Review of White Dog (1982) by Alex S — 08 Dec 2008

At one point in this movie, Burl Ives tosses a lit cigar at a cardboard cut-out of R2-D2. I'm tempted to say this is the best scene in the film but to do so would undermine the masterful handling of racial issues on display (which are not man versus fictitious robot).

That this film was banned for years due to supposed or implied racist motives indicates all who make that claim either never saw the film or were R2-D2 supporters. Kristy McNichol (who cannot act) befriends the title dog after injuring it one night with her car.

Once the dog is healed, all seems well until, through a series of unfortunate incidents, it is deduced that the dog's previous owner trained it to attack black skin. Thus begins a rehab. process for the dog at the hands of Paul Winfield, an eager animal trainer who has seen this before (he botched the first two but hopes that this "Mr.

Hyde" will make his efforts worth the trouble). One review cannot do this film justice. Barring bad acting, seemingly pointless characters (McNichol's boyfriend just disappears) and Fuller's spastic edits, there is a lot to discuss here.

The dog is one victim of racism but what about its owner's children? And can you teach an animal to forget what it knows? And when all is said and done, what exactly was accomplished? Deep stuff here, folks.