The most famous of the silent movies on the snowy frontier front is undoubtedly Clarence Brown's The Trail of '98. But before moving into a discussion of that epic film, it's necessary to consider an earlier feature on the same subject (and with much the same storyline and characters), The Chechahcos (1924), directed by Lewis S. Moomaw, and filmed entirely in Alaska under the direct supervision of Captain Austin E. Lathrop. The similarities to Robert W. Service's 1911 novel are so remarkable that I would hazard a guess that Service used "Cap" Lathrop as source material.
Fortunately, this movie is available in a beautiful 10/10 print on Disc 3 of "Treasures from American Film Archives". Photographed by Herbert H. Brownell and Raymond Johnson, it features an unknown but extremely competent cast led by William Dills as the hero, and stage actor, Alexis B. Luce, as the villain. The lovely heroine, as played by Gladys Johnson, impressed Variety's reviewer who felt that, compared to Marguerite Clark, Miss Johnson was far and away the most superior adolescent on the screen. Needless to say, she starred in only one other movie, North of Nome (1925), and that Alaskan feature seems to be lost.
The Chechahcos (an Inuit word meaning tenderfoot, pronounced "chee-chaw-koz") is an amazingly polished, well-paced and thrilling production
Fortunately, this movie is available in a beautiful 10/10 print on Disc 3 of "Treasures from American Film Archives". Photographed by Herbert H. Brownell and Raymond Johnson, it features an unknown but extremely competent cast led by William Dills as the hero, and stage actor, Alexis B. Luce, as the villain. The lovely heroine, as played by Gladys Johnson, impressed Variety's reviewer who felt that, compared to Marguerite Clark, Miss Johnson was far and away the most superior adolescent on the screen. Needless to say, she starred in only one other movie, North of Nome (1925), and that Alaskan feature seems to be lost.
The Chechahcos (an Inuit word meaning tenderfoot, pronounced "chee-chaw-koz") is an amazingly polished, well-paced and thrilling production
