The Gold Rush

(source: tmdb.org)

People tend to laugh the most at things they know to be true. Sir Charles Chaplin understood that and has built his international stardom on comedy based around characters and situations everyone could relate to. And even when his stories were extraordinary, they were inspired by real events, like in the case of The Gold Rush, 1925 adventure comedy which is Chaplin’s most iconic work and often considered to be among the best silent films ever made.

The film is set in Alaska during the famous Klondike Gold Rush in 1890s. Chaplin again appears in the role of Tramp or the unnamed protagonist, here credited in intertitles as “the Lone Prospector”. He has joined tens of thousands of people who arrived in Alaskan wilderness to seek fortune only to be met with freezing cold, hunger, predatory animals and even more predatory human beings. During the blizzard, Lone Prospector stumbles into cabin inhabited by Black Larsen (played by Tom Murray), a wanted criminal. Another person who gets into cabin is Big Jim McKay (played by Mack Swain), prospector who actually struck gold. Trio is forced to stay in cabin until storm subsides, but when they run out of supplies Black Larsen is chosen by a lot to go out and try getting aid. Remaining two barely survive before arrival of black bear brings them necessary amounts of food and later part ways. Big Jim is attacked and injured by Black Larsen and, as a result, forgets the location of his claim. Lone Prospector gets into one of the boomtowns where he tries to earn his living through odd jobs. There he meets and falls in love with beautiful showgirl Georgia (played by Georgia Hale) who doesn’t think much of him but nevertheless wants to make Jack Cameron (played by Malocolm Waite), her abusive suitor, jealous.

Chaplin got the idea for the film during the visit to Pickfair, home of his friends and colleagues Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. He noticed a famous photograph depicting hundreds of prospectors ascending up the mountain towards Chilkoot Pass in order to get to the gold deposits of Klondike. The scene is ultimately reconstructed in the film’s opening, which was being shot in the mountains of Northern California. Chaplin, who had originally wanted to film The Gold Rush on location, ultimately found that dependence of weather and logistical requirement were making the production too complicated and opted for simple alternative of reconstructing 1890s Alaska wilderness in Los Angeles studios. His decision proved to be correct and the production, despite coinciding with one of the messier chapters of Chaplin’s private life – scandalous divorce from Lita Grey, young actress who was originally to play Georgia and was ultimately replaced with Georgia Hale, with whom Chaplin actually had romantic relationship on the set. Chaplin has shown himself to be an immensely talented film maker. Despite not having a strong plot, The Gold Rush is well-paced and cinematography by Ronald Totheroth is quite impressive for 1920s standards. The film is still exciting and entertaining as it was nearly a century ago.

But the most valuable thing about The Gold Rush is its script and the way story matches perfectly Chaplin’s iconic character of The Tramp. In this film, like in many other, Tramp seeks what most of film’s audience wants and, like most of film’s audience, encounters terrible impediments of his path, often based on his low social status. In case of The Gold Rush those challenges are quite extreme and, on occasion, the film is actually very dark in tone. People in film actually die and even when they live they experience hunger and madness; even the more quiter section of the film contains the scene where protagonist is subjected to cruel trickery. Thankfully, Chaplin knows how to wrap this darkness into easily digestible comedy and make audience laugh in the scenes that would otherwise be horrifying. That includes protagonist being oblivious over the fact that he is stalked by hungry bear or the shoe eating scene, one of the most iconic and memorable images of silent cinema. Chaplin at the end feels compelled to counter that kind of darkness with the happy ending that some critics might find to be too sentimental and unrealistic.

Critics at the time of premiere were mostly positive and the audience was ecstatic. The Gold Rush became the most commercial successful comedy of silent era and one of the most successful five silent films ever. It confirmed Chaplin’s status as great entertainer and one of the greatest film makers of its time. In 1942 Chaplin reissued new version of the film, slightly changing the ending and adding his own music and narration. By 1950s status of The Gold Rush as one of the greatest films ever made was well entrenched and it easily famous critics’ polls and similar surveys. Those who watch this simple but masterfully done piece of film making today are likely to agree with such opinions.

RATING: 8/10 (+++)

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1 Chaplin's physique and clothes

From the first scenes of the play we see on our screen a petite little man, with his suit, his simple boots, his cane walking in the snow. a man inappropriately dressed for the snow and the hard weather that prevailed, he, like everyone else, was looking for the gold that would bring them happiness. The image can bring us a smile when we see our hero trying to walk in the snow (with a bear following him), but we also subconsciously think of all those who got lost in the gold rush.

2 Thanksgiving dinner.

In order to fill their stomachs, Big Jim and Lone Prospector they won't mind eating the latter's shoe. The scene begins with Chaplin standing before the stove, as if cooking something. From the start we notice the black circles around his eyes, signing the hunger that he feels. And from the pot comes out a hot, boiled boot, a delicious feast for Thanksgiving. As our hero takes the plate to the table, we notice that he wears only one shoe, as the other is now in the plate. He distributes food to the two trying to fool their hunger. The laces become spaghetti that are wrapped around the fork, the sole of the boot steak and the nails of the shoe, a bone that is licked to keep the taste a little longer. They chew slowly, painfully as if they were eating rubber (but they are eating rubber). A sample of despair along with the one that follows, proving that man, when his lower instincts prevail, does everything.

3 Jim's delirious

As a sequel to the previous scene, the big Jim, out of hunger, goes crazy and imagines his partner as a huge chicken, so he chases him to catch him to eat him. Inspired by the true story of cannibalism that took place in the Sierra Nevada, Chaplin makes his own commentary on human nature that bypasses his morals in the face of personal satisfaction.

4 The dance of bread rolls

Lone prospector falls in love in first sight with Georgia, a dance hall girl. After a dance with her, Prospector is hoping that Georgia will fall in love with him, too and invites her for a New's Years eve dinner. But Young girl forgers the invitation, so our hero spends his night alone, sleeping, dreaming that he is entertaining Georgia and her friends with a bread roll dance and she is bedazzled by him and his comic dance. But dreams are dreams, and a bittersweet feeling gets us as we watch Prospector sleeping, leaning on top of an empty table. One of the most classic scenes of cinema, the despair of unrequited love.

5 The tethering cabin

Prospector and Big Jim have returned to the cabin to look for the gold that Big Jim has lost. However, once again, a blizzard breaks out, sweeping away everything in its path, and this time the hut itself, bringing it to the edge of the cliff. The two heroes try to find their balance inside a hut that tilts dangerously.

Chaplin makes his dangerous stands, held from the edge of the hut to the cliff, constantly in danger of falling. One of the most comical moments of the film with a cabin swinging on a pointed rock at the edge of the cliff, with our heroes trying to reach salvation by avoiding sudden movements. Watch out for the scene where Big Jim tells Prospect not to speak, not to cough and our hero coughs causing a shock in the already dilapidated hut.

But in the end all's well, since Big Jim finds the lost gold and so our two friends have the coveted happy ending and the girl. (and I believe it is one of the few times that Chaplin gets a happy ending for his hero).

Thank you for reading!

The photos were captured by myself by the original media

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1 more review

1 Chaplin's physique and clothes

2 Thanksgiving dinner.

3 Jim's delirious

4 The dance of bread rolls

5 The tethering cabin