Klondike was a smart and talented dog; he starred in two films for Pathe and this was one of them. It's a shame he did not get to act in good films with interesting scripts and decent production values. THE LAW'S LASH is about an officer in the Canadian Mounted Police who gets in trouble for "incompetence" during a raid on fur smugglers and is fired, and he trails some suspects in an attempt to restore his name. The plot has to do with a critical piece of evidence, namely, a piece of paper with some directions on it from one smuggler to another, being left in a cabin. Only the dog sees it during the struggle, and the one Mountie who knows anything about it is killed. The Mounties don't even bother to search the cabin where the raid took place. One has to ask, "why?"
After what seems like an eon but is really only about 40 minutes of running time, Klondike comes to the rescue and finds the paper. The Mounties finally read it and catch the crooks. The hero is restored to his job and can marry his girl. Or something like that. I am hazy about the conclusion because the dark and blurry cinematography was putting me to sleep. To make matters even worse, it was obvious that the Mounties and their horses never left an indoor set during the entire picture. I certainly hope that this film is not anyone's first experience with a silent film because it was boring and seriously dated for 1928. It really has the look of a film made in 1918 or before. For a similar storyline with actual location footage and pacing, try WHERE THE NORTH BEGINS.
After what seems like an eon but is really only about 40 minutes of running time, Klondike comes to the rescue and finds the paper. The Mounties finally read it and catch the crooks. The hero is restored to his job and can marry his girl. Or something like that. I am hazy about the conclusion because the dark and blurry cinematography was putting me to sleep. To make matters even worse, it was obvious that the Mounties and their horses never left an indoor set during the entire picture. I certainly hope that this film is not anyone's first experience with a silent film because it was boring and seriously dated for 1928. It really has the look of a film made in 1918 or before. For a similar storyline with actual location footage and pacing, try WHERE THE NORTH BEGINS.
