Rin Tin Tin, Jr. Movies
Hollywood Cavalcade was a fictionalized history of silent films and the growth of the movie industry. Don Ameche portrays a character based on equal portions of Mack Sennett and D. W. Griffith, while Alice Faye's silent star is an amalgam of Mabel Normand and Gloria Swanson. Ameche breaks into pictures with slapstick comedies, initiating the first "pie throwing" scene, with Buster Keaton the thrower and Alice Faye the throw-ee. Thanks to Ameche, Faye becomes a major comedy star, appearing in wild Keystone Kops chase comedies. But success goes to Ameche's head, and soon he's staging elaborate Intolerance-like historical spectacles. As Ameche's artistic aspirations climb, his relationship with the faithful Alice deteriorates. She finds solace with her young leading man (Alan Curtis) and becomes a top dramatic star. Having made and lost several fortunes, Ameche talks Alice into appearing in his "comeback" picture, but shortly before filming ends, she and her husband are in a serious auto accident. The husband is killed, and as Faye recuperates, Ameche agonizes over how he'll save his uncompleted masterpiece. He witnesses the premiere of Al Jolson's part-talking The Jazz Singer and decides to risk everything by scrapping his film and remaking it as a talkie. Faye, who's never really stopped loving Ameche, agrees to star in this new project. On a level of accuracy, Hollywood Cavalcade is for the birds, but it scores on its energetic performances and nostalgic appeal. As a bonus, several past movie greats appear in cameos: Al Jolson, Buster Keaton, Mack Sennett, Ben Turpin, Chester Conklin, Jimmy Finlayson, Hank Mann and even Rin Tin Tin Jr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alice Faye, Don Ameche, (more)
- 1939
Two Canadian Mounties and the son of Rin Tin Tin join forces to solve a complex mystery in the north woods. The trouble begins when a lumber heiress finds herself victimized by two rivals who are after her land. She seeks help from her English uncle. Unbeknownst to her, he was killed by his aide who begins impersonating him. The disguised aide then goes to Canada to take the land for himself The heiress's rivals find themselves accused of the uncle's murder. Meanwhile, an addled mountain man claims that the land is really his. It is up to the RCMP and their dog to clear the whole mess up. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edgar Edwards, Sheila Bromley, (more)
- 1937
Clearly made several years before its 1938 New York release, The Silver Trail serves as an adequate vehicle for canine star Rin Tin Tin Jr. Essentially a western, the film's "human" stars include such sagebrush favorites as Rex Lease, Slim Whittaker and Tom London. The story is set in motion by a gang of greedy claim jumpers, operating in silver-mining territory. Somewhere around reel 5, all of the characters the audience cares about are in dire jeopardy, prompting Rinty Junior to gallop to the rescue. Put charitably, the dog has all of the film's best lines. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rex Lease, Mary Russell, (more)
- 1936
Caryl is played by Lois Wilde, but despite her title-character status Ms. Wilde is third-billed behind a pair of "juniors." Doggy star Rin Tin Tin Jr. and human hero Francis X. Bushman Jr. handle all the rough stuff, while Caryl alternates between waiting patiently and requiring rescue. Rinty Jr. is the sidekick of Mountie Bushman Jr.; together they get their man (Robert Walker) after five reels of rugged adventure. The original story is credited to Northwoods specialist James Oliver Curwood, though chances are that he merely collected the royalties and ran. Caryl of the Mountains was released by a production firm called Reliable, which usually wasn't. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1936
In this drama, a boy's love for his loyal dog, helps him survive in a hard cruel world. The trouble begins with the boy's dog-hating wealthy father. Not wanting to part with his beloved pooch, the boy runs away and gets mixed up with gangsters. After several mishaps, the boy and his dog end up holed up in the woods with the fugitive gang leader. The cops are after the leader, and the gang members want to collect the huge reward offered by the boy's father. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jackie Cooper, Joseph Calleia, (more)
