The Lone Defender (1930)

A prospector is murdered by The Cactus Kid and his gang, who hope to find the murdered man's goldmine. The miner's dog, Rin-Tin-Tin, recognizes the killers, who thereafter seek to use the ... See full summary »

Director:

Richard Thorpe

Writers:

William P. Burt (screenplay), Bennett Cohen (screenplay),

Stars:

Rin Tin Tin, Walter Miller, June Marlowe

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Rin Tin Tin	...	Rinty
Walter Miller	...	Ramon
June Marlowe	...	Dolores Valdez
Josef Swickard	...	Juan Valdez [Chs. 1-2] (as Joseph Swickard)
Buzz Barton	...	Buzz
Lee Shumway	...	Amos Harkey
Julia Bejarano	...	Maria, the Dueña
Lafe McKee	...	Sheriff Billings
Arthur Morrison	...	Limpy
Frank Lanning	...	Burke
Bob Kortman	...	Henchman Jenkins (as Robert Kortman)
Victor Metzetti	...	Henchman Red
Otto Metzetti	...	Red's Partner

Storyline

A prospector is murdered by The Cactus Kid and his gang, who hope to find the murdered man's goldmine. The miner's dog, Rin-Tin-Tin, recognizes the killers, who thereafter seek to use the dog to locate the lost mine. With the help of a government agent and a young girl, Rinty saves the mine and brings the bad guys to justice.

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Plot Keywords:

dog | rin tin tin | serial

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Genres:

Western | Action | Adventure

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 March 1930 (USA)

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mascot Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

217 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chapter Titles:

• 1. The Mystery of the Desert
• 2. The Fugitive
• 3. Jaws of Peril
• 4. Trapped
• 5. Circle of Death
• 6. Surrounded by Law
• 7. The Ghost Speaks
• 8. The Brink of Destruction
• 9. The Avalanche
• 10.Fury of the Desert
• 11.Cornered
• 12.Vindicated!

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Connections

Edited into The Lone Defender (1934)

User Reviews

The Mysterious Mexican with the great dog

The Lone Defender finds Rin Tin Tin the canine hero of another serial where he unmasks the murderer of his blind prospector master and saves the mine for his daughter. In normal cases the dog would have been shot as well.

But villain Lee Shumway is a craftier villain than that. He realizes that the dog just might be the only one who can lead the bad guys to the mine and stake a proper claim before the daughter June Marlowe can do it. So a good deal of the elaborate schemes are into capturing Rin Tin Tin. Shumway's cause isn't help by the necessary presence of henchman Bob Kortman who did the actual killing of Marlowe's father. Rinty has a natural positive dislike for this man and the feeling is mutual.

Aiding and abetting Marlowe in her pursuit of justice is the mysterious Mexican Walter Miller who has let it get around that he's the notorious outlaw, the Cactus Kid. Also helping is young Buzz Barton who in real life was a trick rider and starred in a number of westerns for the younger folks at this time.

The Lone Defender is yet another of these serials which take the plot of what could be a decent B film and stretch it into excruciating lengths. That's why they only showed them one chapter at a time.