Movies Way Back When: The Tiger’s Trail

By Betsy J. Green

On April 20, 1919, the adventure serial “The Tiger’s Trail” was released. Some episodes were filmed on Santa Cruz Island. Maybe it should have been called “The Tarantula’s Trail.” Read on.

“During the making of this picture, Miss Roland [Ruth Roland, the star] had to lie outstretched on the studio floor for several hours waiting for a tarantula to crawl up her arm so that the camera could register the scene.” – Photo-Play Journal, April 1919

“In one scene . . . she has to let [a tarantula] climb up her bare arm . . . she says it ‘stepped on her as carefully as if she had been a warm personal friend.’” – Star (Seattle, Washington), April 10, 1919

There are no known copies of this serial.