Classic Movies: The Gold Rush (1925)

By Jason Haskins

The Gold Rush is considered one of Charlie Chaplin's finest films and by most standards I would agree with that estimate. He truly was a master of physical comedy and with this 1925 effort (which was also Chaplin's second full length film and one of the biggest hits of his career) he proved that his direction was also key to his own success.

Chaplin plays the Lone Prospector (aka the Tramp) who's wandering around Alaska in search for gold in a period of time where people were travelling great distances seeking better lives for themselves (hence the title). The first half of the movie deals with his survival with two other gentlemen, briefly, in a cabin whilst being snowed in with the second half being more of a love story where Chaplin's character heads back to civilization and falls in love with a woman named Georgia who may or may not be the death of him more than the elements and adventuring for gold.

This is an adventure story, for sure, as well as a deeply bred comedy of Chaplin's voracious wit, but it also happens to contain a love story at its core which drives home the fact that fortune may not be as fulfilling as the heart of a woman. The comedy is what you really watch the movie for. There are several famous compositions here for your viewing pleasure that will literally make you laugh out loud at the outlandish antics of our friend Charlie Chaplin and the shenanigans he gets into.

One scene that I love is when he's snowed in with another adventurer named Big Jim where they're both starving. Problem is that Big Jim is hallucinating that Chaplin is a giant chicken. You'll also see one of Chaplin's biggest draws where he does the table roll dance (which Johnny Depp would emulate in the film, Benny and Joon). Hilarity ensues as you'd expect and later in the film you have probably Chaplin's most well known finale involving the same cabin teetering on the brink of a cliff that's about to capsize over. It's not only thrilling, but acted out with such a candor that you'll truly believe that Chaplin's in danger! Aside from the comedy you have some really good performances by Chaplin, of course, and the young Georgia Hale who plays the principle love interest. The romantic angle may rub some the wrong way, but I didn't think it was really sappy despite how frustrating it becomes.

As much as I really love this movie I won't be the first to point out that the pace slows down tremendously in the center for being about an hour and a half. Once it picks up again it ends strong but beware that this is a black and white silent feature. Here's where it gets tough. A limited edition DVD set was released a number of years ago which has since gone out of print and hard to find.

The first disc is fairly disappointing since it contains the 1942 version of the film where Chaplin re-cut the film, rescored it, and worst of all added sound effects and a narration. It's nowhere near as good as the original 1925 version, but lucky you if you can find this set because on the second disc you have a great documentary as well as the original version and a slew of production stills and original posters for the film that us fans can have a field day over. Of course, the image quality is much better than a lot of the other versions floating around (I originally saw this on an ultra grainy VHS copy) and the sound is also of very good value.

Okay, so you've got yourself a heck of a watch. This movie stands as one of Chaplin's best features overall because it's so doggone funny to watch and it has a rich story where a lot of attention was put into giving you sympathy for the Lone Prospector's predicament. The special features are great and it's a great set overall because even though the 1942 version isn't as good as the original, it's still very watchable and a good thing to view if you find yourself to be a big fan of Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin's direction and writing skills are on the ball here and you may be completely astounded at some of the cinematography and techniques he was able to utilize for such an early production. If you're not laughing your head off then hopefully you'll look at this as a great piece of filmmaking.

5 out of 5 Stars

© Jason Haskins, 2011