"CALL OF THE WILD."

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 204, 29 August 1935, Page 8

"CALL OF THE WILD."

REGENT'S JACK LONDON FILM. If preliminary reports are correct. Jack London's famous talc "The Call of the Wild," a film of which is to be released at the Regent. Theatre to-morrow, has been brought to the screen in an eminently satisfying fashion. Colourful characters, excellent portrayals and beautiful natural scenic backgrounds endow "The Call of the Wild" with distinction as a picture of the romance in the great outdoors. It blends human nature with the melodramatic, and becomes eventually a study of conflict between love and duty. The adaptation of the story to the screen has been given the refreshing crispness and virility that the popular story of the turbulent passions of human nature in the snow-bound Yukon goldfields demands. Clark Gable has the leading role as Jack Thornton, the handsome swashbuckling prospector, and his performance is saw to stand out as the finest of his cares. Loretta Young is Claire Blake, the sV altered young society wonan who easfo uer lot with Thornton and his pal, "Shorty Hoolihan. when her husband is lost in the Arctic wastes, and Jack Oakie is at to best as the wise-cracking Hoolihan. -Ine gulf between their worlds and their codes turns Claire and Thornton against eactt other at first. But on the long trail to the "lost claim" which both seek their hatred turns to deep love. Howevefe when they reach the claim site and nmt J« richer than they had dared hope, their dreams of happiness crash with the sudden return of Claire's lost husband. Facing this test, Thornton proves to be bigger than his "takc-what-you-want" code. The work of the supporting cast, which includes Reginald Owen, Frank Conroy and Katheriiie de Mille, is uniformly excellent and the film introduces a tieiv "wonder dog" in Buck, the St. Bernard who plays London's immortal dog nero, who is more wolf than dog and is tor" between civilisation and the call or n| 5 wolf-mate. "The Call of the Wild >» as fresh and brisk as the air on majestic Mount Baker, which provided its ma?* cent scenic background, and is destined w be very popular with all classe of picturegoers.