✯ Heroes of the Northwest ✯
Since the first major Hollywood movies casting dogs in the starring roles, like Baree, Son of Kazan (1918) and The Silent Call (1921), the dog of the wilderness concept became ubiquitous with dog movies and canine movie stars. Strongheart, Rin-Tin-Tin, Peter the Great, and nearly all of the early German Shepherd Dog stars played at least one wolfdog, dog raised by wolves, or dog serving humans in the Northwest—such as sled dogs, prospectors’ dogs, or crime-fighting partners of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
This adventure genre, with its brave, almost supernatural archetype hero dogs, and rugged human male leads, was so popular from the 1920s through the 1950s, it deserves its own page. Many of the stars were German Shepherds, many were based on James Oliver Curwood or Jack London novels, but variations on plots and dogs kept stories interesting enough for viewers to come back for more.
Luckily, many of these old films have found DVD or digital release for the first time and can be enjoyed by a new generation of reel dog enthusiasts.
There is even a novel, Shadow of the North, which takes a satirical look at the films and lives of these dogs and trainers in Hollywood during the 1930s:
✯ The Movies ✯
Here are some highlights of the wilderness genre from early feature films to the 1980s.
The Return of Grey Wolf (1926)
Renfrew Of The Royal Mounted (1937) (series)
Snow Dog 1950 (part of series)
Northwest Territory (1951) (part of series)
Nikki: Wild Dog of the North (1961)
The Courage of Kavik, the Wolf Dog (1980)
The title links will take you to Amazon movie pages (Reel Dogs earns a referral fee at no cost to you) or, for rarer titles, alternative sources for the films.