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The Gold Rush

Rating

Director

Charles Chaplin

Screenplay

Charles Chaplin

Length

1h 35m

Starring

Charles Chaplin, Mack Swain, Tom Murray, Henry Bergman, Malcolm Waite, Georgia Hale

MPAA Rating

Passed (National Board of Review)

Basic Plot

The Little Tramp takes a trip to the Klondike during the gold rush.

Review

Silent features don’t often find their way into the mainstream. “Metropolis” is one of the few films that have lived on as a classic to newer generations.

It is a wonder why other films, especially those of Charlie Chaplin’s, haven’t survived as easily in the collective conscience. People seem to think that Wizard of Oz, Gone With the Wind and Snow White were among the very first features, despite being made over 40 years after the first motion picture.

A year before the German classic “Metropolis” Chaplin brought us a film that captured his ability as a pantomime. From the celebrated dancing dinner roles skit to the scene where he eats his own shoe, “The Gold Rush” is a classic silent feature.

During the days of exodus to the icy regions of the Klondike to search for that miraculous, wealth-making substance called gold. So powerful that it brought thieves and cads to make themselves rich off of the misery of others.

Chaplin not only starred in the film, but wrote it, directed it, produced it and even edited. The quality of the film helps you realize how talented Chaplin was. The film captures the humor and the tragedy of one man’s life in the gold rush era and the end is inspirationally poetic.

Review Written

July 10, 1998