La ruée vers l'or

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.

Charlie Chaplin's silent film (also re-released with a narration in the early 1940s) focuses, as usual, on the Little Tramp, and in this case, his attraction to a chorus girl (Georgia Hale). This is the one where he eats a boot, along with its laces, and manages to make it appear a sumptuous meal; as well as creating a dance with bread rolls.

The role of the girl was originally intended for the second Mrs Chaplin, Lita Grey, but her pregnancy ruled her out. Georgia Hale is excellent in her disdain of the unwanted Tramp attentions. Mack Swain appears as Big Jim, who shares a cabin with the Tramp, at one point getting so hungry he imagines his pal as a chicken ready to eat! This film has the spirit of the pioneers and gold-runners, as well as the inimitable spirit of the little hero. As a silent it is one of the best comedies of the time, as a sound film, it is fairly good.

I've seen both version of this film--the original silent version from 1925 and the re-release by Chaplin in the 1940s. The difference is that the re-release was designed to appeal to a new audience that expected sound from their movies. To do this, title cards were removed--having Chaplin narrate the film. In addition, Chaplin-created music (for the most part--some were classical pieces), sound effects and singing were added to make the movie more palatable to the average viewer. I personally like BOTH versions and the one you watch is up to you if you get a copy of the Warner Brothers release on DVD--it has both plus excellent DVD extras. Otherwise, there have been a lot of public domain versions on video out there--many with terrible quality prints or music or both. The Warner version is the most pristine and beautiful silent print you can find. The version usually shown on Turner Classic movies is the 1942 re-release.

I use this film for my American history class when we do our unit on the history of film, though I might, in the future, use it for my Psychology classes as well (I teach both) because Chaplin's genius came from his obsessive-compulsive nature. The movie reportedly had 27 times more film exposed than you actually see in the film and the shoe eating segment was shot after more than 60 takes!!

The plot involves Charlie going to Alaska for the Gold Rush at the turn of the century. Along the way, he has a series of misadventures that have been thoroughly discussed in the other reviews here on IMDb. Suffice to say, the supporting acting was excellent and the story kept an excellent pace and had enough slapstick to make it fun to watch (something not true of all full-length slapstick comedies--sometimes, their pacing was negatively affected by the transition from shorts to full-length).

This is a gorgeous, well-executed piece of American art and a must for any real cinemaniac. The musical score (arranged by Chaplin), direction, acting and cinematography all are simply perfect--making this, in my opinion, the best full-length silent comedy ever made. This is saying a lot considering how much I love Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton's films!

I'm just an 18 year old dude in high school that was assigned this movie in a class at my school. When I first saw the genres of this movie I was not looking forward to it at all. It was the first silent movie I was seeing and also the oldest. It had originally seemed like everything I didn't look for in a "good" movie. At the conclusion of this movie I knew that my original thought process was entirely wrong. This movie has certainly changed my view on both silent and older films, especially on a comedic standpoint. There was so much about it that was appealing to the viewer. I recommend this movie to all looking to expand their film genres of interest.

Charles Chaplin's "The Gold Rush" is arguably his finest film. He stars as a wimpy prospector who decides to go to the Klondike in the hopes of striking it rich. What he does not realize is that he may find love (in the form of Georgia Hale) instead of money. In the end that may be all right with him. "The Gold Rush" shows everything that made Charles Chaplin the great performer, writer and director he was. Quite possibly the finest cinematic icon of the 20th Century, Chaplin showed humanity, love and an undying want to entertain all audiences throughout his stellar cinematic career. The movie is exceptional in every way. Although I am not as well-versed with movies from the 1920s as I am with the decades following it, I would still probably call "The Gold Rush" the finest film of that 10-year period. Oh how the cinema misses Charles Chaplin today. 5 stars out of 5.