The Gold Rush

This is a great movie that was made in 1925 by Charlie Chaplin. It has two of Chaplin’s most famous scenes in this movie…Dance of the Dinner Rolls and when Charlie and his partner get so hungry in a cabin that Charlie cooks his shoe and they eat it. The actual shoe was made of licorice and candy…they both ended up sick after the shoot.

The plot involves Big Jim (Mack Swain) who strikes gold but a blizzard hits and he gets lost. Along comes the lone prospector (Charlie Chaplin) looking for riches. They both find a criminal’s (Tom Murray) cabin to take shelter from the storm and eventually take the cabin over. They are stuck there through the winter with nothing to eat. Big Jim imagines Charlie is a chicken at one time with a very good special effect.

Some people have misconceptions about silent movies. Some think they are fast and jerky…they are not. That was caused early on by not having the correct projector to play them when they were transferred to video. Many of them look much better than the reruns of Andy Griffith or movies from the 50s. They had beautiful cinematography because that is what they relied on to convey the story.

The full feature films of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton are clear and beautiful to watch and very funny. I’ve always thought comedy translated better through the silent era than drama…although there are great dramas such as “Sunrise” that were brilliant.

I would suggest this movie to anyone who is willing to give a silent movie a chance. It’s rated as one of Charlie’s best movies. City Lights, Modern Times, and The Kid are also great Chaplin films. His best sound film, in my opinion, is The Great Dictator.

There are two versions of this movie. One with the title screens and one where Charlie recorded his voice narrating instead of titles. I have found the original one with titles more enjoyable.

This movie is #137 on the IMDB top 250 movies of all time.

https://www.imdb.com/chart/top?ref_=tt_awd