Where the North Begins

2023 marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of Watner Brothers which today is one of the largest multimedia conglomerates with the ownership of an incredible back catalog of movies from companies that they have outlived (RKO, MGM, United Artists, Allied Artists to name a few of the better known ones). But it was a noble animal that first paid their bills and became the world's first canine superstar. There were dog stars before Rin-Tin-Tin such as Jean the Vitagraph dog, Shep the Thanhouser collie, and another German shepard named Strongheart but none became the worldwide phenomenon that Rinty did.

This Kino Lorber Blu-Ray continues their ongoing partnership with the Library of Congress in restoring and releasing silent movies to home video. It features the first Rin-Tin-Tin vehicle WHERE THE NORTH BEGINS from 1923 and then his very successful later feature CLASH OF THE WOLVES from 1925. It makes for an interesting contrast to see just how much success changed the style of the Rinty movies. Most people prefer the later, flashier CLASH OF THE WOLVES but I found WHERE THE NORTH BEGINS far more engaging. With its smaller budget and no name stars (not to mention the former's irritating comedy relief), NORTH tells its story simply and effectively.

NORTH opens with an introductory title card that gives the back story of Rin-Tin-Tin. He is one of a group of puppies found on a World War I battlefield. A soldier named Lee Duncan kept two puppies, one male the other female, and named them Rin-Tin-Tin and Ninette after two French children's dolls. Nimette died on the way over to America but Rinty thrived and was trained by Duncan for dog shows. His remarkable ability to carry out a wide variety of commands got him noticed by a Hollywood agent who thought that he would compete well against other dog stars. He was signed to a contract and the rest is history.

The plot of NORTH is one that would be recycled many times in later Rin-Tin-Tin movies. It is inspired by Jack London's CALL OF THE WILD. A crate containing a puppy falls off a sled and is found by a pack of wolves. They raise it as one of them and once he grows up, he becomes their leader. We then meet the human characters: a Canadian trapper, his fiance', and the villainous trading post boss. He sends the trapper out to sell furs then has him ambushed and left for dead. He is found by Rinty and they form a bond as they make it back to the trading post. Rinty exposes the villains and he and the couple live happily ever after.

In CLASH OF THE WOLVES, Rinty is once again the leader of a wolfpack. Unlike NORTH which uses real wolves, this pack is mostly German shepherds. A fire forces the wolves into a Western town to find food. Rinty is injured on the way and is nursed back to health by a young Charles Farrell (2 years before 7th HEAVEN) who has discovered large deposits of borax. The town surveyor wants it for himself so he ambushes Farrell who is then rescued by Rinty. Together they expose the surveyor and all ends well. Farrell's girlfriend is played by June Marlowe (Miss Crabtree from the OUR GANG series) and the extremely unfunny comic relief is provided by "Heine" Conklin (no kidding).

Like other releases in this Kino Classics / Library of Congress series, it's pretty much a bare bones affair with only a commentary by film historian Anthony Slide on CLASH OF THE WOLVES, the only bonus feature. Nevertheless the transfers are excellent with the prints looking quite remarkable considering their age. I'm a little surprised that Warner Brothers didn't issue a special 100th anniversary commemorative edition to honor the canine star that made Al Jolson, Jimmy Cagney, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, 3D, and now BARBIE possible but then, most success stories don't want to acknowledge their humble origins...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

After reading Susan Orleans book about Rin Tin Tin, I just had to see one of the silent films. I found a copy on Amazon and got my chance to see it. I have to mention that I am the owner of a sable colored German Shepherd who is 7 years old and quite the dog. Susan described the film and mentioned that Rin Tin Tin's expressions were a large part of the film's appeal. As I watched the film, I agreed with what she said but I kept finding myself thinking of my own German Shepherd and her expressions and mannerisms. Lee Duncan must have been an exceptional dog trainer to get all of these scenes on film. One can see how millions of viewers fell for the amazing Rin Tin Tin and his exploits. I can hardly wait to watch the film a second time with my wife. One may wonder how realistic these scenes might be. I can tell you that some of them are not too far from the truth. One night I was walking my German Shepherd by a housing project ( I live in NY) and there were two very tall guys approaching who had obviously served time based on their conversation. My dog was doing her business as they approached. She suddenly launched herself into the air with her teeth and jaw open and headed straight for one of the guys private parts. I yanked her back with the leash about six inches before contact. Many four and one ten letter word were used by the two guys but in the end nothing happened to me or the dog. My dog sensed or smelled some very bad vibes and did her job. This has not happened since in three years. Without going into other examples, my point is that German Shepherds have a unique combination of intelligence, sense and athleticism that lead to some truly amazing behaviors for an animal. This film, while a bit melodramatic at times, captures the breed's unique abilities and anyone that has ever owned a German Shepherd will love the film and see a few reflections of their own dog in Rin Tin Tin.

