The Return of Rin Tin Tin

Robert Blake is a refugee. He's having a tough time adapting to America, its slang, and people; he's lost all of his faith in humanity, despite the kindness of his guardian, Claudia Drake. For the summer, she lets him stay with father Dnald Woods at the mission, with the sleep and a book on contemporary slang. At a nearby kennel, Rin-Tin-Tin III escapes and comes to stay with the boy. The kennel's owner takes him back. He escapes again. He takes him back a second time. This time the dog hitch-hikes to the mission.

It's a production from Eagle-Lion with a sweet story about a dog and his boy, with no villains and a happy ending. It's quite clearly not an A production, but also Eagle-Lion's production team was intent on building up a respectable studio. Given that was PRC a few months earlier, that wouldn't take much. However, this tale is clearly designed to appeal to the remnants of the States Rights distribution system, with enough pluses to lend it some respectability. Among those is it being shot in color: Vitacolor, to be exact. It was a two-color additive process, and the blues in it have faded towards lavender in the print I looked at.

In this Eagle-Lion Picture, young Bobby Blake stars as a war orphan boy who war widow Claudia Drake has adopted as he was the son of an old friend of her's who went to Europe with her husband. The kid has certainly seen enough of the bad in the world and is withdrawn. Drake has him spend the summer with Father Donald Woods at a mission.

While there Bobby befriends a runaway German shepherd with the name of, you guessed it Rin Tin Tin. It's even on the dog's identification so you know he belongs to someone. He belongs to Steve Pendleton.

However boys and dogs are meant for each other and you know that this will come about as it always does in movies.

The Return Of Rin Tin Tin did not get a big budget return to the silver screen. It's a cheaply made film that is in bad need of restoration if someone wants to bother. It's sincerely made though.

Rin Tin Tin was a great Star, a great Actor, and was the love of my childhood life before getting my own dog. My brothers and I never missed one of his shows or movies. RTT is ably supported by Bobby Blake and Donald Woods, two wonderful actors in their own rights. Rin Tin Tin single-handedly made German Shepherds (or Alsatians, if you prefer) the most popular dog in America. The inexpressible nobility, love, and the overwhelming intelligence in those beautiful brown eyes give ample support to the belief that people should aspire to be more like dogs.

Robert Blake had been out of the public eye for a decade when, in 2005, he stood trial for and was acquitted of the murder of wife Bonnie Bakley. The trial renewed public interest in both his life and film career, and quite a few long-forgotten Blake films began to make their way to the home market. One of these was the 1947 film THE RETURN OF RIN TIN TIN, which starred the then-thirteen year old Blake in a standard "a boy and his dog" story.

As a movie, THE RETURN OF RIN TIN TIN isn't bad, but neither is it anything to write home about. The story concerns Paul (Blake), a war orphan, who is sent to live with "kindly Father Paul" (Donald Wood)--but the traumatized boy proves unreachable until he encounters canine star Rin Tin Tin (the third German Shepherd of that name.) Unfortunately, no sooner does Rin Tin Tin lure Paul out of his shell than the dog's true owners come to call.

At present the film is only available to the homemarket via a release by Digiview. The DVD case describes the film as "digitally remastered," but don't you believe it. The color is bleached and the picture is so fuzzy that it is often difficult to tell whether you are looking at Blake or at Rin Tin Tin! And in terms of atrocity the sound isn't far behind. No matter how inexpensive the price may be, THE RETURN OF RIN TIN TIN isn't worth it. Avoid it like the plague.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer