Mr. Smith


 * NOTE: This article is about the sadistic prospector, Mr. Smith from the 1935 adaptation for The Call of the Wild, not the dogfighter Beauty Smith from White Fang, which is another character by Jack London.

Mr. Smith is the main antagonist of the 1935 adaptation of The Call of the Wild. He is an arrogant and sadistic Englishman who wants to kill Buck and rob Jack Thornton.

He was portrayed by the late Reginald Owen.

Role
While buying a dog team, Jack and Shorty encounter Mr. Smith, who wants to buy Buck, so that he could shoot him. Jack, who admires the dog, buys him instead, and although Buck runs away once he is freed on the trail, he returns at night in the whirling snow and curls up beside Jack. After they come across Blake's wife Claire surrounded by wolves, she explains that Blake has been gone two days searching for food. Believing that Blake is dead, Jack forces Claire to come with them to Dawson. He and Claire grow fond of each other on the trail, and at Dawson, Claire agrees to become partners with them to find the gold. Although they need money to buy an outfit, Jack, after having lost most of their provisions crossing a river, refuses to sell Buck to Smith; however, after Jack gets drunk and brags that Buck can pull a sled loaded with 1,000 pounds 100 yards, Smith wagers $1,000 against Buck that he cannot. Jack accepts and Buck barely succeeds before he collapses in Jack's arms. As they leave Dawson, Blake, unknown to them, is brought in barely alive. At night, Jack pensively stares at Claire by the fire and explains his acceptance of the "Law of the Klondike" -- if there is something you need, you grab it -- which Claire does not accept. Meanwhile, Blake leads Smith to the gold. When they find the cabin, Smith orders one of his men to knock out Blake. Smith then takes the gold from Jack and Claire at gunpoint, but it overturns and they drown, weighed down by the stolen gold.