Academy Hollywood Dogs

"Man's Best Friend" has gotten a wonderful publicity boost from the movies. Canine cinema mythology has enhanced human appreciation of a dog's loyalty, heroism, humor and intelligence from the earliest days of film with such immediate audience favorites as Rescued by Rover (1905) and The Whole Dam Family and the Dam Dog (1905). More than any other four-legged actor, the dog has achieved a unique stardom with such long-lasting box office stars as Strongheart, Teddy, Lassie, Pete the Pup, Benji and particularly Rin Tin Tin. The original Rinty (there would be several over the years) was rescued in Germany during World War I by a U.S. soldier who would mold him for Hollywood stardom, resulting in his becoming one of the biggest box office draws of the late 1920s. The popularity of Rinty's films would practically underwrite a struggling studio known as Warner Bros. and afford a young writer named Darryl F. Zanuck some of his earliest success.

Join Susan Orlean, author of The Orchid Thief and Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend, and animal trainers Sarah Clifford and Omar von Muller for an evening of photographs, film clips, a screening of Clash of the Wolves (1925) starring Rin Tin Tin, behind-the-scenes secrets and surprises featuring more dogs than you can throw a stick for.