White Dog

Televista, 1982, 89 minutes

Available on Amazon.com

If the gorgeous white German Shepherd who stars in this weird, yet utterly compelling, film were a human, he'd be somebody like Sir Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter - at least while he's talking to Jodie Foster: riveting, evil, yet somehow deeply sympathetic.  

I'd heard about this movie for years, but stayed away from it because the premise sounded a little like a David Lynch film colliding with a Disney movie: when a striving young Hollywood actress (Kristy McNichol) rescues a white German Shepherd she accidentally hits with her car, she is horrified to discover that the dog is a "White Dog" - that is, he has been deliberately trained to attack, and sometimes kill, African Americans.

Because the dog has also saved her from a brutal rapist, the actress decides not to put him down, but gives the dog - eventually named Mr. Hyde - to two determined animal trainers, played by Burl Ives and Paul Winfield. Winfield's character believes that if he can retrain Mr. Hyde, there might be hope for all the other White Dogs in the world.  

Like Mr. Hyde, the movie possesses a rich and bizarre pedigree. Based on a novel by Romain Gary, adapted by Curtis Hanson (who would go on to make the glorious L.A. Confidential), directed by noir master Samuel Fuller, scored by the remarkable Ennio Morricone, the movie boasts a couple of terrifying action sequences, both of them involving the dog - who was actually played by about five different gorgeous canines.  

As the determined animal trainer Keys, the late Paul Winfield has charisma to burn, and clearly loves the dogs he's acting with. (In real life, Winfield bred and showed black Pugs.)

While the film condemns the racism and animal abuse that created Mr. Hyde, it also manages to minimize what happens to Mr. Hyde's victims. (And be warned: there are several.) Anyone who has trained a difficult dog will feel some identification with Mr. Hyde's dilemma - for long stretches of the movie, he is a sweetheart. But like Hannibal Lecter, his charm is never enough to make him the actual hero of the movie. 

Presence of dogs:
Respect for dogs:
Canine star quality:
Family friendly:

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