Good black and white matinée kids film about a family that moves house but doesn't take their son's dog with them. Somehow the dog (a big Alsatian) walks across America to find them. The 60 minutes or so are the adventures that dog has in rural America, made more poignant now-days because it possibly showed small towns that would have never appeared on film. My memory of THE SILENT CALL is from exactly the above matinée at ago long closed local cinema. The time and place has now formed a lovely mental postcard as I believe the film was particularly emotional for us kids. I assume the title refers to the insistent determination of the dog to find his 12 year old boy owner. Disney made many variations of the same story. It is probably more interesting now to 50 year olds than to 12 year olds, mainly because of the evocative period it was made. Still, as a kids film it was a good one. May I also thank many readers who contact me on this comment.... and good news... if I can place this info here: recently I found a 1970 University film course magazine that has a 3 page piece on Gail Russell with a full list of her films. I have never really followed the career of Gail Russell but after the many contacts thru the IMDb who wanted to know how I saw the film I can only share this unusual information. I hope this is OK. thanks... Paul Brennan, Sydney Australia.
Review of The Silent Call
