Unboxing the Silents: The Cheechakos (1924) on Bluray

An important piece of Alaskan history and an example of the impressive scale achieved in silent era independent filmmaking, The Cheechakos was shot entirely on location in Alaska, capturing dramatic scenery. And now it’s on Bluray and DVD.

Disclosure: This review is based on a complimentary review copy.

The Cheechakos has pretty much everything you could want in a Gold Rush picture: snowy mountains, icicles galore and, of course, a dogsled with the pups running hell for leather.

Image

Here’s a sample of the image quality of this release. I think it looks pretty excellent: Please note the art title cards.

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Music

The film features a new score compiled by Eric Beheim and performed by the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra. One of Beheim’s signatures is to select music that would have been available to accompanists during the film’s original theatrical release, so the pieces are all from the film’s release year or before. It’s a lush, classic score, the kind that would have played at the best silent era theaters.

Extras

The film also comes with an image gallery and three featurettes on the making, restoring and scoring of The Cheechakos.

If you’re like me and enjoy taking a look at what the independent filmmakers of the silent era had to offer, this release should make you very, very happy. It’s also an excellent gift for the film nerd who has everything.

Availability: You can order The Cheechakos as a DVD/Bluray combo pack directly from its producers. The discs come in a slipcase.

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