As Aventuras de Rex e Rin Tin Tin

The more I see of movie serials I am becoming slowly convinced that the best actors in the world aren't Olivier or Brando, it's the people who acted in these cliffhangers who could make the most of the inane situations and dialog without totally breaking up. Keeping a straight face through some of this is worthy of an Oscar.

As it was with the cast of The Adventures Of Rex And Rinty. Chief villain Harry Woods is on some island in the Pacific or Indian ocean, it's never too clear where the folks there dress like Mongols and worship horses. One black stallion in particular is the God Horse of the island. Woods thinks he might make a great polo pony and be a real asset in beating hero to be Kane Richmond's team. They kidnap the horse and take him to America leaving a theological revolution on the island where Mischa Auer heads the horse worshipers.

Of course the horse is not broken at all to saddle and rather resents the whole notion. He escapes and makes friends with Kane Richmond, Norma Taylor, Smiley Burnette, and of course Rin Tin Tin. Rex and Rinty are quite the team and they save the human heroes as much as the humans save them. Smiley Burnette who had not developed the 'Frog' persona yet provides the comic relief and he's the best thing in the serial.

Just a brief outline of the plot of these things tells you in advance how incredibly ridiculous these serials were. But back in the day they were popular in a country that prided itself on its isolation which carried with it, a lack of knowledge of the outside world. Product like The Adventures of Rex and Rinty was the result.