Take two parts Cujo, add one part To Kill a Mockingbird, one tablespoon Kristy Mcnichol and a dash of a crotchety black man and you get White Dog. White Dog is intended to be a very heavy and serious film about racism* but you may find yourself laughing at the serious air this dog achieves when he’s determined to kill someone. At one point the dog even breaks through a glass window, this of course happens in slow mo and is worth rewinding (of course it’s shown from a few angles!)
Back to the serious themes here. A young actress hits a dog on her way home and guiltily nurses it back to health. After a few incidents deaths she discovers that this dog is trained to attack and kill Black people! I know this sounds crazy but believe it. No irony in the casting of an actual white dog. With the aid of an animal trainer the dog is thought to be rehabilitated not to attack. But, can this old racist dog learn new tricks? maybe, maybe not. The whole time you’re hoping that Paul Winfield knows something that we don’t.
* This movie was deemed too controversial at the time and was not released in it’s full version until late last year. A bit of an overstatement. Who knew 1982 was so conservative?! and P.s. Paul Winfield is also the narrator of one of the greatest shows of our time City Confidential!
