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 byClarence Brown
Written byJoseph Farnham
Benjamin Glazer
Waldemar Young
Based onnovel The Trail of '98
by Robert W. Service
Produced byClarence Brown
StarringDolores del Río
Ralph Forbes
Karl Dane
Harry Carey
CinematographyJohn F. Seitz
Edited byGeorge Hively
Music byWilliam Axt (uncredited)
David Mendoza (uncredited)
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • March 20, 1928 (1928-03-20)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesSound (Synchronized)
English Intertitles
Budget$1.5m[1]
Box office$1.6m[1]

Plot

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Cast

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Music

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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

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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

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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

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References

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  1. ^ a b 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".
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