The Trail of '98 (1928)

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 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in a short-lived widescreen process called "Fantom Screen". The film is based on the 1910 novel of the same name, written by Robert W. Service.

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, and Ray “Red” Thompson, who trained horses for cliff dives. Bobby Rose was among the few stuntmen who survived.

Home media

A complete print of the film exists 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.

See also

Harry Carey filmography

List of early sound feature films (1926–1929)

References

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 the TCM Movie Database (archived)

The Trail of '98 at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

Magnified Grandeur - The Big Screen, 1926-31, David Coles, 2001