It's a dog's life

Rin Tin Tin was the first dog to win the hearts of filmgoers in America, EILEEN BATTERSBYlooks at a new biography

WHEN OSCAR NIGHT arrives later this month no great movie star of the past will be barking louder from above for The Artistthan one of the silent screen's most enduring heroes, Rin Tin Tin. Not only will "Rinty", as he was also known, be supporting the film which celebrates the pioneering era before sound changed everything, he will be cheering his countrymen.

For the handsome German shepherd, who was voted best actor for the inaugural Academy Awards in 1929 only to lose it when it was decided that perhaps a human should be honoured instead, was French by birth.

This most all-American of dogs was a European wartime immigrant to the US, but in a new biography, Susan Orlean has delved deep into the history behind the legend. For all of us who thought we knew Rin Tin Tin as the star of a pioneering, black-and-white TV show, there is far more to the story – and what a story it is, an indefatigably researched epic guaranteed to cause even the stoniest heart to shed a tear.

The Rin Tin Tin of 1950’s TV fame was a descendent of the first dog that had been born in France in 1918, the real Rin Tin Tin. That puppy, rescued from a shelled German army kennel by an American soldier, dominates the story. The first and best, and although he died in 1932, aged 14, the original Rin Tin Tin was not only more gifted than any of his progeny, he was the one that truly captured Lee Duncan’s heart.

Duncan was a Californian who had survived an unhappy childhood largely due to his love of animals. As a boy, his mother had taken his dog away from him. Duncan never recovered from that blow and throughout his life had uneasy relationships with humans. Even as a solider in northern France witnessing the horrors of the front, he never lost his empathy for animals. Having found a bitch with a litter among the many dead army dogs, he homed them, taking two for himself. The female died shortly after arrival in the US but Rin Tin Tin, named after a lucky charm, thrived and formed an intense bond with his saviour/owner.

When Duncan eventually did marry, it didn’t last. His wife sued for divorce, citing the dog as the correspondent. Duncan had initially planned to train Rin Tin Tin to compete in dog shows. The dog proved intelligent and athletic, able to jump 12ft barriers. Then, through a friend, Duncan became aware of movies, and that a few dogs, such as another German shepherd, Strongheart, were already making names for themselves in motion pictures. Hollywood beckoned. In that golden, pre-talkies age, vocals did not matter and Rin Tin Tin possessed in abundance that quality actors continue to crave – presence. He was good looking, but beyond that was his soulful, expressive face. Interestingly, he was dark, so dark that extra strong lighting was needed for him as his black face offered little contrast with his dark eyes. Duncan noted this and set out to breed a dog with lighter colouring. He loved his dog but from early in Rin Tin Tin’s film career he was preparing to breed a successor – one more suited to the technical demands of black-and-white film.

As a star, Rin Tin Tin was different. No hint of sexual scandal clung to him. The squeaky doll that Duncan used for training was only that, a device. Rin Tin Tin was not particularly friendly and did have a bit of a temper, but he proved to be a fine colleague and did all that was asked of him. Of his 23 silent films, only six survive, but during his eight-year career with Warner Brothers, he was a reliable money-spinner. He was versatile, could look invincible or limp on command, and could also play the part of a wolf, a skill which won him his first break. He soon secured another small part. Within days he was cast as the lead in Where the North Begins. It made him a star. Once the movie was released, thousands of fan letters arrived each week at the studios, all addressed simply to Rin Tin Tin.

The German shepherd breed dates only from 1899. They were clever and had distinguished themselves in the war. Americans fell in love with the breed. In 1927, Rin Tin Tin made four movies, and Duncan was very busy. Mrs Duncan had had enough, she wanted a divorce.

Rin Tin Tin was always in the news. People saw him as a hero, he was calm under pressure and resourceful but it was more than that. Orlean was born in 1955 and appears to have grown up with an awareness of Rin Tin Tin, the TV dog. “Rin Tin Tin,” argues Orlean in an intriguing if slightly overblown book that does totter towards verbosity, “had come to represent something essentially American. He wasn’t born in the United States, and neither were his parents, but those facts made him more quintessentially American: he was an immigrant in a country of immigrants. He was everything Americans wanted to think they were – brave, enterprising, bold, and most of all, individual. In a dog, even more than in a human, individuality is exceptional.”

His myth went far beyond America. Ann Frank, a real-life hero in her own right, was captivated by Rin Tin Tin but by the time she was 13 she, as a Jew, was forbidden to attend a cinema. When the first Rin Tin Tin died, Lee Duncan lost a part of himself. His dog’s glory sustained him, only each new dog was a pale – literally – copy.

Sound killed the Hollywood over which Rin Tin Tin had ruled. More than 30 years later this dog of dogs rose again, as a TV star in a series featuring a boy and his clever pet, set in the American west during the 1870s, or about three decades before the German shepherd breed was established. So what, there are heroes that defy fact – Rin Tin Tin was one.

Humans still squabble over his brand name but Rin Tin Tin had dignity, a tragic past, courage, a hint of mystery and an ability to survive in a ruthless business. Who better to advise Uggi, the terrier in The Artist, than a majestic dog who appears destined to live forever?

Rin Tin Tinby Susan Orlean, is published by Atlantic