Fuller’s ‘Dog’ Unleashed Again

In 1981, that eternal maverick Samuel Fuller made a film of Romain Gary’s “White Dog,” only to have Paramount shelve the picture after a November, 1982, test engagement in Detroit the studio called disappointing. In late December, 1983, it premiered on the now-defunct Z Channel and finally opens its first local run today at the NuWilshire.

Like the book--of which Fuller and co-writer Curtis Hanson adapted only a portion--”White Dog” is about a German shepherd trained to attack only black people, but neither the film nor its source can be deemed racist. After a slow start, “White Dog,” which stars Kristy McNichol as an actress who unwittingly gives a home to the dog and Paul Winfield as the professional handler who attempts to retrain him, becomes one of Fuller’s typically hard-hitting, action-packed, modestly budgeted melodramas that socks over its message through strong imagery and dynamic staging.