Rin Tin Tin

Editor’s Comment: The June 2002 issue of the Riverside Review included an article about famous dogs in history. However, the German shepherd named Rin Tin Tin, a famous animal movie star of the 1920s, was not included. This omission has been corrected by the following article which also includes a partial reprint of the 2002 issue. The stories of Rin Tin Tin and the four Warner Brothers from Youngstown, Ohio, have one thing in common as you will discover.

By nature man is a lonely creature. In his heart there is a craving for sympathy and companionship. Unconsciously man often turns to a dog to find the companionship that he is unable to experience in his own kind. In Italy a long time ago, the loyalty of a dog for his master so excited the admiration of a certain man that a prayer came to his heart that he might be as loyal to God as his dog was loyal to him. The idea grew upon him, and he explained it to several other men, and they soon formed a society, calling themselves “Domini Canes” or the
Dogs of the Lord. The name was shortened to “Dominicans” and remains to this day. There have been many famous dogs down through the ages. In the 1890s an obese fox terrier by the name of Nipper was seen peering with cocked-head into the morning-glory of an early gramophone. His image was purchased by Victor Talking Machine Company and used as their logo with the words “His Master’s Voice.” Then there was Barry, a Saint Bernard that rescued 40 persons when they became lost in the Switzerland Alps and Bingo, the little dog on the Cracker Jack Box. But none reached the fame of the dog named Rin Tin Tin.

On September 15, 1918 an American corporal was on patrol in France when he came across a bombed-out dog kennel with a female German shepherd that had just given birth to five puppies. He rescued the puppies, keeping two and giving the others to his comrades. The soldier’s name was Lee Duncan and he named his puppies, Rin Tin Tin and Nannette after two French puppets. When the war was over Duncan made special arrangements to take his two pups back to his home in Los Angeles. During the trip to California Nannette became ill and died. Once back home, Duncan returned to his job at a hardware store. In his spare time he trained Rin Tin Tin to do tricks. Duncan believed his dog was special and had a place in the movie industry.



Duncan contacted nearly every studio in Hollywood with his dog. He was turned down by one studio after another. Then one day in 1922 while approaching studios on what was called ‘poverty row’ he saw a film crew trying to shoot a scene with a wolf and not having success. He approached the crew and told them he and his dog could do the scene in one take. Rin Tin Tin did the scene as Duncan had promised and the duo was kept on for the filming of “Man from Hell’s River.” The name of that fledgling studio on the verge of bankruptcy was Warner Brothers Pictures.
The film was a hit and Rin Tin Tin was a sensation. The public loved him and his heroic ability. At the peak of his career with Warner Brothers he received some 10,000 fan letters a week and was considered to be one of Hollywood’s top stars. Rin Tin Tin ultimately made 26 pictures for Warner Brothers before his death on August 10, 1932. Although primarily a star of silent films, Rin Tin Tin did appear in four sound features, including the Mascot Studios 12-part chapter-play
The Lightning Warrior (1931). His fame continues today in the many descendants of the original German shepherd.