Clash of the Wolves (1925)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Noel M. Smith

Writer:

Charles Logue (writer)

Release Date:

28 November 1925 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Romance | Western

Plot:

A fire in the mountains drive a wolf pack into the nearby desert where they terrorize the local residents...

Plot Keywords:

Prospector | Borax | Posse | Desert | Wolf

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Rin Tin Tin	...	Lobo - Leader of the Wolf Pack (as Rin-tin-tin)
Nanette	...	Lobo's Mate
Charles Farrell	...	Dave Weston
June Marlowe	...	May Barstowe
Heinie Conklin	...	Alkali Bill
Will Walling	...	Sam Barstowe (as William Walling)
Pat Hartigan	...	Wm. 'Borax' Horton

Runtime:

74 min (2004 National Film Preservation Foundation print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

One of the 50 films in the 3-disk boxed DVD set called "More Treasures from American Film Archives, 1894-1931" (2004), compiled by the National Film Preservation Foundation from 5 American film archives. This film is preserved by the Library of Congress, has a running time of 74 minutes and an added piano music score.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the sand storm Lobo's booties are missing when he meets his mate.

Movie Connections:

Followed by The Million Dollar Collar (1929)

Good Action, Technically Solid & Often Impressive

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.