Proof positive that Reliable Pictures' Skull and Crown was filmed several years before its 1938 New York premiere is the presence in the cast of former silent-screen leading man James Murray, who died in 1936. The star of the show is Rin-Tin-Tin Jr., who among other things helps to break up a gang of smugglers. Another silent veteran, Jack Mower, plays the chief crook, but despite his bulk and muscle he's no match for our "Rinty". Nominal human hero Regis Toomey benefits greatly from the dog's deductive skills, winning the hand of heroine Molly Day as a result. Allegedly based on a story by James Oliver Curwood, Skull and Crown is cheap and tacky even by Reliable's unexacting standards. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rin Tin Tin, Jr., Regis Toomey, (more)
- 1935
The original Rin-Tin-Tin and his pal Rex get involved in animal capers in this adventurous 12-part serial. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1935
After Rex the Wonder Horse escapes the capture of some evil horse thieves, he teams up with his pal Rinty (a smart German Shepherd) to avoid recapture. ~ All Movie Guide
A rather mundane effort for the usually fast-paced Mascot Pictures, this 12-chapter action serial featured Rex, billed as a "Wild Stallion," and the redoubtable Rin Tin Tin Jr.. Rinty's offspring was not in his famous father's league and his teaming here with Rex and Bob Custer, a wooden and increasingly stout silent Western star, did not earn him many new admirers. The two animal stars are pals attempting to save their owner, Bob Sheldon (Custer), from a murder rap. Falsely accused of killing Lou Salter (Dick Alexander), rancher Sheldon is arrested by the sheriff (Jack Rockwell). His accuser, Frank Nolan (Richard Cramer), then steals the condemned man's handsome stallion, Rex, whom he expects to ride in the Big Race. With the help of Rinty, lovely Alice Ingram (Lucile Browne) and her sidekick, Henry (Ben Turpin), manage to locate Rex in a barn. In order to raise money for Sheldon's defense, Alice enters the race on Rex and wins. Rinty and Custer both fell on hard times following The Law of the Wild but were briefly resurrected by Poverty Row company Reliable for a rather shoddy B-Western effort entitled The Vengeance of Rannah (1936). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1932
In this police drama, a cop, known for being a rock under pressure, endeavors to cope with the aftermath of a psychologically traumatic experience at work. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1932
Former silent teenage star Buzz Barton headlines this juvenile Western from low-rent Big 4 Film Corp. directed by the veteran J. P. McGowan. The freckled Master Barton plays Buzz Dale, a young boy who becomes a local hero after stopping a runaway stage. Buzz's heroic act, however, does not sit well with Duke Remsden (Edmund Cobb), the secret leader of a gang of stagecoach robbers who plans to frame his romantic rival Bart Travis (Francis X. Bushman Jr.) for the attempted robbery. Dressed as Travis, Remsden commits another crime, but Buzz discovers his hideout and is able to alert the sheriff (Franklyn Farnum). In the end, Bart is saved in the nick of time from a necktie party by Buzz and black stable hand Snowflake (Fred Toones). Remsden is finally brought to justice. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buzz Barton
- 1931
Filmed at Newhall, CA, with exteriors shot at Universal City, Mascot Pictures' The Vanishing Legion became the little company's signature serial. Producer Nat Levine had managed to sign veteran cowboy star Harry Carey, blonde starlet Edwina Booth, and Olive Fuller Golden, Carey's wife, all of whom had recently just barely survived the travails of filming MGM's Trader Horn (1930) under extremely difficult conditions in what was then termed Darkest Africa. Now they were employed in a typical serial story of young Jimmy Williams (Frankie Darro) and his wild stallion (the famously intemperate Rex, King of the Wild Horses), both searching for the mysterious gang that framed Jimmy's father (Edward Hearn) in a murder scheme. The two get assistance from leathery old Happy Hardigan (Carey), who has discovered a plot by the lawless Vanishing Legion to sabotage Caroline Hall's (Booth) ancestral oil company. Behind the shenanigans is a master criminal, heard but never seen and known only as "The Voice." The identity of the villain is revealed only in the 12th and final chapter, "The Hoofs of Horror." Said identity, which of course shall not be revealed here either, was that of a venerable, old character actor who usually played kindly fathers. Of course, Mascot engaged in a bit of skullduggery themselves by having Boris Karloff as a "voice double." Also released in a re-edited feature version, The Vanishing Legion has become synonymous with Mascot Pictures and is the title of a groundbreaking biography of the little studio by Jon Tuska. Sadly, the serial proved the final film for silent screen cowboy Dick Hatton, who was killed in a car accident later in the year. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harry Carey, Frankie Darro, (more)
