DOGS IN MOVIES: Rin-Tin-Tin – The Dog Who Saved Hollywood
THE ADVENTURES OF RIN TIN TIN — And Rusty
“The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin.” We Boomers, boys and girls, loved it. I certainly did. Why not? It combined my two favourite genres: Animal Stories and Westerns/Northwesterns. Lots of outdoor action — and Rinty, played by Rin-Tin-Tin IV, was a natural.
“Adventures” first aired on ABC television in 1954 and ran until 1959. It was the story of the boy Rusty, played by Lee Aaker who was orphaned when the wagon train his parents were traveling in was attacked by “Wild Indians.” Rusty had his dog, Rinty, with him.
The two survived the attack. When found by cavalrymen from the nearby Fort Apache, the boy was adopted by them.
With episode titles like “Wolf Cry,” “Rin Tin Tin and the Wild Stallion” and “Rin Tin Tin and the Circle of Fire” the series took on the classic Western themes and made them new. Often Rinty charged in at the last minute to save the cavalry.
“Rin Tin Tin and the Indian Burial Grounds” and “The Indian Hater” were attempts to be more even-handed with the First Nations.
And then the show was cancelled.
It wasn’t until years later that I was to learn that Rin-Tin-Tin (great-grandfather to TV’s Rinty) actually began his career back in 1922, when he first appeared in a silent film.
HISTORY OF RIN-TIN-TIN
During the final months of the First World War, American serviceman Lee Duncan (serving in Lorraine, France) stumbled onto a bombed-out dog kennel where he found a shell-shocked German Shepherd mother and her newly born pups. Duncan kept one of the pups and named it after a children’s puppet called Rintintin. “Rintintin” was a name that the French children gave to American soldiers for good luck.
At the War’s end, Duncan returned home to California, smuggling his pup on the troop ship. Duncan nicknamed the dog Rinty and set out to teach him tricks.
While performing in a dog show, Charles Jones saw the talented GSD. Jones, inventor of the slow-motion camera and silent film producer, was impressed. Jones was convinced that Rin Tin Tin was destined to be a star. He paid Duncan to handle this amazing dog in his latest short film.
From there, Rinty’s Hollywood career was under way.
Playing a Canadian Mountie’s sled dog in “The Man From Hell’s River” (1922), Rin Tin Tin got rave reviews.
The Warner Brother’s film introduced to the world a truly intelligent, courageous and handsome dog, whose actions brought out cheers and standing ovations from enchanted audiences.
RINTY OF THE CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE
Throughout his career he would be cast as a Northern wolf dog, though he didn’t look like one. He appeared in such greats as “Where the North Begins” (1923), “Shadows of the North “(1923), “Clash of the Wolves” (1925), “A Dog of the Regiment” (1927) and “Tiger Rose” (1929).
While the German Shepherd starred in mostly silent films, he did have top billing in four talkies including “The Lost Warrior (1931)” starring Franki Darro.
With some of the best directors and writers (such as a young Darryl F Zanuck) working on his movies, and insightful training from his master, Lee Duncan, Rinty’s pictures did fantastic box office.
In fact, for several years Rin-Tin-Tin was Warner Brother’s top grossing star. He was more popular and more beloved than any human actor on Warner’s roster. Insiders referred to him as “The dog who saved Hollywood.” Certainly, he saved Warner Brothers.
Many of Rinty’s actions, of course, were just good training and directing. When he tracked bad guys and lost children through the wilderness, out-fought savage wolves, carried blankets and rope to stranded people, led the hero to the endangered heroine — he was just acting. But it was energized acting. As one reviewer put it: “Rinty plays his big dramatic scenes as if his life depends on it.”
But there were numerous scenes that revealed a genuine intelligence and loving heart. With the years, he learned to show his emotions in a glance.
In “The Night Cry,” Rin-Tin-Tin, who was falsely accused of killing sheep, enters his master’s cabin. He lays his great head on the table between his master and mistress, giving both of them long glances — his expression changing from expectant hope — to forlorn sadness — to one of sudden happiness when he discovers one true friend in the cabin: the couple’s baby. The scene brought the house down.
Altogether, Rin-Tin-Tin made 26 movies.
RINTY’S LEGACY
Rin-Tin-Tin would go on, through the generations, to star in movies, television, and books, including Dell comics.
Other dogs would follow Rinty’s lead, appearing from the Silent Era into the new “Talkies.”
The stories were quite often based on the literature of such bestselling authors as Jack London, James Oliver Curwood and other writers of popular Northwestern and Canine Fiction.
Among the dog stars were Sandow (“Code Of The Northwest,” 1926), Strongheart, Rin-Tin-Tin Jr. (“Caryl of the Mountains,” 1936), Captain, Buck, Chinook, Ranger, Dynamite, Lassie and others.
Rin Tin Tin Jr. was born in September 1931 and raised and trained by Lee Duncan. As well as “Caryl”, Rinty Junior’s motion pictures included “Skull and Crown” (1935), “The Test” (1935), “Law of the Wolf” (1939) and the 12-part serial, “The Adventures of Rex and Rinty,” released in 1935.
Rin Tin Tin III starred in one film: “The Return of Rin Tin Tin,” with actor Robert Blake.
And then came a dog named Rin Tin Tin the Fourth — and his little buddy Rusty.
And each dog has their own tale to tell…
To see my original, highly-praised Animal Stories, you have gotta go to CIVILIZED BEARS – ANIMAL STORIES by BRIAN ALAN BURHOE
See more at https://brianalanburhoe.com.
DOGS IN MOVIES: RIN-TIN-TIN – THE DOG WHO SAVED HOLLYWOOD
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