buck manages the feat, enabling them to buy what they need.