Rin Tin Tin: The Dog, The War, The Warner Bros. & The Oscars

This particular article is about a canine hero, known by the name of Rin Tin Tin. Rin Tin Tin was a German shepherd, who is credited for popularising the dog breed in the U.S. Rinty, as his master Lee Duncan called him, was probably the first Hollywood Sup-PAW-er Star who, on multiple occasions, saved Warner Bros. from going out business and, as some people believe, nearly won the first ever OSCAR. No, I am not exaggerating this, at all. Rin Tin Tin supposedly received more votes than the eventual winner Emil Jannings.  Many experts of the filming industry believe that the production house, Warner Bros, repeatedly used Rin Tin Tin whenever they faced a financial crisis, and the sup-paw-er star never failed them. Just before we start exploring the life and work of the Hollywood’s best known dog, I must clear it that Rin Tin Tin is NOT a single dog! In fact there is a complete family tree that is still going on. Rin Tin Tin the Twelfth is currently in USA, owned by Dorothy Yanchak, and frequently attends shows and concerts, representing the Rin Tin Tin legacy. We will explore the life and look into the controversies surrounding Rin Tin Tin the first, the one who started it all.

The WWI survivor

Lee Duncan, who was an American soldier, rescued our beloved Rinty from a battlefield in France in 1918. Duncan found a female German shepherd and her 5 pups under a kennel that was recently bombarded. Duncan saved them, and kept two of them for himself. He brought them back home in States in 1919, but unfortunately, the poor female, whom Duncan named Nanette, was diagnosed with Pneumonia and died soon after the arrival. Duncan bought another German shepherd female and named her Nanette-II, in the honour of Nanette. The male dog, which the American soldier named Rin Tin Tin, aka Rinty, survived and made it to US.

The Artist

Soon Duncan realised that Rin Tin Tin was exceptionally expressive. During the dog shows that the duo attended and the performances that Rinty gave, Lee Duncan closely monitored him. This observation of Duncan encouraged him to write scripts focused on Rinty. He trained Rinty and seeked jobs for the dog. He would go up and down the Gower Street to find and convince someone interested in the script. The pair succeeded to get Rinty a role of a wolf in 1922 film ‘The Man from Hell’s River’. Rin Tin Tin’s first starring role was in the 1923 movie called ‘Where The North Begins’. This film was a huge success and marked the first time when Rinty saved the Warner Bros. from bankruptcy. From there on, whenever the production house faced a financial crisis, they would call the super dog for the rescue. One Rin Tin Tin-movie and Warner Bros. would bounce back into market. This enabled Rin Tin Tin to feature in 28 films by Warner Bros. Most of the stories of Rin Tin Tin movies involved Darryl F. Zanuck, man considered as one of the pioneer producers of Hollywood and the winner of three Academy Awards. Apart for the films, Rinty appeared in a number of advertisements. He was a star that every company sorted after to endorse.

The Oscars: Controversy and the Truth

You will find a bunch of articles on internet that states that Rinty received more votes and was the original winner of the first ever Oscars. But this is definitely not true. Actually, the idea of Academy Awards, where all film makers would act as jury and nominate one film for the ultimate award, was initially seen as ridiculously unappealing. Producers were convinced that all the jury members would choose the work of their respective production houses. Nevertheless, as we all know, the event took place in 1928. The event of 1928 was not telecasted and the results of the first voting were not kept secret, in fact many news paper agencies declared the results before the ceremony. This is totally different from current scenario, where they put the secrecy of matters above all. Now you might be wondering where our beloved canine friend Rin Tin Tin fits in all this? You see, the results that were published by newspapers never mentioned Rin Tin Tin got maximum number of votes, in fact, he got only one vote. That one vote came from The Warner Bros., of course. Also, the original 1928 ballots lie in the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library in Los Angeles, where one can easily see the actual voting. Now, if Rin Tin Tin never earned votes, how come every second site on the internet quote Rin Tin Tin as the righteous winner of the first ever Oscar. Actually, author Susan Orlean wrote a book called ‘The Legend of Rin Tin Tin’. During her research on the Rin Tin Tin, she came across the folklore of how Rin Tin Tin almost won the first ever Oscar. She mentioned this in her book, which was widely circulated, without the proper fact checking. Oscar winner or not, Rin Tin Tin was undoubtedly the the most famous performer of the silent movies era. 

Our hero met his end on 10, August, 1932 at Duncan’s home in Los Angles. Before the death, Rin Tin Tin and Nanette produced at least 48 puppies; Duncan kept 2 of them. Duncan was taken aback by the demise of his star companion. He famously said, “There will always be a RIN TIN TIN”. And the rest is history. Rin Tin Tin 12th is in good health and still carrying the Legacy of probably the most famous Canine Hierarchy that Hollywood will ever have…

This is a video where author of "The Legend of Rin Tin Tin", Susan Orlean explains a seen from "The Clash of Wolves" featuring Rin Tin Tin..

Team Knowledge Villa hope you learned something interesting from this article. Comment and tell us if you would like us to continue such articles on famous animal personalities....

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