The Gold Rush (1925)

Director:

Charles Chaplin

Writer:

Charles Chaplin (writer)

Release Date:

1925 (Germany)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Romance | Western

Plot:

The Tramp goes the Klondike in search of gold and finds it and more.

Plot Keywords:

Gold | Love | Alaska | Klondike | Blizzard

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Charles Chaplin	...	The Lone Prospector
Mack Swain	...	Big Jim McKay
Tom Murray	...	Black Larsen
Henry Bergman	...	Hank Curtis
Malcolm Waite	...	Jack Cameron
Georgia Hale	...	Georgia

Runtime:

95 min (24 fps) (original version: Los Angeles, California, 1925) | USA:72 min (1942 re-release) | USA:81 min (24 fps) (edited version: New York release, 1925)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System) (1942 re-issue) | Silent (original release)

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:All | Sweden:Btl | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Denmark:A (2003) | Germany:o.Al. (re-rating) | Norway:A (re-rating) | Spain:T | UK:U | West Germany:6 (original rating) | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Charles Chaplin Productions

Trivia:

There was 27 times more film shot than appeared in the final cut.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the Thanksgiving dinner, the shoe lace is eaten by the Lone Prospector. A few shots later it is back on the plate. Then it is missing again.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Cineastes en acció (2005)

A Worthy Silent Classic

This silent classic has many strong points - it has a lot of humor, interesting characters, a good story and good settings. It's the kind of film that shows how much a master film-maker can communicate in a silent movie. It overdoes the sentimentality on occasion, but other than that it's a fine film.

Chaplin himself plays the 'Lone Prospector', and he is joined by several other interesting characters in a frozen north setting that sets up some good adventures and drama. There are some memorable scenes in the prospectors' rickety cabins, plus some other good material.

The version of this that is the easiest to find is the one that Chaplin re-edited in the 1940's, adding his own narration and deleting the title cards, which gives it a slightly different feel. (These revisions probably make it a bit easier to follow for those who aren't used to silent films.) You can tell from Chaplin's narration how fond he must have been of "The Gold Rush", and he had a lot of good reasons to be pleased with it. There are a couple of his later films that might be even better and more timeless, but this one contains everything that defined Chaplin and his art.