Call of the Wilderness1932

Can you ever go wrong making a German Shepard the star of your movie? "Ceasar, the Wolf Dog" is top-billed in this independently produced adventure as Lobo, the progeny of a wolf and a "good hunting dog." He loyally fills the latter function as canine companion to trapper Pierre La Plante (Francis McDonald), while on the side mating (off-screen, of course) with a she-wolf and raising their litter of pups. When sheep start turning up dead in this remote region, the shepherds assume it is Lobo's doing, unaware that the real villain terrorizing mammals hereabouts is a fearsome mountain lion. It's up to Lobo to prove his own innocence (and finger the feline perp) once a bounty is put on his furry head. The Humane Society of today would probably frown on some of the pretty hairy, unfaked-looking animal action here, including scraps between raccoon and turtle, wolf pup and crab, and (natch) Lobo and mountain lion. Director Raymaker, a prolific filmmaker since 1917 creating his next-to-last feature here, was suited to the task at hand; he'd previously directed Rin Tin Tin, the German Shepard that was the biggest movie star ever on four legs. Alas, Ceasar failed to repeat that success, seemingly never appearing onscreen again. - Dennis Harvey