La spacconata

This flick being briefly inspired by classic novels by Jack London . A father called Sandy Shaw (Robert Woods) , son , and their faithful dog White Fang go on a risked journey in search of a cottage on their own and subsequently to encounter a gold mine located on a propriety named Eagle Nest . They find themselves pursued and harassed by a wealthy owner (Robert Hundar) who carries out several tricks to deceive them , it means of stealing the gold mine and to profit from them . Meantime , Sandy Shaw join forces a drunk called Dollar (Pedro Sánchez or Ignacio Spalla) to protect the child and their farm from the evil land baron . Then , Sandy to marry the beautiful young girl named Connie (Gabriella) , but she is deceived and finally raped ; later on , Shaw sets out in find out the rapists and vows revenge against her attackers .

Lumpy blend of adventures , action , villainy , though needlessly violent and aimed to young people . The film is loosely based on the novels by Jack London : ¨White fang¨ , ¨Wild call¨ , and by Edgar B. Cooper based on ¨Story Pioneers and Gold-Seekers¨ , though differ significantly from the books but this is an invented version , however remains the essential elements as the young-dog friendship , the gold rush , spectacular outdoors and locations and several moving scenes . The talent of diverse and wasting casting is redeemed in part for the spectacular outdoors filmed on gorgeous landscapes . It's a below average adventure movie that maintains the charm and exciting style of the previous Alaskan films but still makes for decent juvenile amusement . Weak screenplay that contains some flaws and gaps from Piero Regnoli and Giuseppe Maggi .Worthwhile watching for a demonstration of the confrontation between Robert Woods and Robert Hundar as the greedy , rich owner and his hired hands with some looks that say it all , including an exciting ending . Mediocre performances for the whole casting . Stars Robert Woods , he is passable , he ravages the screen , he jumps , leaps and bounds , hits and runs ; besides , receiving violent punches , kicks and wounds . Robert starred several Tortilla/Ravioli Western as "Five Thousand Dollars on One Ace" , "Seven Guns for the MacGregors" , ¨Four Dollars for Vengeance" , "Four Candles for Garringo" or "My Colt, Not Yours" ¨Black Jack¨, ¨El Puro¨, "Gatling Gun" , among others . Remaining cast is formed by some familiar faces from Spaghetti as Andrea Fantasia , Benito Pacifico , Nello Pazzafini and the usual Robert Hundar . Atmospheric and catching musical score by Alessandro Alessandroni . The producers express gratitude to the Allevamento Del Samdedo Di Casa Presenzano and to Isabella Del Dalzo author of the book El Santiedo E Alture Razze Nordiche for his collaboration . The film is rated PG-13 (Parents guide), because contains some violent scenes about killing , a cruel fighting between wolf and dog and brutal biting .

Other adaptations inspired by Jack London classic books that created this peculiar sub-genre are the followings : ¨Lucio Fulci's White Fang¨(73) or ¨Zanna Blanca¨ with Franco Nero , Virna Lisi , its sequel : ¨Return of Zanna Blanca¨ ; ¨Zanna Blanca alla Riccoisa¨(74) by Tonino Ricci , most of them shot in the Austrian Alps , and set in Alaska ; ¨Il Cacciatore Solitario¨ by Harald Reinl with Ron Ely ; ¨Il Richianmo Del Lupo¨(74) by Gianfanco Baldanello with Jack Palance ; ¨Call of the wild ¨ by Ken Annakin with Charlton Heston , White Fang(1991)by Randal Kleiser with Ethan Kawke as young prospector and Klaus Maria Brandauer, and The return of White Fang(1994) by Ken Olin with Scott Bairstow and once again Ethan Hawke. Furthermore , ¨Buck¨ with John Savage and ¨Buck and the magic bracelet ¨ with Matt McCoy directed by Tonino Ricci .

The motion picture was regularly directed by Alfonso Brescia, a below average director who in the 70s also realized other dog-film ¨Zanna Bianca Il Cacciatore Solitario¨ with similar actors . Al Bradley was a craftsman who directed all kind of genres . Alfonso Brescia or Al Bradley was born in Rome , 1930, and died in 2001 . He was a director and writer, known for directing Westerns as : Days of Violence , White Fang and the Hunter , Killer Caliber and The Colt Is My Law . Alfonso began directing muscle-men epics as The Conqueror of Atlantis , The magnificent gladiator , La Rivolta dei Pretoriani . He also directed Sci-Fi and Sword and witchery genre as Iron Warrior , Sette Uomini D'Oro Nello Spazio , The war of the robots ; Adventure as Zanna Bianca , Amazons against Supermen and Wartime films such as Objetivo Rommel , Misiones Ardientes and Hell in Normandy .

After Lucio Fulci's adaptation of the Jack London novel WHITE FANG proved a surprising hit with Italian audiences, a slew of sequels - official and otherwise - followed suit. WHITE FANG AND THE GOLD DIGGERS is one of the unofficial ones, helmed by cult director Alfonso Brescia, a guy who seems unable to direct a film convincingly.

And, it has to be said, this film is a complete piece of nonsense. The loose plotting sees Fang (called Whiskey, at least in the English dub) and his owner staking a gold claim on a remote mountain, and then finding themselves harassed by a rich mine owner who doesn't shy away from committing murder to achieve his goals. What follows is a tumultuous adventure full of bar room brawls, henchmen getting beaten up, and dogs performing a few cute tricks here and there.

It's quite trash and amateurish in nature, with a lack of engaging characters and an entirely superficial feel to the action and storyline. The writers aren't afraid to throw in some more adult material - including a rape scene - but this feels very much like an inconsequential kid's film. Ignazio Spalla bags the best role of a friendly ally who goes around beating up villains just for the hell of it. The worst thing of all is an utterly annoying child character, a boy who's been dubbed with a woman's voice in the English version. Words can't express how irritating this kid is...