For this Western Night session, Sheila Ellis chose THE TRAIL OF ’98, an astonishing silent film from MGM studios released in 1928. Based on a novel by Robert W. Service, it tells the story of fortune hunters from across America who left (though deserted might be more accurate in some cases) work and family for Alaska when gold was discovered in the Klondike.
There’s Larry (Ralph Forbes), the handsome ship stowaway, who falls for pretty, innocent Berna (Dolores del Rio, looking luminous throughout) who’s taking her grandfather to find a hopefully better life. A sneering scalawag named Jack Locasto (Harry Carey) has plans to separate prospectors from their gold by opening a brothel, as well as snaring young girls into working for him. Lars Petersen (Karl Dane), a husky Swedish lumberjack wants to escape his haranguing wife. A worn-out prospector called Salvation Jim (Tully Marshall) believes he’s good for one more go. Partnerships are tested and lives changed amidst raging rivers, horrific avalanches, freezing blizzards, the lure of gold and the evil of greed.
Director Clarence Brown (ANNA CHRISTIE, NATIONAL VELVET, THE YEARLING) shot much of the film on location, including the Colorado Rocky Mountains, Dawson City in the Yukon and Skagway, Alaska, and also along the Copper River where, sadly, four stunt men were drowned. For the five-week shoot in Denver, some 2,000 extras were hired to carry heavy backpacks up steep 12,000-foot snow-covered mountain passes where frigid winds dropped temperatures as low as 60 below zero. The story goes that a number of those extras chose not to return for the next day’s filming. These harsh winter scenes are so effective that while it may be a cliché, watching this film you really could feel the freezing cold. The picture also features what may be the first full body burn in film history (see the poster image).
Lost for decades, the only known surviving print of the film was reportedly discovered in Czechoslovakia. With a running time of 90 minutes, the picture is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime and also free on YouTube.
Along with Sheila, our group includes Johnny D. Boggs, record ten-time Spur Award-winning author and Owen Wister Award winner whose work includes his latest BLOODY NEWTON, Kirk Ellis, Emmy winning screenwriter and producer, as well as author of THEY KILL PEOPLE about the making of BONNIE AND CLYDE, David Morrell, award-winning author and New York Times best-selling author of FIRST BLOOD that introduced the character Rambo, and Robert Nott, award-winning journalist and author of several books on Western films, including his most recent RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY that examines the production, themes and legacy of the film that launched Sam Peckinpah’s career.
