BSL-English supported event
Bonafide movie royalty Rin Tin Tin takes the lead in his first star vehicle, released 100 years ago in 1923.
A German Shepherd puppy ('the Wolf-Dog') is adopted by a wolf pack in northern Canada. He encounters a French fur-trapper and the pair develop a bond, becoming inseparable… until their happy unit is disrupted by a corrupt trading post manager. The film’s star had been rescued as a puppy from a French WW1 battlefield by soldier Lee Duncan who trained him and, recognising the handsome hound’s talent to “register emotions and portray a real character”, wrote the scenario for Where the North Begins. The film cost Warner Bros. around $1.2 million in today’s money but made back many times this much – reputedly rescuing the studio from bankruptcy and earning Rin Tin Tin the nickname: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood.
Content warning: contains scenes of animal cruelty
Dir. Chester M. Franklin / 1923 / US / N/C PG / 1h + short
With: Rin Tin Tin, Walter McGrail, Claire Adams and Pat Hartigan
Performing live: John Sweeney (piano)
Screening material courtesy of the Library of Congress
Supported by the British Association for American Studies
