The Gold Rush

1925 "The World's Greatest Laughing Picture!"
The Gold Rush
8.1| 1h35m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 15 August 1925 Released
Producted By: Charles Chaplin Productions
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

A gold prospector in Alaska struggles to survive the elements and win the heart of a dance hall girl.

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Charles Chaplin Productions

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JohnHowardReid Copyright 16 August 1925 by Charles Chaplin Productions. Released through United Artists. New York opening at the Mark Strand: 16 August 1925. Sound version, eliminating most of the silent titles and substituting a narrative written and spoken by Charles Chaplin, copyright 6 May 1942 by Charles Chaplin. New York opening at the Globe: 18 April 1942. U.S. release: 17 April 1942. Australian release: 3 December 1942. 6,709 feet. 74 minutes. This version, slightly cut to 6,461 feet was re-issued in Australia in 1956. The same version at 6,480 feet, opened in England at the London Pavilion around September 1956 and was subsequently shown widely throughout the U.K. SYNOPSIS: Charlie, a lone prospector, is stormbound in a Klondyke hut with Big Jim, a successful miner, and Black Larson, a desperado.NOTES: The silent version ran 8,498 feet which, projected at sound speed, ran 93 minutes. Chaplin claims that he saved no less than 25 minutes, solely by eliminating the original inter-titles. As the film then ran only 68 minutes, Chaplin added 400 feet of previously discarded footage which he had been wise enough to keep in storage all these years. Chaplin's first film as actor-director for United Artists (of which he was one of the four founding partners). The most commercially successful of all Chaplin's silent films, coming in third at the U.S./Canadian box-office for 1925, with a domestic rentals gross of $2½ million. Location scenes filmed in the High Sierras. COMMENT: Not nearly as funny as its admirers would have us believe, The Gold Rush is too macabre, too grisly in its humor for my taste. True, Chaplin does wonders with seemingly depressing material. Indeed the whole movie depends for its effect on finding something to laugh at in the most horrifying situations. But I still find it hard to chuckle at the sight of a man so desperately hungry he is reduced to cooking his boot. Only a genius like Chaplin would think of turning this predicament into a classic comedy turn.
Antonius Block Chaplin's masterpiece has it all - brilliant slapstick, endearing pathos, dangerous adventure, and an improbable romance besides. Here The Tramp is in the Klondike during the gold rush in the 1890's, and while he hardly looks or acts like a prospector, we identify with him as he endures hardship, befriends 'Big Jim' (Mack Swain), survives close quarters with the murderous Black Larsen (Tom Murray), falls for a woman who toys with him (Georgia Hale), and puts up with her bullying boyfriend (Malcolm Waite). The New Year's Eve scene is incredibly touching, both in The Tramp's humiliation when he's stood up by his date and listens forlornly to the celebration in the nearby dance hall, but also in the faces Chaplin (as director) puts the camera on while 'Auld Lang Syne' is being sung. It truly is one of the best scenes you'll ever see - and on that same evening, while the Tramp dreams of entertaining his guests, he does his "dinner roll dance", a brilliant, iconic moment in cinema. I also love the scene where he and Big Jim eat one of his shoes after boiling it - Chaplin more enthusiastically, really digging in as if it were a piece of meat, and as if the nails were thin bones. There are also some wonderfully dark moments when out of starvation Big Jim imagines the Tramp as a giant chicken and comes at him with an axe. Throughout it all, Chaplin is so sweet and charming, and we root for him as the underdog while laughing at his innovative humor. Truly deserving of its reputation, and an absolute joy to watch.
sol- Improperly prepared for Klondike's harsh weather conditions, a lone gold prospector has to share a cabin with another prospector, whose hunger often drives him insane, in this Charles Chaplin silent comedy. Proclaimed by Chaplin as the film by which he most wanted to be remembered, 'The Gold Rush' has gone onto much acclaim, but those expecting the charm of 'City Lights' and imaginative sets and situations of 'Modern Times' may be disappointed. To be fair, 'The Gold Rush' starts off quite well with lots of humorous situations at the outskirts cabin, including imagined chickens, persons blown in and out of doorways and a hilarious sequence in which Chaplin keeps trying to dodge a gun barrel during a fight, only to find the gun pointed in his face wherever he goes. Around a third of the way in though, Chaplin leaves the cabin and what follows is far less innovative as he becomes the subject of tricks and falls in love upon returning to town. There are some funny town sequences for sure (dancing with a dog leash) and there is a great bit involving a tilting cabin near the end, but the final two thirds of the film never recapture the magic of the first third. With so many jokes and ideas that have since been imitated (bread roll forks), this is an undeniably iconic comedy, but those keen on seeing Chaplin at his finest may wish to look elsewhere.
Takethispunch Big Jim, a gold prospector during the Klondike Gold Rush, has just found an enormous gold deposit on his parcel of land when a blizzard strikes. The Lone Prospector gets lost in the same blizzard while also prospecting for gold. He stumbles into the cabin of Black Larsen, a wanted criminal. Larsen tries to throw him out when Jim also stumbles inside. Larsen tries to scare both out using his shotgun but is overpowered by Jim and the three agree to an uneasy truce where they all can stay in the cabin.When the storm is taking so long that food is running out, the three draw lots for who will have to go out into the blizzard to obtain some food. Larsen loses and leaves the cabin. While outside looking for food, he encounters Jim's gold deposit and decides to ambush him there when Jim returns.