Search - Jack London on DVD

Read "Martin Eden" instead.

bookloversfriend | United States | 04/15/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Every movie made in the early 1940s had to promote the war effort, and this 1943 movie is no exception.



The movie begins with the launching of the warship "Jack London", then does a quicky on Jack's poverty, a few scenes of his life at sea, one scene of his education at Berkeley, a few scenes in the gold rush, a quicky of his relationship with Charmian, then spends the last 40% of the movie on anti-Japanese propaganda, giving a detailed presentation of Jack's experiences as a war correspondent (which probably lasted a few months) covering the Japanese-Russian War.



No mention is made of Jack's first marriage to Bess or his two daughters by her. No mention is made of Jack's long-term membership in the Socialist Party or his public resignation from that party when he considered them hypocrites. No mention is made of Jack's self-education that took him far beyond a college education or of the IQ he must have had to be able to go so far on his own.



As a movie, the film is streaked, the sound ratty. The Californian Jack London is played by a guy with a strong Brooklyn accent. (This is a switch from today when every character of every nationality and time period speaks with a California accent.)



Bottom line: Read London's autobiographical novel "Martin Eden". It's his best novel and will give you a better feel for the man than any of the biographies, each of which has one ax or another to grind.

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