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White Dog

  • 19821982
  • PGPG
  • 1h 30m
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
9.7K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • IMDbPro
White Dog (1982)
Trailer for White Dog
Play trailer1:14
1 Video
71 Photos
  • Drama
  • Horror

A trainer attempts to retrain a vicious dog that's been raised to attack black people.A trainer attempts to retrain a vicious dog that's been raised to attack black people.A trainer attempts to retrain a vicious dog that's been raised to attack black people.

IMDb RATING
7.0/10
9.7K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Samuel Fuller
  • Writers
    • Romain Gary(story)
    • Samuel Fuller(screenplay)
    • Curtis Hanson(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Kristy McNichol
    • Christa Lang
    • Vernon Weddle
Top credits
  • Director
    • Samuel Fuller
  • Writers
    • Romain Gary(story)
    • Samuel Fuller(screenplay)
    • Curtis Hanson(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Kristy McNichol
    • Christa Lang
    • Vernon Weddle
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 110User reviews
    • 99Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 nomination

    Videos1

    White Dog
    Trailer 1:14
    White Dog

    Photos71

    White Dog (1982)
    White Dog (1982)
    White Dog (1982)
    White Dog (1982)
    Kristy McNichol in White Dog (1982)
    Kristy McNichol in White Dog (1982)
    Paul Winfield in White Dog (1982)
    Kristy McNichol and Burl Ives in White Dog (1982)
    Kristy McNichol in White Dog (1982)
    Paul Winfield in White Dog (1982)
    Kristy McNichol and Jameson Parker in White Dog (1982)
    Kristy McNichol and Jameson Parker in White Dog (1982)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Kristy McNichol
    Kristy McNichol
    • Julie Sawyeras Julie Sawyer
    Christa Lang
    Christa Lang
    • Nurseas Nurse
    Vernon Weddle
    Vernon Weddle
    • Vetas Vet
    Jameson Parker
    Jameson Parker
    • Roland Graleas Roland Grale
    Karl Lewis Miller
    • Attackeras Attacker
    Karrie Emerson
    Karrie Emerson
    • Sun Batheras Sun Bather
    Helen Siff
    Helen Siff
    • Pound Operatoras Pound Operator
    • (as Helen J. Siff)
    Glen Garner
    • Pound Workeras Pound Worker
    • (as Glen D. Garner)
    Terrence Beasor
    Terrence Beasor
    • Pound Driveras Pound Driver
    Tony Brubaker
    Tony Brubaker
    • Sweeper Driveras Sweeper Driver
    Samuel Fuller
    Samuel Fuller
    • Charlie Feltonas Charlie Felton
    Marshall Thompson
    Marshall Thompson
    • Directoras Director
    Paul Bartel
    Paul Bartel
    • Cameramanas Cameraman
    Richard Monahan
    Richard Monahan
    • Assistant Directoras Assistant Director
    Neyle Morrow
    Neyle Morrow
    • Soundmanas Soundman
    George Fisher
    George Fisher
    • Gondolieras Gondolier
    Lynne Moody
    Lynne Moody
    • Mollyas Molly
    Hubert Wells
    • Traineras Trainer
    • Director
      • Samuel Fuller
    • Writers
      • Romain Gary(story)
      • Samuel Fuller(screenplay)
      • Curtis Hanson(screenplay)
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    Deprogramming a dog who kills Blacks is the ultimate challenge for an unorthodox African-American trainer. When a young Hollywood actress finds the injured stray, she nurses it back to health, not knowing it's a "White Dog" trained by a racist to attack only Blacks. Julie's appalled when the otherwise gentle, white German Shepherd breaks out, then returns from his nighttime foray dotted with human blood. Julie desperately races from trainer to trainer, advised to kill her pet, until the top Hollywood canine expert refers her to his former protégé, Keys. —David Stevens
    • racist
    • dog
    • attack dog
    • bigotry
    • dog attack
    • 231 more
    • Plot summary
    • Plot synopsis
    • Taglines
      • ...Trained To Kill [Video Australia]
    • Genres
      • Drama
      • Horror
    • Certificate
      • PG
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The film is based on a true story. While she was living in Hollywood with her husband, writer Romain Gary, actress Jean Seberg brought home a large white dog she had found on the street that seemed friendly and playful. However, when the animal saw her Black gardener, it attacked him viciously, injuring him. Afterward, the couple kept it in the backyard, but one day, it got out and attacked another Black man on the street but no one else. After this happened a third time, they realized that someone had trained the dog to attack and injure only Black people. Gary wrote a magazine piece about it for Life in 1970, which eventually became a fictionalized full-length book.
    • Goofs
      Just before the White Dog finally takes the hamburger from his trainer, he looks up at him, and just under his lip, shows the edge of the prosthetics that hold his cheeks in a snarl.
    • Quotes

      Roland Gray: You got a four-legged time bomb!

    • Connections
      Featured in From the Journals of Jean Seberg (1995)

    User reviews110

    Review
    Top review
    I thought I lived in the United States.
    Where are all the protesters who gather whenever some idiot tries to censor artwork or expression that is contrary to American culture? None of them seem to have shown up when this great work was put on the shelf, then later chopped up. Europeans, with an open eye to American society (only due to the benefit of being distant), were able to see this film with honesty. I say this because that's where it was shown uncut and critically acclaimed.

    The truth is that it is a statement about and against racism, completely misunderstood by the civil rights groups and the others who opposed it. It is a good, hard look at the way racism is propagated in America, through the training of not only this one single dog, but of young people by racist adults and peers as the young people mature into adulthood. It tackles the subject with an honesty that is sadly missing in the statements of most anti-racist organizations.

    Most groups prefer to gloss over the true causes of racism with platitudes, and a few often have a political agenda that promotes socialistic ideals, so they really don't give full attention to the true causes of racism. Everybody now is so afraid of offending anybody else, that everything becomes a watered-down, grayish, inoffensive litany no more bothersome than grouchiness. Sam Fuller stated in film what it really is, and that is that people learn from others throughout childhood, not always by overt indoctrination but by subtle methods, to think in stereotypical and racist terms. Not just whites thinking of blacks as uneducated gangster-rappers, but also those who think of Native Americans as lazy drinkers, Italians as loud-mouthed mob disciples, country folks as hillbilly trailer trash, and so on.

    And Hollywood does little of significance to dispel this, because they mostly grind things down to these kind of stereotypes to fit into the 2-hr film story mode that they like, which is long on violence, sex and action, and short on character. It's easier that way. Thanks to Sam Fuller for his courage.

    ADDENDUM: I had the opportunity to see this again recently after 25 years, and it is still as powerful as I remembered. It does have a B-movie quality to it, a roughness that actually makes it better than if it had been a polished film. The final sequence remains as terrifying as anything I've seen in any type of film, horror, suspense, Hitchcock, and so on. And it has a fabulous music score by Ennio Morricone. I'd confidently call this one a must-see!
    helpful•119
    16
    • rixrex
    • Jul 30, 2005

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 7, 1982 (Brazil)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Der weiße Hund von Beverly Hills
    • Filming locations
      • Wildlife Way Station - 14831 Little Tujunga Canyon Road, Sylmar, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Paramount Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $8,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $46,509
    • Gross worldwide
      • $46,509
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 30 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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