The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin

Being a fan of "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin", I was thrilled when I found out Rusty, Rinty and Lt. Masters were coming to Sheridan Village in Peoria, Illinois. I must have been 7 or 8 yrs. old, and I can remember standing in the parking lot, waiting for their arrival. It seemed forever. Suddenly, Rusty and Rinty came past me in a blur. So fast I didn't realize they were there! Then came Lt. Masters in his uniform. He looked 10 feet tall to me. They had to climb onto a trailer and Lt. Masters stepped right on my foot! He turned around and said "I'm so sorry". I nearly fainted. I was speechless, either from the pain or being in such famous company. Childhood memories!

This show kept this little kid riveted to the lounge room in the mid 60s after which I would go and play with my 'Timpo Toys' miniature cavalry soldiers. Most memorable aspects of the show for me was how lucky Rusty was to be in the cavalry at his age (mine too) and that bugle call that was played whenever the cavalry, led by Rip and Biff, were coming over the hill to save the day. I used to mimic that bugle call with my toys and drive my mother nuts. Only disappointing thing was that Rusty never carried a gun, although I seem to remember that he did get his hands on one in one episode. Does anybody else remember that? Rusty the orphan found his family in the paternal Lt Rip Masters, the avuncular Sgt Biff O'Hara and the fraternal Cpl Boone (don't know if I ever heard his first name). The show was notable for its dearth of female characters. I would like to hear Quentin Tarantino's comments about that. As a catholic schoolboy I always half expected the nuns to arrive in a wagon one day and try to cart Rusty off to an orphanage. I actually used to pray that that would never happen

Adventure packed story after story. Rusty gets into a danger situation and Rin Tin Tin saves him, either by himself or by going back to Fort Apache to get Lt. Rip Masters and/or Sgt O'Hara and Corporal Boone to save him. It was a must see for 5 years on Friday nights on ABC, than afternoon re-runs and Saturday morning re-runs for years.

When I was little, I always got this series mixed up with Lassie. Dog hero - little boy who was friend of dog. Pretty similar, except for the cavalry part and the era being quite different. And, oh yeah - German Shepherd and Collie.

I was very small when I watched this show. It was in syndication at this time.

Basically, I remember Rinny helping rustle bad guys and being the mascot of the Cavalry troop. I also remember Rusty as being a red-haired freckle-faced boy who was cute, a la Beaver Cleaver.

This was an entertaining show - good moral stories with good ending - typical for the fifties.

And really, who could resist a show with a boy and a dog?

The Scene: Board Room, Screen Gems TV Unit; Subsidiary of Columbia Pictures Corporation. A paunchy, Balding and Bespectacled 50ish man is presiding over a strategy meeting. The "Suits" have to make a decision about what to do with a property that they have an option on using in Movies or TV.

Bald Head: "Well, what are we gonna do with this, this,...Watzis name, Schultz?

Schultz: "Uh, the Dog, sir? It's Rin-Tin-Tin."

Bald Head: "Yeah, that German Shepherd from World War I, the Army Dog! Our option runs out and that'd be $8,000,000.oo down the drain if we don't do something with 'em! What we gonna do?"

Board Man 1: "That's the dog from France in World War II, right?"

Board Man 2: "No, genius, it was in the First Big War, 1918. The mutt is supposed to have saved Warner Brothers from going belly up!"

Bald Head: "Yeah, he was a sort of canine War Bride or somethin' like that! But we can't put him in a World War or anything like that! People are sick of War! We just finished that Korean "Police Action!" C'mon you guys! Think of somethin'! THINK!"

BOARD MAN 3: "Hell, why don't we put 'em in the Cavalry or somethin' like that?"

BALD HEAD: "The Cavalry!!! Are you nuts!?!?"

...............And thus if not exactly a Legend, a Series is born!

The Series THE ADVENTURES OF RIN TIN TIN successfully combined several popular themes into a highly successful Kiddie Western. We took a Dog, a Kid (an orphan, yet) and had the good Cavalrymen at Fort Apache's "B" Company adopt him and give him their Unit name as his Family or Surname.

They added a good sampling of veteran Hollywood Film Actors to give the thing a certain dependability. Lt. Rip Masters (Former "B" Movie Leading Man and a capable dramatic Actor name of James Brown), Sgt. Biff O'Hara (Joe Sawyer, always cast as the Sergeant, always), Jimmy Lyden (The former Henry Aldrich of the Movies) and a cast of seemingly thousands of guest starring actors; a veritable Who's Who of supporting players available then.

This Fort Apache seemed to have everything a boy could want. Heroes to hero worship, towns folk to rescue, horses to ride. They even had all kinds of Injuns! And not all the Apaches were bad. They had the renegades led by Geronimo and the friendly Apaches headed up by Cochise. Who said that all Hollywood Indians were bad? It certainly wasn't here!

THE ADVENTURES OF RIN TIN TIN provided us with a Western adventure all our own. And thanks to our folks, Clement J. & Bertha F.Ryan (nee Fuerst), we learned of the Origin of the FIRST RINTY and his coming to America from the Western Front in World War I France.

That's the sort of Mom and Dad we had!

NOTE: * From the old World War I Song (as if they're are any new World War I songs)!