The Trail of '98

The Trail of '98 is a 1928 American synchronized sound action-adventure/drama film featuring Harry Carey and Dolores del Río about the Klondike Gold Rush. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score, with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. The film was originally released by MGM in a short-lived widescreen process called "Fantom Screen".^[2] The film is based on the 1910 novel of the same name, written by Robert W. Service.

The Trail of '98
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Clarence Brown
Written by	Joseph Farnham Benjamin Glazer Waldemar Young
Based on	novel The Trail of '98 by Robert W. Service
Produced by	Clarence Brown
Starring	Dolores del Río Ralph Forbes Karl Dane Harry Carey
Cinematography	John F. Seitz
Edited by	George Hively
Music by	William Axt (uncredited) David Mendoza (uncredited)
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	March 20, 1928 (1928-03-20)
Running time	87 minutes
Country	United States
Languages	Sound (Synchronized) English Intertitles
Budget	$1.5m[1]
Box office	$1.6m[1]

Plot

Cast

• Dolores del Río as Berna
• Ralph Forbes as Larry
• Karl Dane as Lars Petersen
• Harry Carey as Jack Locasto
• Tully Marshall as Salvation Jim
• George Cooper as Samuel Foote (The Worm)
• Russell Simpson as Old Swede
• Emily Fitzroy as Mrs. Bulkey
• Tenen Holtz as Mr. Bulkey
• Cesare Gravina as Henry Kelland (Berna's Grandfather)
• Doris Lloyd as Locasto's procurer
• E. Alyn Warren as Engineer
• Johnny Downs as Mother's boy (as John Down)
• Ray Hallor as Brother Jim
• Ray Gallagher as Brother Joe
• Francis Ford as Gold Commissioner's assistant (uncredited)
• Roscoe Karns as Man on ship (uncredited)
• Jacques Tourneur as Extra (uncredited)
• Lou Costello performed uncredited stunts for Carey and possibly even del Rio.

Music

The film features a theme song titled "I Found Gold When I Found You", by William Axt (music), and Hazel Mooney and Ev. E. Lyne (words).

Production

The film was shot on location in Denver and The Great Divide, Colorado, Truckee, California, Dawson City, Yukon, Canada, and in various locations in Alaska, including Skagway and Copper River.

While shooting the rapids sequence, four stuntmen drowned in the Copper River, including Jerome Bauten, Howard Daughters,^[3] and Ray “Red” Thompson, who trained horses for cliff dives.^[4]

Home media

A complete print of the film exists^[5] with a synchronized musical score and sound effects, and it became available on DVD as part of Warner Bros.'s manufacture-on-demand titles in March 2009.^[6]

See also

• Harry Carey filmography
• List of early sound feature films (1926–1929)

References

1. The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles, California: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
2. "Progressive Silent Film List: The Trail of '98". Silent Era. Retrieved March 29, 2008.
3. Rose, Bob. "WALKING WITH DEATH FOR A LIVING: FOR NINETEEN YEARS BOB ROSE AND THE MEN OF HIS STRANGE PROFESSION HAVE BEEN TAKING THE RAP OF DANGER FOR THE FILM STARS THAT HAVE THRILLED YOU. WHEN HE BECAME A STUNT MAN THERE WERE 150 MEN IN HIS TRADE. TODAY THERE ARE SEVEN LEFT. WITH A GRIPPING TOUCH OF PATHOS HE TELLS YOU WHY." Los Angeles Times (1923-1995), Sep 30, 1934, pp. 2.
4. Hollywood, TV documentary mini-series, episode 5 “Hazard of the Game“, Thames 1980; Arthur Wise & Derek Ware, Stunting in the Cinema, Constable, London, 1973, pp. 45 & 53.
5. "The Trail of '98". American Silent Feature Film Survival Database. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
6. "WBshop.com - The Official Online Store of Warner Bros. Studios".

External links

• The Trail of '98 at IMDb
• The Trail of '98 is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
• The Trail of '98 at AllMovie
• The Trail of '98 at the TCM Movie Database
• Magnified Grandeur - The Big Screen, 1926-31, David Coles, 2001