Jack London (1943)

Michael O'Shea, Susan Hayward, Osa Massen, Virginia Mayo, Harry Davenport ... see more  , Frank Craven , Ralph Morgan , Louise Beavers , Jonathan Hale , Leonard Strong , Paul Hurst , Regis Toomey , Hobart Cavanaugh , Olin Howland , Ernie S. Adams , John Kelly , Robert E. Homans , Morgan Conway , Arthur Loft , Lumsden Hare , Brooks Benedict , Pierre Watkin , Paul Fung , Charlie Lung , Bruce Wong , Eddie Lee , John Fisher , Jack Roper , Sven Hugo Borg , Davison Clark , Harold Minjir , Roy Gordon , Torben Meyer , Edmund Cobb , Wallis Clark , Charles Miller , Dick Curtis , Sarah Padden , Evelyn Finley , Rose Plummer , Sidney D'Albrook , Edward Earle , Richard Loo , Albert Van Antwerp

This ambitious filmed biography of writer-adventurer Jack London is somewhat compromised by its too-tight budget. Michael O'Shea is well cast as London, whose rugged adventures range from the high sea... read more s to the Klondike. London's insatiable wanderlust causes friction in his marriage to the lovely Charmian (Susan Hayward), but she stands nobly by his side in good times and bad (it should be noted that the script is based on Mrs. London's memoirs). In the interests of topicality, the film contrives to have London endeavor to warn America of Japanese military expansion some four decades before Pearl Harbor. It is this story element that makes Jack London a bit difficult to watch today, despite the strong performances of O'Shea, Hayward and a superb supporting cast. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi