The Grub-Stake

The Grub-Stake, also released as The Romance of Lost Valley and The Golden Yukon, is a 1923 American silent melodrama film co-directed by Bert Van Tuyle and Nell Shipman, who played the lead role. The screenplay was written by Shipman and produced by her company, Nell Shipman Productions. Faith Diggs, who struggles to afford medicine for her father, is lured to Alaska by Mark Leroy with the promise of employment and marriage, but Mark intends to force Faith into prostitution.

A total of $180,000 was raised from investors, and filming was done in Spokane and Ione, Washington, and Lake Pend Oreille and Priest Lake, Idaho, from March to August 1922. Shipman brought her large collection of animals with her for use in the film. The production suffered from financial difficulties and lawsuits for unpaid wages. A judge initially ordered for Shipman's animals to be auctioned off, but this was reversed and the animals were later acquired by the San Diego Zoo.

American Releasing Corporation acquired the distribution rights, but went bankrupt before earning revenue from the film. The only money Shipman earned from the film was for promoting it. Her company went bankrupt and she did not make another feature film. Trade magazines praised the cinematography and wilderness scenes. A surviving print of the film was discovered in the archives of the British Film Institute.