Watch The Gold Rush by Charlie Chaplin
Good reasons to watch The Gold Rush
Take something really cold, harsh, and cruel, with a temperature as low as the deathtoll is high, and if you’re Charlie Chaplin you’ll turn it into one of the funniest and light-hearted movies ever.
Chaplin’s second full-length movie (after thirty or so short movies), The Gold Rush doesn’t pretend to the social depth of later movies such as Modern Times or The Dictator, but it strikes just the right balance between poetry and fun, sadness and joy, tragedy and comedy. It features many themes that run through Chaplin’s movies: the contrast of wealth and poverty, of shyness and action, of loneliness and romance; love as a transcending power; an incredible mastering of the body…
The Gold Rush is full of cult scenes, from the potatoe-foot dancing (perhaps the movie’s most famous scene, which you can compare with its Johnny Depp revival) to the cartoon-like cabin teetering on the edge of a cliff, through the shoe-eating segment (which Chaplin had to shoot over 60 times!) and hallucinations of Chaplin as a human-sized chicken. Bear-lovers will also find it worth their time. Many of these scenes have made history and inspired generations of film-makers!
Chaplin’s supporting roles are also great: violent Black Larsen as the bad guy, not very bright Big Jim McKay as Chaplin’s friend, and the beautiful saloon-girl Georgia that toys with him.
It’s actually the first Chaplin movie I’ve watched as a teenager (possibly also the first silent movie); I was quite taken aback! I found it hilarious and I still do when I rewatch it.
If you like it, you can watch The Kid on My Kingdom for a Movie (I’ll upload more Chaplin movies!).
(As a footnote: the version above is the original 1928 version; as a personal view I find it much more enjoyable than the 1942 reissue with an additionnal running narration which kind of spoils the fun; I recommend starting with the original).
All You Need to Know about The Gold Rush
1925 - 1h22
Director Charlie Chaplin
Stars Charlie Chaplin
What to drink Home-made Bourbon (or anything home-made actually)
