The Adventures of Smoke Bellew (TV mini-series)

Chercheurs d’or - French title

Aranyásók Alaszkában – Hungarian title

Jack London’s Wilderness Tales - English title

The Adventures of Smoke Bellew - English title

A 1995 Canadian, French Television co-production [Cinévidéo Plus (Montreal) France 3/

Gaumont Télévision/Ellipse Programme (Paris)]

Producer: Justin Héroux, Robert Rea

Director: Marc Simeon

Story: “The Adventures of Smoke Bellew” by Jack London (John Chaney)

Teleplay: Denis Héroux, Nicole Ricard

Dialogue: Gérard Bitton

Photography: Éric Cayla [color]

Music: Jean-Claude Deblais, José Souc

Running time: 90 minutes x 4 episodes

Cast:

Smoke Bellew/Belliou - Wadeck Stanczak

Shorty - Michael Lamport

Joy - Michèle‑Barbara Pelletier

Constable Henry - Charles Powell

Big Olaf - Jean-Guy Bouchard

Stine - Lorne Brass

Sprague - Serge Houde

Louis - James Bradford

Von Schroeder - François‑Eric Gendron

Sitka Charlie - Jack Langedijk

Sergeant Consadine - Peter Colvey

Jones - Yaniko Palis

Dowager - Jane Gilchrist

Murphy - Richard Zeman

Prussian handler - Gregory Hlady (Hladij Hryhorij)

Indian chief - Edouard Kurtness

Old prospector - Roger Desrosiers

Barkeep - John Baggaley (Jon Baggaley)

Fowler - Dennis St. John

Lucille Arral - Cécile Pallas

Wildwater Bill - Daniel Gélin

Cultus George - Roland Giraud

Dwight Sanderson - John Neville

Chester Bailey - Michael Sarrazine

Dancer - Carole Bureau (Carole Thomas)

with: Mylène Demongeot (Marie-Hélène Demongeot), Dave McKeown (David McKeown), Stephanie Lefebvre (Stéphane Lefebvre), Claude Chasse, Minor Mustain, Richard Moll (Charles Moll), Barry Morse (Herbert Morse), Héléna Laliberté

‘The Adventures of Smoke Bellew’ was a 1995 Canadian/French co-produced TV mini-series.

4 Episodes: “Stake Your Claim”, “Gambling on Paradise”, “The Golden Egg”, “The Motherlode of the Yukon”.

The story takes many liberties with Jack London’s novel, most notably having the hero come from France instead of San Francisco. Its musical score is remarkably juvenile, making the production focused on a younger audience. The production values, locations and what's left of London's storytelling make it very watchable. The story follows the adventures of a young greenhorn miner named Smoke Bellew and how he’s taken under the wing of a veteran sourdough named Shorty who tries, not always successfully, to keep Smoke out of trouble and being taken advantage of by other seasoned scalawags. The series shows how rough the conditions were for those who ventured north to the Klondike at the turn of the 20^th century. With the help of Shorty he meets others who are trying to make a living or find a gold strike to turn their lives around. As usual in a mini-series some episodes are better than others but overall not a better than average endeavor.