How A German Shepherd Saved From War Saved Hollywood
In modern times, a dog can become a star with the help of some lavish and opulent cockapoo grooming, a mobile phone camera and just the right heartfelt or hilarious moment.
However, even in the early days of Hollywood feature films, many canine film stars served as popular mascots of the studios they made films for, but only one can claim to be so popular that they managed to save an entire studio during a tumultuous time for cinema.
The story of Rin Tin Tin, however, could not have started any more differently. Born in an Imperial German Army Kennel in Flirey in 1918 that had been bombed and become heavily damaged, Rin Tin Tin was one of five newborn puppies who along with their starving mother were the only survivors.
Corporal Lee Duncan rescued the dogs, keeping two for himself and giving the rest to other soldiers of his unit, smuggling them back to Long Island, New York, before travelling to California.
After being trained to do tricks and performing an impressively high jump, Mr Duncan was convinced by a friend that Rin Tin Tin could become as big a star as Strongheart, one of the earliest canine stars alongside Jean the Vitagraph Dog.
Eventually, after a lot of convincing, pleading and talking to anyone who would listen on Poverty Row, Mr Duncan got Rin Tin Tin a part as an acting double for a wolf in the film The Man from Hell’s River.
This led to a few other small roles before finally getting his break in Where The North Begins from 1923, a silent feature starring alongside Clare Adams and produced by struggling film company Warner Bros.
Despite a gloomy prognosis from studio executives, the film quintupled its budget at the box office and Rin Tin Tin starred in 24 more films, garnering the nickname “the mortgage lifter” at the studio.
Rin Tin Tin died on 10th August 1932, but his legacy lives on not only through generations of Rin Tin Tin acting dogs and legions of similar canine stars that followed in his footprints such as Ace the Wonder Dog and Lassie, but also in the studio that he saved that became a gigantic success.
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