The New Klondike
Encyclopedia
The New Klondike is a 1926
black-and-white silent
romantic
comedy
sports drama film
directed by Lewis Milestone
for Famous Players-Lasky
. The film was set against the backdrop of the Florida land boom of the 1920s, and stands as Ben Hecht
's first film assignment.
, the film is based upon a short story by Ring Lardner
and was inspired by both the national baseball craze and the Florida
land boom speculation of 1925. The film itself then inspired the 1926 Peggy Griffith novel
The New Klondike - A Story of a Southern Baseball Training Camp. The film proved successful enough to secure Thomas Meighan a long-term acting contract with Paramount
.
Prints of this film are held in the Library of Congress
film archives.
), is sent to Spring training with a minor league baseball team in Florida, but is fired by its jealous manager, Joe Cooley (Jack W. Johnston). Kelly is then talked into being the celebrity endorser for a Florida real estate firm, and his former teammates invest money in the firm through him. Still jealous of Kelly's popularity, Cooley conspires with crooked broker Morgan West (Robert Craig) to sell Kelly and the investors some worthless swampland. Kelly and his friends lose their money, but Kelly struggles to recoup the losses. He eventually makes a fortune, repays the investors, and is himself appointed team manager in place of Cooley.
writes "The wild scramble for Florida real estate is served up in a fairly humorous light in Thomas Meighan's latest production, 'The New Klondike, which is Thomas J. Geraghty's adaptation of a special story by Ring Lardner." They noted that the film was predictable and not overburdened with suspense, but that the film did provide "several amusing incidents concerned with the activities of the realtors and their victims."
1926 in film
-Events:*August - Warner Brothers debuts the first Vitaphone film, Don Juan. The Vitaphone system used multiple 33⅓ rpm disc records developed by Bell Telephone Laboratories and Western Electric to play back audio synchronized with film....
black-and-white silent
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
romantic
Romance film
Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus...
comedy
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
sports drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Lewis Milestone
Lewis Milestone
Lewis Milestone was a Russian-American motion picture director. He is known for directing Two Arabian Knights and All Quiet on the Western Front , both of which received Academy Awards for Best Director...
for Famous Players-Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company created on July 19, 1916 from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company -- originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays -- and Jesse L...
. The film was set against the backdrop of the Florida land boom of the 1920s, and stands as Ben Hecht
Ben Hecht
Ben Hecht was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, and novelist. Called "the Shakespeare of Hollywood", he received screen credits, alone or in collaboration, for the stories or screenplays of some 70 films and as a prolific storyteller, authored 35 books and created some of...
's first film assignment.
Background
Partly filmed on location in MiamiMiami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, the film is based upon a short story by Ring Lardner
Ring Lardner
Ringgold Wilmer Lardner was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical takes on the sports world, marriage, and the theatre.-Personal life:...
and was inspired by both the national baseball craze and the Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
land boom speculation of 1925. The film itself then inspired the 1926 Peggy Griffith novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
The New Klondike - A Story of a Southern Baseball Training Camp. The film proved successful enough to secure Thomas Meighan a long-term acting contract with Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
.
Prints of this film are held in the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
film archives.
Plot
Small town pitcher, Thomas Kelly (Thomas MeighanThomas Meighan
Thomas Meighan was an American actor of silent films and early talkies. He played several leading man roles opposite popular actresses of the day including Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson. At one point he commanded $10,000 a week....
), is sent to Spring training with a minor league baseball team in Florida, but is fired by its jealous manager, Joe Cooley (Jack W. Johnston). Kelly is then talked into being the celebrity endorser for a Florida real estate firm, and his former teammates invest money in the firm through him. Still jealous of Kelly's popularity, Cooley conspires with crooked broker Morgan West (Robert Craig) to sell Kelly and the investors some worthless swampland. Kelly and his friends lose their money, but Kelly struggles to recoup the losses. He eventually makes a fortune, repays the investors, and is himself appointed team manager in place of Cooley.
Cast
- Thomas MeighanThomas MeighanThomas Meighan was an American actor of silent films and early talkies. He played several leading man roles opposite popular actresses of the day including Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson. At one point he commanded $10,000 a week....
as Tom Kelly - Lila LeeLila LeeLila Lee was a prominent screen actress of the early silent film era.-Early life:Lila Lee was born Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel in Union Hill, New Jersey into a middle-class family of German immigrants who relocated to New York City when Lila was quite young...
as Evelyn Lane - Paul KellyPaul Kelly (actor)Paul Michael Kelly was an American child actor who later as an adult became a stage, film, and television actor.-Child actor:...
as Bing Allen - Tefft JohnsonTefft JohnsonTefft Johnson , was an American actor, director and writer. He appeared in 131 films between 1909 and 1926. A heavy set actor he played in Vitagraph's 1911 version of "Vanity Fair" with John Bunny, Leo Delaney, Rose Tapley and Helen Gardner...
as Col. Dwyer - Hallie Manning as Flamingo Applegate
- Robert W. Craig as Morgan West
- George De Carlton as Owen
- Jack W. Johnston as Joe Cooley
- Brenda Lane as Bird Dog
- Danny Hayes as The Spieler
Reception
The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
writes "The wild scramble for Florida real estate is served up in a fairly humorous light in Thomas Meighan's latest production, 'The New Klondike, which is Thomas J. Geraghty's adaptation of a special story by Ring Lardner." They noted that the film was predictable and not overburdened with suspense, but that the film did provide "several amusing incidents concerned with the activities of the realtors and their victims."
External links
- The New Klondike at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- The New Klondike at the Allmovie