Jack London Film Fest unreels at Sonoma Community Center

Jack London is best remembered for his novels, which have been understandably drawing their fair share of praise and attention for the last 12 months. During this year of honoring the centennial of the local author’s death in 1916, every detail of London’s life has been explored and celebrated, from his adventurous life and literary work to the detailed history of his beloved Beauty Ranch – aka the Jack London State Historical Park.

Now, for three consecutive evenings, the focus will shift to London’s cinematic legacy. Complete with red carpet and floodlights to greet attendees, the Jack London Classic Film Festival – running Nov. 3 to 5 at the Sonoma Community Center – will present three of Hollywood’s most popular Jack London adaptations.

It’s a fitting way for Sonoma to close out the year of Jack London.

As it so happens, one of those films – the 1941 Oscar nominee “The Sea Wolf” (screening Friday, Nov. 4) – held its original gala premiere right here at the Sebastiani Theatre on March 22, 1941, preceded by a star-studded party at the ranch. In attendance were two of the seafaring film’s biggest stars, Edward G. Robinson and John Garfield. Also making the trip up from Hollywood were Rita Hayworth, Ralph Bellamy and Mary Astor, plus Ronald Reagan and his first wife Jane Wyman. The star-studded assembly steamed up from L.A. on a luxury cruise ship named “America,” and were met in San Francisco by a fleet of Greyhound busses bound for Sonoma.

In describing the stars’ arrival at the London Ranch, the Index-Tribune reported in the March 28, 1941 issue, “When they turned up the hill road to the ranch and saw the vistas and the scenes so well remembered from Jack’s book ‘The Valley of the Moon,’ they were more than ever enthusiastic and so expressed themselves.” Vintage black-and-white footage of the Sebastiani premiere, provided by Caroline Andrews, will be screened as a special treat along with “The Sea Wolf.”

The film follows a novelist (Alexander Knox) and escaped convict (Ida Lupino) who, after a collision at sea, are rescued by the crew of a seal-hunting ship with a merciless captain (Robinson). Packed with high-seas action, fist fights, terrifying waves and ocean fogs, violent mutinies, and a scary shark attack, the film was an Oscar nominee for Best Visual Effects, and it’s obvious why. Along with the aforementioned archival footage of the premiere, London afficionado Cecilia Tichi will introduce the film. She’s the author of the book “Jack London: A Writer’s Fight for a Better America,” and the recent play “The House That Jack Built,” which had its own world premiere in Santa Rosa last month.

Bookmarking “The Sea Wolf” are movies based on two of London’s beloved “dog novels.”

“The Call of the Wild” (Thursday, Nov. 3) has been filmed a number of times, but most critics and film fans consider the 1935 version to be the best by far. Starring Clark Gable and Loretta Young, the story of gold prospectors in Alaska centers on Buck, a stalwart sled dog whose strict domestication begins to falter as his fate, and that of the humans he associates with, gradually brings out the dormant wild animal within him.

The screening will include a Q&A session with Kathy Gori and Alan Berger, Hollywood screenwriters who happen to be the owners of Patsy, a canine descendant of the dog who played Buck in the film. Patsy is expected to make an appearance as well, which should make for a first rate photo opportunity when she walks the red carpet.

Closing out the festival is the 1991 Disney version of “White Fang” (Saturday, Nov. 5), starring Ethan Hawke as Alaskan explorer Jack Conroy. The story follows Conroy’s relationship with a wolf dog named White Fang, a dogfight champion he saves from brutal criminals. A box-office hit when first released, the film was praised by critics for its sense of reverence and wonder for Alaska and the natural world.

Pixar film producer Adam Burke will be on hand to introduce the film, and for those choosing the dinner-and-movie option, the Index-Tribune’s Kathleen Hill will be on hand to discuss the food Charmian London served her Hollywood guests when they visited for the aforementioned “Sea Wolf” premiere party.

Email david.templeton@sonomanews.com.