Melodrama During the Klondike Gold Rush
Behind the Scenes of The Cechahcos
The archive is also rich in behind-the-scenes images. You can see the film crew shooting a massive glacial crevasse, and cast and crew posed on set. Our favorite shot is an actress posed affectionately with two crude dummies, who were apparently about to be sent to their doom in a white-water canoe scene.
Provenance
The collection has a bit of provenance. They were the personal mementos of an engineer named Gernie Hays, who managed sets and lighting on The Chechahcos, and also had a bit part on screen in the film. He gave them to a friend in the 1940s, and they have been in that family ever since, in the same old leather satchel. There’s a shot of Hays with his voluminous lighting rig and cables in an Alaskan cabin (pictured above). Unlike many films of this era, The Chechahcos has been preserved in the National Film Registry. If you find this story intriguing but don’t want to put in a bid, you can watch for free on YouTube. “Guerney” Hays appears in the credits, 12 seconds in.
Related Reading: Fall 2020 Printed & Manuscript Americana Highlights
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The post The First Feature Film Shot in Alaska: The Chechahcos appeared first on Swann Galleries News.