Review of The Gold Rush (1925) by Ryan D — 26 Aug 2008

There are two versions of this, the original 1925 silent version and a 1942 re-release narrated by Chaplin. This review is for the silent version...

Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush tells the story of a lone prospector (Charlie Chaplin) in Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush. Chaplin encounters severe weather and is stranded in a cabin without food. When he is finally able to leave, he goes to an Alaska town and gives up on gold mining. Here, he meets a girl and falls in love which creates further drama. The plot of this film is mostly good. While the first half hour does establish Chaplin's character and includes several memorable scenes, it seemed a little slow-moving. The second half of the film was particularly good although the cabin being blown around in the wind and teetering on the edge of a cliff was highly unrealistic.

In addition to the aforementioned Charlie Chaplin, the film also stars Georgia Hale as Chaplin's love interest. While Hale was not originally for this part, Lita Grey was fired as a result of a scandal giving the part to Hale. Interestingly enough, Hale was also cast in City Lights after Virginia Cherrill was fired, Cherrill was eventually rehired. In this film, Chaplin played his part rather well. While there were no scenes quite as memorable as the final scene in City Lights, Chaplin's performance was still quite good.

This film is particularly memorable for several scenes. While stranded in a cabin, Chaplin and another character eat one of Chaplin's boots. Shortly thereafter, the other character imagines Chaplin as a chicken. This is particularly well-done especially considering the time at which it was made. Perhaps the most famous scene is Chaplin performing a dance with dinner rolls and forks. While a similar scene was performed in Buster Keaton's The Rough House, this is the more famous version. Lastly, the scene with a cabin teetering on a cliff, while unrealistic, is quite memorable.

Overall, this film is far more comical than the other two Chaplin films I have seen, The Great Dictator and City Lights. Despite the comedy, the plot drags early on and the climax is rather unrealistic. Chaplin often stated this was the film he would most like to be remembered by, and it is a solid effort.

78/100.

C+.

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