Clash of the Wolves (1925)

CAST: Charles Farrell (Dave Weston), June Marlowe (May Barstowe), Heinie Conklin (Alkali Bill), William Walling (Barstowe), Pat Hartigan (Horton), "Rin Tin Tin" (Lobo), "Nanette" (Lobo's mate).COMMENT: Excitingly directed by Noel M. Smith (of all people!), this is an action-packed western which not only shows off Rinty's amazing expertise but has an interesting story (concocted by Charles A. Logue) to boot. Not only has Logue contrived some spectacular action sequences, but he has managed to work in a nice romance and even some canine humor as well. All the players except Heinie Conklin (and even he comes good in a kissing scene) acquit them-selves most creditably. The movie is superbly photographed by E.B. DuPar and Allen Thompson, mostly on actual locations. Sharp film editing by Clarence Kolster and attractive art titles by Victor Vance add to the picture's appeal. Electrical effects: F.N. Murphy. Art directors: Lewis Geib, Esdras Hartley. Copyright 26 October 1925 by Warner Brothers. U.S. release: 28 November 1925. 74 minutes.

This silent adventure Western features the dark coated German Shepherd dog star Rin Tin Tin as a wolf pack leader known as Lobo; it was directed by Noel Mason Smith and written by Charles A. Logue. Rinty had to wear booties on his front paws and sported a beard (incognito as a dog) during some of the action which includes lots of running, a jump over chasm, climbing a fence, a jump off a building onto a man on horseback, and performing heroic acts like saving his mate Nanette and their puppies from some raging mountain fires, which had forced him and his pack down into the desert valley where cattle graze and people reside. The first persons Lobo and his pack encounter are prospector Dave Weston (Charles Farrell), his girlfriend May Barstowe (June Marlowe), and Alkali Bill (Charlie 'Heinie' Conklin, whose character provides slapstick comic relief), teamster on the Barstowe ranch. May's rancher father Sam (William Walling) doesn't approve of his daughter's attachment to a tenderfoot like Dave. Pat Hartigan plays the villain Wm. 'Borax' Horton, who poses as a chemist but is really a claim jumper; an uncredited actor plays Horton's assistant.Because of Bill's frantic reports of wolves in the valley, a posse is formed to chase the pack back away. Lobo decoys these men on horseback so that his peers and family can escape, but he gets a cactus splinter in his paw for his trouble. Not wanting to appear weak in front of the pack, he goes off into the desert where he would probably have died if Dave hadn't found him. The tenderfoot removes the thorn from the wolf's paw and Lobo becomes his 'tame' pet (that has to wear the aforementioned disguise in town). After Dave learns from chemist Horton that his mining sample was nearly pure borax, he goes out in to the desert to mark his claim. But greedy Horton follows and nearly kills the tenderfoot before Lobo rescues Dave and drags him into cave. Lobo then takes a message, written by Dave on a canteen, into town where he has to battle Horton again before he's chased into the desert as a wolf, but he and his pack are able to subdue and eliminate the claim jumper, saving the day for a happy ending.The film was added to the National Film Registry in 2004.

A tremendous showcase for the greatest of canine performers. The movie only falls short in the idiotic slapstick by Heinie Conklin. A young Charles Farrell does a decent job as the human lead, and June Marlowe is excellent and very natural as his girl. But it's Rin Tin Tin who steals the show and the hearts of the audience as a half breed wolf dog who learns the ways of civilization.I have to dispel a couple of misstatements by other reviewers here. According to Susan Orlean's outstanding biography of Rinty, he performed all of his own stunts in this movie, and he was not injured in any way during the production. It was all acting. His master, Lee Duncan, traveled with the dog and gave live presentations in which he had Rinty demonstrate all of the pain takes and other complex actions from the movie on stage, with Duncan standing ten feet away and controlling the dog through hand gestures. He did this to prove that the dog was never in any real pain on screen. Contemporary accounts describe Rinty's performances as uncanny.In the first Academy Awards presentation, Rinty received the most votes of any actor for best performance, but the Academy decided it would demean the award if it was given to a mere dog, so they gave it to Emil Jannings instead. Bad mistake. There was nothing mere about Rin Tin Tin.

With good action, a likable animal star, and well-chosen outdoor settings, this is an enjoyable movie to watch. The story is made up of some familiar elements, but it moves at a good pace, and the technique is solid and often impressive.The plot has Rin Tin Tin as the leader of a pack of wolves trying to survive near a populated area, and it combines his story with that of a prospector (played by Charles Russell) who's trying to win the daughter of a wealthy rancher at the same time as he has to outwit a crafty claim jumper. It's the resulting action scenes that make the movie so entertaining, and that also display some resourceful filming technique. Rin Tin Tin really is the biggest star, and all of the scenes with him and his stand-ins look very realistic, and work quite well. He even has believable reactions to the rather goofy ideas that the prospector and his comic-relief buddy (Charles Conklin) concoct in trying to domesticate him.There are also lots of other scenes involving groups of animals, and it must have taken a lot of careful planning to make them look so good. At times they capture large-scale action, and at other times the camera is able to capture the speed of its star in motion. Almost all of the story takes place outdoors, and the settings help create the right atmosphere for the story. Overall, this is an entertaining movie with several strengths to it.