Review of The Gold Rush (1925) by Steve H — 25 Aug 2018

AFI 100 Greatest Films - #74: My first experience with Chaplin, and one of the few I have had with silent film, was definitely a pleasant one, surpassing expectations. I always assumed it would be very challenging for a silent film to hold my attention for 90 minutes so was surprised when this did not turn out to the be the case.

This is a testament to Chaplin's greatness as evidenced in his ability to entertain and tell a cohesive and engaging story with the total absence of dialogue. There were more than a few laughs as well, and I recognized many familiar comedic tropes still being employed today.

These laughs are blended beautifully with the pity evinced by Chaplin a few moments later. Hard to rate this one as I don't have any Chaplin or silent film history to compare this to but would probably rate it even higher if taking into account the fact this was created almost 100 years ago.