The Chechahcos
About The Chechahcos
A ship headed for the Klondike gold rush catches fire. Gambler Richard Steele tells Margaret Stanlaw that her daughter Ruth died in the panic. Prospectors Horseshoe Riley and Bob Dexter have the child. They raise her, reach a strike, and fifteen years later the grown Ruth is drawn to Dexter. Margaret and Steele arrive to run a saloon. The secret comes out, and the film ends on Ruth's reunion with her mother rather than on a romance with Dexter.
Cast & crew
More about The Chechahcos
Austin E. Lathrop, who had skippered boats of gold seekers in the late 1890s, produced it. Lewis H. Moomaw wrote and directed. Harvey Gates wrote the titles, and the Alaska painter Sydney Laurence made the title art. Herbert H. Brownell and Raymond Johnson photographed. Guerney Hays handled sets and lighting and also plays Steele's man Pierre. George Edward Lewis was production manager. Associated Exhibitors released it, and the title card names Pathé as physical distributor. A short of President Harding meeting the crew played ahead of the May 1924 opening. Harding had died in August 1923.
Themes
Background
The story starts in the Klondike rush of the late 1890s and jumps about fifteen years. The film itself was the first feature shot entirely on location in Alaska.
Making
Lathrop's Alaska Moving Picture Corporation put the ship explosion, dogsled runs, a whitewater crossing, and a glacier chase on real ground. The opening title calls the country "A White Dominion—lonely—unfathomable."
Reviews
The New York Times called the plot "like a Bowery melodrama." Variety said it "includes all the old hoke," doubted the commercial value of a title people could not pronounce, and wrote that Gladys Johnson "suggested brilliant possibilities as a screen personality."
Look
Herbert H. Brownell and Raymond Johnson shot the ship explosion, the dogsled chases, and the pursuit across the glacier.
Music
Martin Marks wrote a new score for the National Film Preservation Foundation presentation. No 1924 composer is credited.
Preservation
For years the film was known from a 16mm reduction. Publicity for an Alaska Film Archives project turned up a 35mm print, and the archives at the University of Alaska Fairbanks preserved it in 35mm in 1999. The Library of Congress placed it on the National Film Registry in 2003.
Notes
- Chechahco, usually spelled cheechako, is Chinook Jargon for a newcomer.
- William Dills plays Horseshoe Riley, Albert Van Antwerp plays Bob Dexter, Eva Gordon plays Margaret Stanlaw, Baby Margie plays the child Ruth, Gladys Johnson (billed Gladys Johnston) plays Ruth grown, and Alexis B. Luce plays Richard Steele. Howard Webster plays Professor Stanlaw, who goes down with the ship.
- Except for Eva Gordon, the leads were people living in Alaska. Moomaw had shot exteriors for The Golden Trail (1920) there while working for the Portland firm American Lifeograph.
- Extras climbed Bartlett Glacier at Girdwood to stage the Chilkoot Pass line. Other scenes were filmed in Denali Park.
- The National Film Preservation Foundation times the preserved picture at 8 reels and 86 minutes. Wikipedia lists 87 minutes.
- It was named to the National Film Registry in 2003.
Scenes
- The ship burns and Steele tells Margaret that Ruth is dead.
- Prospectors file across the glacier in a staging of the Chilkoot Pass.
- Ruth finds her mother after Margaret and Steele open the saloon.
Also available
- National Film Preservation Foundation screening room
- Wikimedia Commons (The Chechahcos (1924).webm)