The historian, author, and inaugural Story Laureate of Yukon Michael Gates discusses his new book Hollywood in the Klondike: Dawson City’s Great Film Find (Lost Moose, 2022), with Joseph Planta.

Hollywood in the Klondike: Dawson City’s Great Film Find by Michael Gates (Lost Moose, 2022). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Hollywood in the Klondike

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

I sat up with Michael Gates’s new book Hollywood in the Klondike riveted by the unexpected archaeological find in 1978 of a hoard of silent films buried under the permafrost in the Arctic gold rush town of Dawson City. Michael, who joins me now, recounts his first hand experience with the film, and provides marvelous context about the so-called “Paris of the North,” and the role it played during the Klondike Gold Rush some 125 years ago. He looks at Hollywood’s own connection to the North, and how it depicted the North. He provides film history recounting the exploits of many Hollywood figures who went from the Klondike to Hollywood, like Robert Service, Jack London, Sid Grauman, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, Marjorie Rambeau, and more. It’s really interesting to see what Dawson City was like during the gold rush, as Mr. Gates takes us through the streets of where prospectors found entertainment, first through vaudeville, then with the advent of moving pictures, the cinema. It’s terrific Canadian history too, and amazing really when you read about Michael’s role as some of these lost films were found. Michael Gates is Story Laureate of Yukon, and the author of several historical books, including From the Klondike to Berlin, and Dublin Gulch: The History of the Eagle Gold Mine. He was formerly the curator of collections for Klondike National Historical Sites in Dawson City. He also pens the popular column History Hunter for the Yukon News. The full title of the book is Hollywood in the Klondike: Dawson City’s Great Film Find, and is from Harbour Publishing. He joined me from Whitehorse, nearly two weeks ago. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Michael Gates; Mr. Gates, good morning.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (22.9MB)

Subscribe: RSS