This may seem purely fantastic, but after viewing one of his prime films, one starts to actually believe in the legends, and one understands how a German shepherd could become the number one box-office star in Hollywood. When Rin Tin Tin strikes his iconic stance atop a rocky ledge, it's hard not to be enthralled.
Directed by Noel Mason Smith, Clash of the Wolves (1925) reveals all the qualities that made "Rinty" famous. A forest fire drives a pack of wolves from their mountain habitat, and they must forage for food in the treacherous desert instead. Led by the charismatic half-dog Lobo (named by the mountain rangers who recognized his canine pluck), the pack feeds on cattle, inciting the wrath of the local ranchers. When Lobo injures his paw, he is rescued by the good-natured Dave Weston (Charles Farrell), who is prospecting for borax and wooing May Barstowe (June Marlowe) the daughter of a local businessman. Contrary to the townspeople's wishes, Dave adopts Lobo as a companion. Lobo rewards Dave's charity with a multitude of services, defending his master against a rival prospector (Pat Hartigan), repeatedly saving his life while he is stranded in the desert, and even helping Dave win the respect of May's grumpy father (William Walling). Rin Tin Tin, it seems, is capable of anything.
The film's one weakness is the insertion of mawkish comedy, mostly in the form of Alkali Bill (Heinie Conklin, surprisingly, no relation to slapstick comedian Chester Conklin). Upon the film's Manhattan premiere, The New York Times wrote, "The comedy in the film is so poor that it has no place in the picture at all. It detracts considerably from all the good work by Rin Tin Tin, who does not have much in the way of support from the human players." In one particularly humiliating scene, Dave and Bill try to disguise Lobo (because there is a $100 bounty on the dog's hide). They string a fake beard to Lobo's chin and tie leather booties on his feet. When Lobo catches a glimpse of his reflection, the poor dog looks genuinely humiliated.
Of course, much of the canine's appeal lies in the ingenious way in which the films are constructed, so that the dog actually appears to exhibit a wide range of emotions (including hunger, paranoia, gratitude, even embarrassment). Some of this "humanization" is achieved by clever editing, but more is due to the suggestive intertitles that reveal explicit insights into Lobo's states of mind. In the sound era, Rin Tin Tin's thought processes could not be so easily conveyed, which may explain his decline in popularity after the end of the silent era.
But Rin Tin Tin was no pampered movie star. Nor was he the carefully formulated product of the Hollywood studio system. His life was an adventure worthy of a movie in itself. Hollywood did make a Rin Tin Tin biopic -- in a way. Michael Winner's Won Ton Ton: the Dog Who Saved Hollywood was a spoof of the legendary dog's career. But Won Ton Ton (as portrayed by Augustus Von Schulmacher) was no Rin Tin Tin.
Although a purebred German shepherd, the real Rin Tin Tin is actually French. He was discovered on September 15, 1918 on the battlefields of World War I. American Corporal Lee Duncan was serving in Lorraine, France, and decided to investigate the ruins of a kennel that had been destroyed by an explosion. Inside was a bitch, known as Betty des Flandres, which had given birth to several puppies. Duncan selected two (a male and a female) and kept them as mascots for their platoon. He named them after popular French puppets: Rintintin and Nennette, although the spellings would evolve into Rin Tin Tin (sometimes credited in films as Rin-tin-tin) and Nanette.
Because of the dog's incredible strength and agility (it had leapt almost 12 feet at a dog show in 1922), Duncan tried to land Rin Tin Tin a career in movies, and maybe a job for himself as a writer. Duncan was peddling a treatment entitled Where the North Begins (eventually made into a film in 1923), with a canine lead already attached. He failed to impress the script departments, but fared better when he encountered an independent film crew trying to shoot a scene with a wolf for the movie The Man from Hell's River (1922). Rin Tin Tin was able to perform the needed action in a single take -- as promised by his owner/manager -- and word of the dog's abilities began to spread. He appeared in another B-grade production before signing with Warner Bros., where he would make twenty-six pictures.
Rin Tin Tin was a prolific performer, and was days away from beginning a new picture when he died in 1932. According to one story, he died with his head cradled in the lap of Jean Harlow, who was a neighbor of his. After his death, Rin Tin Tin's body was returned to France and is today buried outside Asnieres, in the Cimetiere des Chiens (et Autres Animaux Exotiques).
In Clash of the Wolves, Lobo's mate is portrayed by Nanette, but this is not Rin Tin Tin's actual sibling. She fell ill with distemper during the two-week boat ride to the U.S. from Europe, and died shortly after arriving in the states.
Although Rin Tin Tin is dead, his legacy continues. At www.rintintin.com, one can trace the lineage of the legendary dog to the present day, through the meticulously kept records of his bloodline. "If you are at the helm of something as important as the Rin Tin Tin legacy," said breeder Daphne Hereford, "then you are charged with a responsibility to ensure that it remains the same as it was intended by its founders... I have dedicated my life to the maintenance of this lineage."
Music curator Martin Marks compiled his piano score for Clash of the Wolves by referring to the "Descriptive Filmusic Guide," created by Michael Hoffman for the original 1925 release. He supplemented this list of music cues (mostly from familiar classical pieces) with a selection of folk tunes and excerpts from famous silent accompanists of the day. "If one listens carefully," Marks says, "some famous songs about dogs can also be heard: The one with the greatest pedigree is Stephen Foster's ultra-sentimental 'Old Dog Tray.'"
The TCM print of Clash of the Wolves was rediscovered in a collection in South Africa. Through a process of archival repatriation (supervised by the American Film Institute), the print was donated to the Library of Congress, where it was preserved in 2003.
Director: Noel M. Smith
Screenplay: Charles Logue
Cinematography: Edwin B. DuPar, Allen Thompson
Film Editing: Clarence Kolster
Art Direction: Lewis Geib, Esdras Hartley
Music: Martin Marks
Cast: Rin Tin Tin (Lobo), Nanette (Lobo's Mate), Charles Farrell (Dave Weston), June Marlowe (May Barstowe), Heinie Conklin (Alkali Bill), Will Walling (Sam Barstowe).
BW-74m.
by Bret Wood
