Bullet Points: Skull and Crown

It is not easy to follow in the footsteps of a famous action star father. I really respect action stars like Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen and Josh Brolin for becoming successful just like their fathers. While I am sure the name and influence of their fathers has helped them in the career it doesn’t work for everyone because they still needed talent to succeed. (See Jaden Smith.) That is why I am rooting for Scott Eastwood (Mercury Plains) in his climb up the action movie star ladder because he has to do it in the huge shadow of Clint Eastwood. However, imagine if your father was rescued from the battlefields of France during WW1 and made his way to Hollywood to become one of the biggest stars of his day. They would be pretty big shoes to fill in order to follow in those two footsteps. Now image if your father didn’t wear shoes and there were actually four footsteps… but only the four footsteps were actually four paw prints. That is the incredible burden that Rin Tin Tin Jr. dealt with during a successful Hollywood career following his father Rin Tin Tin. I just happen to have some Bullet Points for Junior’s Skull and Crown, so join me on a journey to an action packed adventure with man’s best friend.

• Woof: Rinty (Rin Tin Tin Jr.) is the loyal pet and partner of Border Patrol Agent Bob Franklin (Regis Toomey.) Bob’s sister Barbara (Lois January) is coming home from boarding school and Bob is decorating his cabin for her return and Rinty is getting in on the action by picking flowers for Barbara. Just when the pair are ready to leave for the station to pick her up, Bob is called away because there has been a sighting of the notorious smuggler El Zorro (a different one than the masked vigilante) in the area. Bob leaves Rinty to wait for Barbara and watch over her why he goes after El Zorro and his gang. The audience is treated to some action packed chase scenes with car chases, horseback chases, fist fights, dangerous stunts, but even though the Border Patrol captures the contraband, El Zorro escapes.

• Bark: El Zorro comes across Bob’s cabin with only Barabara and Rinty inside. He pretends to know Bob in order to get the upper hand on Barbara. Rinty does not trust El Zorro but behaves himself for Barbara. El Zorro, needing to escape, knocks out Rinty with a blow to the head and kills Barbara in a scuffle for a gun. Rinty attempts to give chase but he is woozy and injured, only able to use three legs. Bob returns and is so angry with the death of his beloved sister that he blames Rinty for failing to protect her. Bob kicks Rinty out never wanting to see him again. Bob then quits the Border Patrol in order to go after El Zorro on his own terms.

• Arf: Bob has a map of the hideout that he obtained when arresting members of El Zorro’s gang. He stakes out the place and learns the secret passphrase to get in is “skull and crown” (DING!) Bob goes undercover as Rocky Morgan, a criminal looking to join the gang. El Zorro is not there but he is taken to the man in charge, King (Jack Mower.) Meanwhile, Rinty has been tailing Bob and when he comes across the fenced in compound he is forced to climb over the fence to sneak in. Rinty then peaks into the window to try and find Bob. King gets a glimpse of Rinty and we are led to believe that he has seen the dog before even though King was not with El Zorro and his crew the day Barbara died. King has his men capture Rinty to flush out the Border Patrol Agent.

• Bow-Wow: When King threatens to kill Rinty, Bob must capitulate and gives up his ruse of being Rocky Morgan. King has man and beast tied up in different rooms and is waiting for El Zorro to get there to have Bob killed. Rinty is too smart to be tied up and escapes and finds his way to Bob and first jumps through a glass window (canine self-defenestration!) and second bites through the Bob’s ropes to free his erstwhile partner. Bob has some more help in the form of undercover Customs Agent Saunders and his hard charging former Border Patrol Agents who are storming the compound. This leaves a final match of El Zorro versus Bob Franklin with Rinty fully back in his corner. We are treated to an unforgettable multi-species fight with El Zorro revealing a shocking secret.

Skull and Crown is like many of the movies you might watch from the earlier days of cinema in that is very formulaic, but it will entertain the hell out of you and clocking it at only 56 mins there is time to make it a father/son double feature. Rin Tin Tin Jr. is THE star of Skull and Crown and easily has the most charisma, screen presence and nearly out acts all of his human co-stars. Rin Tin Tin Jr. also has the best stunts and I guarantee that none of them were enhanced with CGI. I can’t think of a better way to salute a successful child of a successful action star than by watching a great action movie. I also can’t think of a better way to salute a successful Bullet Points than by providing you with some great Bonus Bullet Points.

• Son of a Bitch: Rin Tin Tin Jr.’s mother was Champion Asta of Linwood. I bet she had nice hindquarters.

• Family Matters: Rin Tin Tin III is Junior’s son and went on to a fine career in Hollywood like his father and grandfather. Rin Tin Tin III’s son, Rin Tin Tin IV, was the lead dog in the The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin television show but not as talented as his forefathers and most of the screen work was done by Flame Jr.

• Suck it, W.C. Fields: Regis Toomey didn’t agree with the famous showman’s adage of never working with animals or children because Toomey couldn’t get enough of the furry friends as his long career winded down when he starred in the robotic dog classic C.H.O.M.P.S.

• Pound of Flesh: Molly O’Day, in her last role, plays Ann Norton, the daughter of the owner of the camp that El Zorro and his gang were hiding out at and love interest for Bob. The interesting part is that she was losing work because she was gaining too much weight. O’Day decided to have surgery to remove several pounds of flesh from her hips and legs. Glad to see we don’t have to deal with the days of body shaming and discrimination in Hollywood anymore.