At the beginning of this film, Rin-Tin-Tin's fictional back-story is explained--evidently, he emerged during World War I in Germany and had a sister, but the sister got TB and died. However, Rinty was taken from the Germans by allied forces and brought back...to the Great White North...as a mascot. He gets lost when his cage falls off a sled, and he winds up being raised by wolves. Some time later, he finds a human (the human star of the piece, Walter McGrail, who "speaks" in the inter-title cards with the kind of bogus French accent often found in "Northwest" outdoor dramas, whether they be set in Canada or Alaska), nurses him back to health, and goes after his attacker. We then enter one of those archetypal western melodrama plots, here transferred to the "Northwest" genre, where a young lady is coveted by the successful business owner who tries to sabotage her poor, hard-working, honest beau. Director Chester M. Franklin returned to working with dogs both in the silent era (WILD JUSTICE) and the early sound era (his last directorial credit is TOUGH GUY with Rin Tin Tin Jr. and Jackie Cooper), and his last credit of any kind is the 1951 Lassie classic THE PAINTED HILLS, which he produced. I've seen two other silent Rin-Tin-Tin epics, and this one, running a full 75 minutes, is the most complex and the most satisfying. I watched it with my teenage daughter (her brother went out to the multiplex and saw THE RING 2, which is HIS loss!), and she sat through the whole thing, enjoying watching the wheels of melodrama plot development turning (and finding the depiction of women as weak, dependent figures who faint at important moments to be quite interesting!) and surrendering to Rinty's undoubted charisma. This may have been made 82 years ago, but it's still an exciting family-friendly adventure, and the "Northwest" setting gives it a little local (if imprecise!) color. Highly recommended! The print quality and transfer on the Grapevine DVD are fantastic. There are a number of beautifully framed shots of dogs and wolves in the wilderness, some of which could be framed and hung on a wall, and they look like they were filmed yesterday (just turn up the brightness and sharpness settings on your television).

After decades of only knowing about these silent Rin-Tin-Tin movies from a book about Warner Bros. Pictures that listed and provided info for all the studio's films from its beginning to 1978, I finally got to watch one, the first one to actually star Rinty, on YouTube. He rescues a French Canadian trapper after he's shot at and left for dead. The boss he works for is the villain who has designs on his fiancée. Oh, there's also a segment in which the dog gets accused of something but we see what really happened so we know otherwise. All I'll mention now is I really liked this one especially the score recorded for it which sounded both modern and a little traditional. So on that note, I recommend Where the North Begins.

During the Battle of Saint-Mihiel in the waning stages of World War One, an Army corporal, Lee Duncan, scouted a forward position that had previously been in German hands. He came upon a bombed out dog kennel serving as a supply base of police dogs for the German Army. Only a mother with five nursing puppies remained alive. Duncan scooped them all up and returned behind American lines. He gave away all the German Shepherds, except for two. One died en route back to the states, but the other, a male, survived. His name: Rin Tin Tin.

Duncan, living in Los Angeles, had trained Rin Tin Tin, which means good luck in French, and realized he had something special in the dog. He approached several movie studios to hire the Shepherd before he got his chance to replace a camera-shy wolf in 1922's 'The Man from Hell's River.' Rin Tin Tin received a handful of small parts, mostly playing wolf roles, when the newly-formed Warner Brothers Studio hired him for the dog's first lead role in July 1923's "Where The North Begins." The four Warner Brothers, Harry, Sam, Albert and Jack, years earlier had formed a successful film distribution company during the nickelodean days and dabbled in movie production beginning with their 1918 'My Four Years in Germany.' They decided to go full bore in the movie production business on the basis of a loan from Harry's banker friend, incorporating as Warner Brothers Pictures on April 4, 1923. The newly-built studio and its executives, impressed by a story outlined by Duncan, decided to invest a staggering $100,000 to produce the movie with a dog as the lead character. It's failure would mean bankruptcy for the brothers.

Two directors were eventually assigned with editor Lewis Milestone tearing his hair out trying to make semblance of miles of shot footage filmed in Canada. Studio execs were unhappy with the finished product, but two preview screenings proved the audiences loved it. "Where The North Begins" became an immense money maker for Warner Brothers and saved them from fiscal ruin. Warner immediately signed Rin Tin Tin to a $1,000 a week contract, making him the studio's most highly paid star.

Young screenwriter Darryl F. Zanuck, who assisted in the script, received a big boast from the "Where The North Begins" success. He went on to become one of Hollywood's most powerful producers and studio head, earning three Oscars for Best Picture, including 1941's 'How Green Was My Valley,' 1947's 'Gentleman's Agreement,' and 1950's "All About Eve.' One popular rumor allegedly begun by Zanuck, who didn't think awarding trophies in the movie business was such a good idea, occurred during the balloting of the Academy Awards' first ceremony in 1929. Word got around that Rin Tin Tin was voted Best Actor and the organization required a second round of voting to eliminate the canine, a fact still in dispute today.

For Rin Tin Tin, "Where The North Begins' jump-started a round of commercial endorsements, the popularization of German Shepherds as a pet dog and a 27-film movie career for the original Rin Tin Tin before he died in August 1932. His remains were shipped to his native country, France, where he's buried in a pet cemetery outside Paris. Several offsprings of Rin Tin Tin have carried on with the name through the following years, but many claim they'll only be one Rin Tin Tin.