California Documentary Project
Jack London: Twentieth-Century Man
Film Arts Foundation
Director: Christopher Million
The life and work of Jack London
“Jack London: Twentieth-Century Man” is a 90-minute documentary examining the extraordinary life and work of one of California’s most popular, yet enigmatic writers.
Best known for his classic adventure yarns “The Call of the Wild,” “White Fang” and “The Sea Wolf,” Jack London’s life story was as varied and vivid as his tales of the Klondike, Hawaii and the South Seas. Largely self-educated, London worked his way up from modest roots to become the embodiment of the American Dream. Other California writers such as George Sterling and Frank Norris moved east to seek their fortunes, but not London. “I realize that much of California’s romance is passing away,” London wrote, “and I intend to see to it that I, at least, shall preserve as much of that romance as is possible for me.”
Drawing on recent biographical materials and new literary examinations of London’s works, and featuring interviews with leading scholars, historians and London’s descendants, this film paints a fresh portrait of a true California artist.