Comments on: Jack London: The Iron Heel

By: Bill Nevins

Bill Nevins — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:44:20 +0000

A film based at least loosely on The Iron Heel was made by then famed actor-director Romaine Fielding in the years before World War II. The film was titled The Golden God and it was largely shot in Las Vegas, New Mexico, where Fielding had settled and where he attempted to set up the headquarters of the American film industry.
Contemporary newspaper reports indicate that the movie as filmed included an extraordinary battle sequence involving tanks, aircraft and ranks of local extras as troops.
Apparently the movie was completed but was held from distribution and, subsequently, destroyed in a mysterious fire in a film warehouse in Philadelphia.
Fielding gave up on his New Mexico efforts and continued his career in California. Only in recent years has “Hollywood” returned in force to New Mexico.

New Mexico based film maker David Lindblom has made an as-yet unfinished documentary about Fielding and The Golden God production, which is tentatively titled No Star for Romaine. Lindblom is seeking support to finish this film.

Oddly, no other film version of The Iron Heel seems to have been attempted.

By: P.M.Lawrence

P.M.Lawrence — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:51:51 +0000

Two points: the Black Hundreds were named after a Russian precedent; and, actual Fascist and Nazi developments of this sort drew on their socialist side, not on any inspiration from the wealthy classes. That is, the wealthy classes weren’t actually developing these ideas in 1908, but the socialists were, as things to fear and take precautions against, then those like Mussolini who left the socialists applied them as lessons. So in this Jack London was also drawing on ideas around him rather than inventing them, albeit ideas that were not widespread. It’s interesting to note that counter-measures to the 1926 General Strike included keeping the media running to get the message out; this may have been a response to News From Nowhere‘s foreshadowing of a General Strike that was aided by the revolutionaries’ being able to choke off or distort news of events.

By: Chay Morley

Chay Morley — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:50:09 +0000

RE: The Iron Heel.

I love this book. It is brilliantly written and accessible.

By: Pierfrancesco Vianello

Pierfrancesco Vianello — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:22:20 +0000

I’m an italian reader. I got to know the Iron Hell reading the “the socialist challenge”, chapter of H. Zinn’s book “A People’s History of USA”. I knew London only for “white fang” and “the call of the wild” which i loved when i was on my teen age. Now I read this masterpiece, I’m astonished! It’s strange to realise a couple of decades later how great was his political vision.