The Railway of Death
About The Railway of Death
A dying miner tells Joe Barker (Joë Hamman) of a gold claim north of Silver City. Tom Burke (Max Dhartigny), who has heard it too, becomes his rival. Barker takes the only train. Burke comes after him on horseback. The locomotive hits a barricade of timbers, flips onto its side, and Barker crawls out of the cab. Months later he finds Burke working the claim, throws a burning brand into the explosives shed, and both men die in the blast. Burke crawls to Barker's body and takes a few nuggets from his hand.
Cast & crew
More about The Railway of Death
Jean Durand directed this Gaumont western. French Wikipedia gives the length as 446 meters and the duration as 15 minutes, and credits Durand with the scenario. The 2017 Pordenone note credits the scenario to Joë Hamman.
Themes
Background
A 1912 Gaumont western shot in France, built as a run of stunts rather than a continuous plot.
Preservation
A copy is on the Internet Archive under this title.
Notes
- Also shown as Their Lives for Gold.
- Ernest Bourbon plays the engineer. Berthe Dagmar and Gaston Modot are train passengers. Édouard Grisollet plays the conductor.
- French Wikipedia spells Hamman's character Joe Baker. The Pordenone program uses Joe Barker.
- Wikidata lists 17 minutes.
Scenes
- The locomotive hits the timbers, rolls onto its side, and Barker climbs out the cab window.
- After the powder blast, Burke takes the nuggets from Barker's hand.
Also available
- Internet Archive (silent-le-railway-de-la-mort-aka-the-railway-of-death)
